View Full Version : Cancer from sleeping with the light on?
So sometimes when I get into bed really late I wake up and the light is on because the switch is on the other side of the room. I don't get a good night sleep, I feel horrible and disgusting and I don't mean to do it but lately it's been happenings quite often since my light is on the other side of the room and I don't want to sleep in the dark. I remember reading when I was younger that sleeping with the light on could cause cancer and I reresearched it and it turned out to be true! It can cause breast cancer. So I'm kind of scared that the damage is done.
I'm obviously not gonna sleep with the lights on anymore because I don't want to get cancer but is there a chance I'm already infected? I had no idea something like artificial light could kill me!
Absolute poppycock.
---------- Post added at 17:47 ---------- Previous post was at 17:40 ----------
Just in case it isn't clear from above, whatever you've read is absolute, abject bull crap.
Mindprison
28-04-17, 17:53
I don't know what you read or where you read it but I agree with axolotl. Total garbage.
If your anxiety is that bad that you're worrying about stuff like this it might be time to start doing something about it.
Captain irrational
28-04-17, 17:56
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/03March/Pages/Does-light-at-night-pose-a-health-risk.aspx
While they say light at night has been linked to sleep disruption, "What has not been 'proven' is that electric light at night causally increases risk of cancer, or obesity, or diabetes, or depression."
You're fine :)
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/03March/Pages/Does-light-at-night-pose-a-health-risk.aspx
You're fine :)
The Daily Mail really is a piece of s**t. I was expecting the OP had read this on some terrible woo woo conspiracy site, not something that pretends to be a reputable newspaper.
Mindprison
28-04-17, 18:22
I don't even read newspapers or even watch the news anymore. How many times have you seen this headline in gossip rags like Daily mail:
"Doctor misdiagnosed me and now I'm going to die!"
Is it any wonder the health anxiety forum is the most viewed and most posted on with garbage like this in front of us every week?
MyNameIsTerry
29-04-17, 01:22
The Daily Mail really is a piece of s**t. I was expecting the OP had read this on some terrible woo woo conspiracy site, not something that pretends to be a reputable newspaper.
And it's other newspapers too that the NHS have to waste money writing counter articles for. DM is bound to be the worst by far.
If this were in any way true, the implications for lighting would be massive. Imagine all the women who spend a lot of time under such lights in their work?
It's not just the papers too. the studies can be irresponsible. I can remember the one that that was talking about Diazepam leading to dementia. If you actually read the study, they made out it was this all the way through thn at the end said "we have no actual proof of causality, we're just saying there may be a link" :doh: It was a meta study of numbers, woth caveats like elderly people also have Diazepam for some of the early issues seen in dementia. :doh:
I had no idea something like artificial light could kill me!
It can't :doh:
Positive thoughts
MyNameIsTerry
29-04-17, 02:28
The Daily Mail really is a piece of s**t. I was expecting the OP had read this on some terrible woo woo conspiracy site, not something that pretends to be a reputable newspaper.
This opinion piece was written by two researchers from the University of Connecticut and Yale University in the US, and was jointly funded by the two universities.
It's one of those "Trump has sent a warship to NK so world war III is coming", type scaremongering articles. The DM seem to be obsessed with health scare stories so there must be a sizeable advantage in gettng those clicks.
Don't they all do it though, just with different topics? The Guardia loves running doom articles about Brexit, The Telegraph had a WWIII article when Trump acted against NK and the article had a mushroom cloud on it :doh:
I really with something would be done about our media a a whole. If they did something about responsible journalism, the DM health stuff would get sorted out with it. It seems unlikely though as all the papers are just fighting from the bias of their owners and who they are allied too.
Bring back the media of the old days! And please shutdown internt media...it's all "opinion pieces" with "experts"...talk about a gravy train.
walkerbull
29-04-17, 03:17
***Giggles***
Okay obviously I know how extremely crazy is sounded when I read it but there were so many sources I just got a little worried, also in my defense I had just woken up from a pretty bad sleep because I had slept...with the light on! :blush:
Obviously feel real silly now but it definitely taught me not to be lazy and to shut the light off before I get into bed.
I gotta stop going on the internet!
walkerbull
29-04-17, 09:29
Okay obviously I know how extremely crazy is sounded when I read it but there were so many sources I just got a little worried, also in my defense I had just woken up from a pretty bad sleep because I had slept...with the light on! :blush:
Obviously feel real silly now but it definitely taught me not to be lazy and to shut the light off before I get into bed.
