Snippet: Researchers studied the impact of light pollution on zebrafish and discovered that blue light, like that emitted by phones and electronic devices, caused the most significant anxiety responses. After only five nights of exposure, the zebrafish began to exhibit signs of anxiety. Furthermore, the next generation of zebrafish displayed anxiety-related behaviors, indicating the potential for long-term effects across generations. Source https://earthsky.org/earth/light-pollution-fish-next-generation/

Newsletter https://mailchi.mp/emfsa/emfsa-september-2024-newsletter

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Highlights

•Anxiety was associated with problematic smartphone use and sleep disturbance among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

•Problematic smartphone use could exert not only a direct path on anxiety but also an indirect path on anxiety through the mediating path of sleep disturbance.

•Professional assistance and timely intervention should be provided to alleviate anxiety among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

•The detrimental impact of problematic smartphone use and the importance of sleep health on mitigating anxiety should be highlighted and incorporated into medical education.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032721010545

The post Anxiety and its relationship with sleep disturbance and problematic smartphone use among Chinese medical students during COVID-19 home confinement — A Structural Equation Model Analysis appeared first on EMFSA.

Teenagers, young adults, students and their parents are encouraged to attend, as well as others struggling with these conditions.

When: Sun Sep 26, 2021

Time: 3pm – 4pm (SAST)

Presenter: J. C. Lech

The link to attend the webinar is available for members at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EMFSA/webinar-link-sun-sep-26-2021-anxiety-depression

The post Webinar-Sunday Sep 26, 2021: Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, Suicide Risk appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Chronotype is related to mental health, with evening chronotypes being more susceptible to psychological disorders than intermediate and morning types. The present study investigated the relationship between chronotype, mental health, sleep quality, and social support in Canadian young adults. We surveyed 3160 university students aged 18-35 years. Participants completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Medical Outcomes Study – Social Support Survey. We conducted Bonferroni-corrected one-way analyses of covariance with post hoc paired comparisons to determine the relationship between the aforementioned variables, with age and sex as covariates. We further looked at the moderation of social support on the relationship between chronotype and sleep quality. Overall, 55%, 36% and 9% of participants were classified as intermediate, evening and morning types, respectively. There was a significant difference between chronotype on levels of depression, anxiety, and sleep quality, with evening types reporting more severe symptomology than morning-types and intermediate types. Morning types reported greater levels of overall social support and mindfulness. Evening types reported the lowest levels of all types of social support. Social support did not moderate the relationship between chronotype and sleep quality. This study further demonstrates the association between worse psychological well-being and eveningness and between more social support, and mindfulness in morning chronotype young adults. Education and intervention are warranted to help evening chronotypes manage the potential negative features of their circadian rhythm, as well as to cultivate a greater sense of social support and mindfulness.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34272788/

© 2021 European Sleep Research Society.

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May 13, 2020

• By: Lawrence Epstein, MD, Contributor
• By: Syed Moin Hassan, MD, Contributor

It’s no accident that most people tend to sleep at night and are awake during the day. Our sleep-wake cycle is determined by our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock. Like old-time clocks, this internal clock needs to be reset every day, and is adjusted by first exposure to light in the morning.

How does circadian rhythm work?

Our circadian rhythms are controlled by multiple genes and are responsible for a variety of important functions, including daily fluctuations in wakefulness, body temperature, metabolism, digestion, and hunger. Circadian rhythm also controls memory consolidation (the formation of long-term memories occurs during sleep); the timing of hormone secretion (for example, the hormones controlling body growth work mostly at night); and body healing.

While the circadian sleep phase typically occurs at night, there are a range of times during which the sleep phase can occur, with some people programmed to sleep from early evening to early morning (known as morning larks), while others stay up late and sleep late (known as night owls). In addition to determining the timing of their sleep, a person’s circadian tendency can also affect their choice of emotional coping skills, such as assertiveness or rationalization, and their predisposition to psychological disorders.

