Blue light correlates with breast and prostate cancer.

An international team of researchers found a correlation between exposure to blue light at night and increasing the risk of developing breast and prostate cancers. For the study were used photos of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​made by astronauts, and the results of surveys of several thousand men and women who have passed through this disease.


Photo of Barcelona taken from the International Space Station

Night shifts, exposure to blue light at night, and circadian rhythm disturbances correlate with hormone-dependent types of cancer. Some of the information on the effect of blue light on people at night was obtained from surveys, and data on its influence outside buildings were obtained using photographs from the International Space Station. The findings revealed several correlations: men who slept in “fairly lighted” bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer. People exposed to blue light outdoors had a higher risk of both of these types of cancer.


Madrid, February 12, 2012, 2:22:46, photo from the ISS

In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer ( IARC ) suggested that modes of operation that cause circadian rhythm disturbances "may be carcinogenic to humans." At first, breach of the regimen was associated with the risk of breast cancer, but later several studies revealed an increased risk of prostate cancer . Researchers searched for mechanisms, studied the effects of suppressing melatonin production, changing sleep patterns, dysregulation of genes responsible for sleep and wakefulness patterns.

Depending on the intensity and wavelength, exposure to light affects the reduction of melatonin production by the epiphysis , or pineal gland, the endocrine gland in the human brain. Melatonin is usually produced by him in the dark. Violation of this process is associated with breast cancer , which was confirmed by a 2014 study, which was attended by teachers in California (USA).

The study in Spain involved 1,219 women with breast cancer, 1,385 women from the control group, 623 men with prostate cancer, and 879 men from the control group from 11 regions of Spain in 2008-2013. The age of participants ranged from 20 to 85 years. Both prostate and breast cancer correlated with circadian rhythm disorders. Prostate cancer was associated with exposure to light at night outside the buildings and the responses of men about their sleep in bright rooms. Breast cancer was associated with the light of the blue spectrum outside the home, but did not correlate with the illumination of the bedroom. Scientific article published in Environmental Health Perspectives. DOI: 10.1289 / EHP1837

In other words, “phones cause cancer,” and not only disrupt melatonin production and subsequently reduce the quality of sleep.

Electricity has changed the natural rhythms of sleep and rest, according to which our ancestors lived. Today, the length of the day depends solely on the desire of the person. People work at night, sleep while the TV is on, check messages in messengers in the middle of the night. People have practically stopped sleeping , there is an “epidemic of lack of sleep” in the world. The transition to LED lights as a standard for urban lighting led to an increase in the spectrum of blue light through the use of white LEDs.