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?????

Stop Motion Movie

Two Choices for your stop-motion movie making . . .

1) tell the story of a book you recently read

2) explain something about school (LPMS or 2nd Chance)

Haiti

Here's a good collection of maps on Haiti and the earthquake:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html

Tinkering School

How would you guys like to turn AREA52 into a Tinkering School?

Animoto

Go check out Animoto . . .

The importance of becoming YOU.

British educator Sir Ken Robinson has spoken about finding such power and grace in the life of dancer Gillian Lynne, who was the choreographer for the musicals Cats and Phantom of the Opera.

Robinson interviewed her for a book he is writing, titled Epiphany, about how people discover their path in life. Lynne told him about growing up in 1930s Britain, about doing terribly in school because she was always fidgeting and never paid attention to lessons. “I suppose that now people would say she had ADHD, but people didn’t know you could have that then,” Robinson says wryly. “It wasn’t an available diagnosis at the time.” Instead, school officials told Lynne’s parents that she was mentally disabled.

Lynne and her mother went to see a specialist, who talked to Gillian about school while the girl sat on her hands, trying not to fidget. After twenty minutes, the doctor asked to speak to Lynne’s mother alone in the hallway.

As they were leaving the office, the doctor flipped on the radio, and when they were shut in the hallway the doctor pointed through the window back into the office. “Look,” he said, and directed the mother’s attention to Gillian, who had gotten up and started moving to the music as soon as they left. “Mrs. Lynne,” said the doctor, “your daughter’s not sick, she’s a dancer.”
The doctor recommended enrolling her daughter in dance school.

When Gillian got there she was delighted to find a whole room of people like herself, “people who had to move to think,” as Lynne explained it. Lynne went on to become a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet, then founded her own dance company and eventually began working with Andrew Lloyd Webber and other producers.

“Here is a woman who has helped put together some of the most successful musical productions in history, has given pleasure to millions, and is a multimillionaire,” Robinson says. Of course if she were a child now, he adds, “someone would probably put her on drugs and tell her to calm down.” Robinson’s story about Lynne was really about the strength and beauty of living in accordance with who she is—which for her meant living a life of motion and music. If her parents and teachers tried to make her into an engineer, Lynne would have been unhappy and unsuccessful.

From http://www.stuartbrownmd.com/

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