Light Therapy?

I know several people who have one degree of trouble or another of sleeping. So today I did a little research on one aspect of sleep problems and here are some of my notes, in case you know anyone who is open to trying natural solutions before popping hypnotics and central nervous system depressants (think Ambien, Lunesta, etc)

Some people seem to be exquisitely sensitive to light frequencies, more than the rest of us. The general idea of light therapy is to expose our eyes (specifically NOT the rods and cones but ganglions in the eyes) to blue light (470-489 nm, look at this coincidence, that is exactly the color early morning light is rich in) first thing upon awakening for about 20 minutes. In the old days they didn't know about the blue light relationship and were able to get good results with a full spectrum light. But they were large and bulky but they worked because they included the necessary blue light. There is a little bit of info here http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-disorders/2007/02/circadian-blue-light.htm
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The blue light causes a radical drop in melatonin, wakes a person up, and resets the bio-clock. Here's a great short video: http://insomniaalmanac.blogspot.com/2010/01/insomnia-video-help-power-of-blue-light.html.

Incidentally, light therapy is used with amazing results for bi-polar disorder, Parkinson's, ADHD, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and more .

Anyhow, as you might guess, you reverse the process and increase your melatonin by blocking blue light starting as much as 2 hours before the desired bedtime (By an amazing coincidence, campfires, candles, and the evening rays of sun have almost no blue light in them). Here is another general article with some good links down in the comment section: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-light-affects-our-sleep/

The majority of people who practice light therapy either wear blue-blocking sunglasses or keep tv and computers off and only use lights without the blue spectrum in the time period before bed. For facebook addicts there is a program though that makes computers have an "evening glow" - http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/

Googling for red or yellow evening light for sleep gets you to this helpful site https://www.lowbluelights.com/index.asp?

Here is some more good reading:

http://photoperiodeffect.com/redlight/index.html

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56802/title/FOR_KIDS_Making_light_of_sleep - this one is funny because it looks like they never tried the goggles in the evening??

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a918096650

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=136899 - this is an interesting discussion of delayed sleep phase syndrome DSPS (that's an interesting syndrome) which mentions light therapy sensibly.... and then goes on to their soapbox which is marijuana

Here's an interesting experiment that is tangentially related - http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09051336-a-light-bulb-moment-people-with-dementia and here is anotherthat is somewhat tangential, but nevertheless, fascinating - http://photoperiodeffect.com/ - "How exposure to artificial light affects obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression, MS and more."

Here are some personal experiences and blogs about insomnia and circadian rhythms -
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http://insearchofmornings.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/darkness-therapy/

http://www.slate.com/id/2193208/

http://www.shanspirations.org/?p=88 read that first, then follow her story starting at http://www.shanspirations.org/?cat=12, ; start at the bottom and work up if you want to follow her saga; the comments are always worthwhile



More studies:
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http://www.naturopathydigest.com/archives/2008/aug/schor.php - layman's summary of several studies - well-done

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14667152?ordinalpos=1&itool=PPMCLayout.PPMCAppController.PPMCArticlePage.PPMCPubmedRA&linkpos=3

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2574505/

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/17/science/la-sci-students17-2010feb17 - this is an interesting study although they aren't real focused about good quality blue morning light and amber evening light.

And in the process I found an awesome site. He devotes himself to the biochemistry behind bi-polar, but since light therapy is so impactful on bi-polar disorder, he has lots of good stuff that relates to simple insomnia and is a fascinating author. Here are a few links:

http://www.psycheducation.org

http://www.psycheducation.org/mechanism/11Reversible.htm - lithium

http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/darkrx.htm

http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/LightDark.htm - this page is pretty cool - it suggests using blue lights with Altzheimer patients (I am thinking of Dad) at 7:00pm or so whenever they want to drowse off. Then they stay awake and go to sleep at the proper time and sleep all night. Also it has CHEAP sources for blue-blocking glasses.

http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/BlueLight.htm

http://www.psycheducation.org/mechanism/intracellular.htm - what do exercise, lithium, Prozac, electroshock therapy, and keeping carb intake very low have in common?????