Read more at https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-your-sleep-and-wake-cycles-affect-your-mood-2020051319792

The post Why your sleep and wake cycles affect your mood appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Sleep is a biological necessity, and insufficient sleep and untreated sleep disorders are detrimental for health, well-being, and public safety. Healthy People 2030 includes several sleep-related objectives with the goal to improve health, productivity, well-being, quality of life, and safety by helping people get enough sleep. In addition to adequate sleep duration, healthy sleep requires good quality, appropriate timing, regularity, and the absence of sleep disorders. It is the position of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) that sleep is essential to health. There is a significant need for greater emphasis on sleep health in education, clinical practice, inpatient and long-term care, public health promotion, and the workplace. More sleep and circadian research is needed to further elucidate the importance of sleep for public health and the contributions of insufficient sleep to health disparities. https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.9476

PDF available at the link.

Copyright 2021 American Academy of Sleep Medicine. All rights reserved

The post Sleep is essential to health: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement appeared first on EMFSA.

Participate in research

Are you between 11 and 99 years old?

The Centre for Chronobiology in Basel (Switzerland) is looking for young people aged 11 years or older to complete a online survey on sleep and light exposure. It will take about 15-20 minutes, and there are no restrictions on country of residence.

Click HERE to participate!

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Citation: Weinzaepflen, C. & Spitschan, M. (Ed.) (2021). Enlighten your clock: How your body tells time. (C. Weinzaepflen, Illus.). DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/ZQXVH

Free download available from https://enlightenyourclock.org/

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Abstract

Biological effects of extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) and its consequences on human health have become the subject of important and recurrent public debate. ELF-MF evokes cell/organism responses that are characteristic to a general stress reaction, thus it can be regarded as a stress factor. Exposure to ELF-MF “turns on” different intracellular mechanisms into both directions: compensatory or deleterious ones. ELF-MF can provoke morphological and physiological changes in stress-related systems, mainly nervous, hormonal, and immunological ones. This review summarizes the ELF-MF-mediated changes at various levels of the organism organization. Special attention is placed on the review of literature from the last decade. Most studies on ELF-MF effects concentrate on its negative influence, e.g., impairment of behavior towards depressive and anxiety disorders; however, in the last decade there was an increase in the number of research studies showing stimulating impact of ELF-MF on neuroplasticity and neurorehabilitation. In the face of numerous studies on the ELF-MF action, it is necessary to systematize the knowledge for a better understanding of the phenomenon, in order to reduce the risk associated with the exposure to this factor and to recognize the possibility of using it as a therapeutic agent.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/2/174

The post Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field as a Stress Factor—Really Detrimental?—Insight into Literature from the Last Decade appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Background

Over the past decade, smartphone use has become widespread amongst today’s children and young people (CYP) which parallels increases in poor mental health in this group. Simultaneously, media concern abounds about the existence of ‘smartphone addiction’ or problematic smartphone use. There has been much recent research concerning the prevalence of problematic smartphone use is in children and young people who use smartphones, and how this syndrome relates to mental health outcomes, but this has not been synthesized and critically evaluated.

Conclusions (abstract)

PSU was reported in approximately one in every four CYP and accompanied by an increased odds of poorer mental health. PSU is an evolving public health concern that requires greater study to determine the boundary between helpful and harmful technology use. Policy guidance is needed to outline harm reduction strategies.

Conclusions (study)

Our review indicates that approximately 1 in 4 CYP are demonstrating problematic smartphone use, a pattern of behaviour that mirrors that of a behavioural addiction. A consistent relationship has been demonstrated between PSU and deleterious mental health symptoms including: depression; anxiety; high levels of perceived stress; and poor sleep. Younger populations are more vulnerable to psychopathological developments, and harmful behaviours and mental health conditions established in childhood can shape the subsequent life course. Further work is urgently needed to develop assessment tools for PSU, and prevent possible long-term widespread harmful impact on this and future generations’ mental health and wellbeing.

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2350-x

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