Artificial (LAN) is associated with an increased incidence of overweight, obesity, and atherosclerosis.
Chronic exposure to LAN disrupts daily rhythms in locomotor activity, food intake, sleep/wake cycles, body temperature, melatonin, glucocorticoids, and glucose and lipid metabolism.
Short-term exposure to LAN has acute negative effects on metabolically active peripheral tissues.
Different wavelengths of LAN influence energy metabolism, with each wavelength possibly having a distinct impact.
LAN exposure affects glucose homeostasis in humans.
Simplified
Lately, the incidence of overweight, obesity, and type 2 diabetes has shown a staggering increase. To prevent and treat these conditions, one must look at their etiology. As life on earth has evolved under the conditions of nature's 24-hour light/dark cycle, it seems likely that exposure to artificial (LAN) would affect physiology. Indeed, ample evidence has shown that LAN impacts many metabolic parameters, at least partly via the biological clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. This review focuses on the impact of chronic and acute effects of LAN of different wavelengths on locomotor activity, food intake, the sleep/wake cycle, body temperature, melatonin, glucocorticoids, and glucose and lipid metabolism. While chronic LAN disturbs daily rhythms in these parameters, experiments using short-term LAN exposure also have shown acute negative effects in metabolically active peripheral tissues. Experiments using LAN of different wavelengths not only have indicated an important role for melanopsin, the photopigment found in , but also provided evidence that each wavelength may have a specific impact on energy metabolism. Importantly, exposure to LAN has been shown to impact glucose homeostasis also in humans and to be associated with an increased incidence of overweight, obesity, and atherosclerosis.
Key numbers
40% of adults
Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity
In 2016, nearly 40% of adults worldwide were reported to have overweight.
99% of the population
Association with Light Exposure
99% of the population in the EU and US lives in areas where nighttime illumination exceeds light pollution thresholds.
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