Researchers Think LED Lighting is Making You Age Faster
Talk about a vicious cycle: You reach for a filter on an Instagram pic because you think you look old, but the light from your phone while you’re doing it is actually making you older. That’s the takeaway from scientists at Oregon State University, who determined that blue light — the illumination from not only your cellphone but your computer, your TV or basically any LED screen we literally face day to day — can accelerate the aging process.
That is a horrible find! I don’t know about you, but I dab on various oils, moisturizers and serums to try to preserve a youthful glow. The find that blue light is detrimental to our graceful aging process is enough to get me to walk away from my computer and put down my cell phone. Well of course I can’t really put those electronics down in today’s hi-tech world. “Excessive exposure to blue light from everyday devices…may have detrimental effects on a wide range of cells in our body, from skin and fat cells, to sensory neurons,” declared Dr. Jadwiga Giebultowicz, a professor at the university’s Department of Integrative Biology to the journal Frontiers in Aging https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962594.
In an experiment, scientists exposed fruit flies to mega doses of blue light and noticed a decline in brain function and other hallmarks of aging compared to flies who were kept in the dark. Fruit flies share similar cellular structures to humans, so further testing will be required with human cells to ensure the “dramatic” findings hold up when it comes to people. “Our study suggests that avoidance of excessive blue light exposure may be a good anti-aging strategy,” Giebultowicz concludes. Giebultowicz also says “LEDs have become the main illumination in display screens such as phones, desktops and TVs, as well as ambient lighting, so humans in advanced societies are exposed to blue light through LED lighting during most of their waking hours.” In other words, good luck to us in trying to avoid illumination. – Maryann Morgan
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