Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Thursday August 06 2015, @11:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the wear-dark-glasses dept.

Experts have spoken, studies have been conducted, the results are in: screen time at night is bad for our sleep. The blue wavelengths of light from LED screens like those in our phones, laptops and tablets mess with our circadian rhythm by suppressing the body's release of melatonin, the hormone our body secretes as it gets dark in order to calm us and prepare us for sleep.

When we stare at these blue-lit screens at night time, our bodies don't release the needed amount of melatonin, but release cortisol -- the stress hormone -- instead, which keeps us awake. Neurologists who conducted studies on people who were exposed to blue-heavy lights before bedtime found that those people took far longer to fall asleep than those who were exposed to warmer light or light more evenly distributed across the color spectrum.
...
[An] app [f.lux] for your desktop or laptop computer adjusts the color temperature of your monitor throughout the day to best mimic what type of light your eyes should be exposed to at those times. During daylight hours, the light is more blue-toned and similar to the bright daylight you would be exposed to outside, but as day turns to night, the monitor slowly goes warmer to match the indoor lights around you.

The article also mentions two other apps, Oyster and Twilight. Have any Soylentils used apps like these?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Friday August 07 2015, @03:37AM

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Friday August 07 2015, @03:37AM (#219397) Journal

    Do you have experience with diphenhydramine HCl? How does it compare to melatonin? One of my trans friends has sleep problems (including night terrors) and takes diphenhydramine but complains that sometimes it leads to auditory hallucinations. I'd like to nudge her to a more natural supplement, but she's worried about screwing up yet another hormone system. I seem to be the local trans curendera of sorts so anything you might offer would help! (She wasn't very receptive to Amazon aromatherapy unfortunately.)

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday August 07 2015, @05:28PM

    by Freeman (732) on Friday August 07 2015, @05:28PM (#219637) Journal

    Diphenhydramine HCl is what's in my Allergy Medicine. It's an antihistamine, typically used to control things like allergies. Though, apparently it's also used in some sleeping pills. Which is news to me. Melatonin is naturally produced by your brain. http://www.drugs.com/melatonin.html/ [drugs.com] Has information on what things could interact with the man made Melatonin supplement. As is always the case, you really should consult your physician, before taking a new medication. That is highly applicable to anyone who is on any medication prescribed by a doctor.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 1) by Noldir on Friday August 07 2015, @05:52PM

      by Noldir (1216) on Friday August 07 2015, @05:52PM (#219643)

      I can tell you that I don't take medication containing Diphenhydramine HCl anymore. I have to chug down a double amount of caffeine just to stay awake trough the day..

    • (Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Friday August 07 2015, @10:15PM

      by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Friday August 07 2015, @10:15PM (#219709) Journal

      In this case, proper medical care isn't available due to religious objection, which is what I meant by the curendera thing.

      (Thanks, Obama! Most around here were fine with giving medical care to trans folks before Fox News started their hysteria with their “free Obamacare sex changes” thing. Either that, or having insurance is no longer a status symbol that can separate the hard working trans woman with a stable career from the HIV-infested welfare-funded man-in-a-dress prostitute! Or maybe they just think all trans women are communists and blame them for Obamacare [looking at you, Jennifer Finney Boylan and Brianna Wu!], while ignoring the preponderance of libertarian-minded trans women [here's a shout-out for Caitlyn Jenner!].)

      I learned about curenderas—I hope I'm getting that term right—a little while back while being involved in an outreach program. Some Hispanics/Latinos don't trust mainstream hospitals. My impression was that it had to do with fear of being caught as (or presumed to be) an illegal alien as well as a reaction to general racism and, if I may invent a word, Spanishophobia. So, there are apparently a few curenderas around here that fill that void (not that I know any). But yes, an actual MD who was involved in the project did refer to them as “witch doctors.”

      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday August 10 2015, @04:29PM

        by Freeman (732) on Monday August 10 2015, @04:29PM (#220743) Journal

        Assuming the person won't accept or can't get professional Medical Advice. Please note that there are more authoritative sources on the internet that you should take not of. Ideally they should see a medical professional. I am not a medical professional, but here's a few sites that I get general medical information from for my own knowledge. http://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-care-and-health-information/ [mayoclinic.org] Mayo Clinic is a fairly reputable source and I would say a very authoritative source. http://www.webmd.com/ [webmd.com] WebMD is more like wikipedia for health information, so not very authoratative. Though, both sites are 1 Million! times better than most random facebook posts.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"