I gotta stop going on the internet!
Not to be rude, but I honestly thought this was satire.
MyNameIsTerry
29-04-17, 09:57
Walkerbull,
It's not more irrational than your own threads. Consider how the OP feels.
Not to be rude, but I honestly thought this was satire.
What Terry said. Play nice.
If you note we've made it very clear the idea is tripe, and had a go at the so called newspapers spreading this, but not the OP. Pointing out the rubbishness of the stories they read were meant to help the OP put the thought behind them not make them feel stupid, and anger was directed at the so-called "journalists" that spread this without thinking what it does to anxious people. You can't blame people worrying about stuff they see in actual newspapers.
Falling for a Daily Mail story is no different to thinking you have a brain tumour because you have a few twitches. We are all on here because anxiety takes hold and temporarily defeats logic - the actual nature of our fears is usually arbitrary.
Not to be rude, but I honestly thought this was satire.
No I was actually afraid, and not for nothing but I know the difference between real and fake news I'm quite an intelligent person but anxiety gets the best of all of us sometimes and makes us think irrationally! it's not something I can help at the moment and I am going to therapy on and off bc I can't always afford it.
It was a .gov site and article so that's what caused my suspicion and worry.
Not some fake Daily Mail, the .gov is what got me worried because there were a bunch of citing and medical journals. However I didn't read the whole thing thoroughly when I first saw it I just sprung into panic.
I do understand how it could seem comical though so I'm not annoyed or angered at anyone's responses but, definitely didn't read correctly and got scared in the process.
---------- Post added at 15:55 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002207/
Here is the link I read if anyone is curious.
No I was actually afraid, and not for nothing but I know the difference between real and fake news I'm quite an intelligent person but anxiety gets the best of all of us sometimes and makes us think irrationally! it's not something I can help at the moment and I am going to therapy on and off bc I can't always afford it.
It was a .gov site and article so that's what caused my suspicion and worry.
Not some fake Daily Mail, the .gov is what got me worried because there were a bunch of citing and medical journals. However I didn't read the whole thing thoroughly when I first saw it I just sprung into panic.
I do understand how it could seem comical though so I'm not annoyed or angered at anyone's responses but, definitely didn't read correctly and got scared in the process.
---------- Post added at 15:55 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002207/
Here is the link I read if anyone is curious.
Interesting article. It seems very tentative, though, and giving opinion on a potential area for further research, not giving evidence that it's true. Press reports will have taken this on face value and run with it hysterically.
It's also about risk factors, which are complicated and different to saying "if you fall asleep with the light on you can get cancer" - if I've understood it's about how there's been an upward trend of some cancers and there seems to be a correlation with increased light pollution, which may be due to disrupted sleep, but correlation doesn't always mean causality.
So it's a musing for scientists, but not anything we need to worry about.
walkerbull
30-04-17, 01:26
Sorry to be an ass.
---------- Post added at 00:26 ---------- Previous post was at 00:24 ----------
If I remember correctly the Daily Mail was scaremongering last year about the Falkland Islands. It caused such an uproar in Argentina that they approached the Russians, I don't think Downing Street would have found that humourous.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 03:04
wtf lol
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-17, 04:56
wtf lol
It's that aimed at the OP's concerns or the scaremongering source?
---------- Post added at 04:39 ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 ----------
Sorry to be an ass.
---------- Post added at 00:26 ---------- Previous post was at 00:24 ----------
If I remember correctly the Daily Mail was scaremongering last year about the Falkland Islands. It caused such an uproar in Argentina that they approached the Russians, I don't think Downing Street would have found that humourous.
Good of you, WB, thanks.
The DM are like that all the time and have been like it for a very long time. They are a right wing paper.
To be honest, if Argentina approach the Russian's because of what an outlandish newspaper prints, they are pretty irrational as far governments go (an excuse to push for FI again? :winks:). Like the issue with Gibralta, such things will rumble on even though the residents don't want to change.
Downing Street certainly won't find it funny but we have various media outlets just a bad as DM and no one is stopping them getting worse all the time. I wish they would.
---------- Post added at 04:56 ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 ----------
No I was actually afraid, and not for nothing but I know the difference between real and fake news I'm quite an intelligent person but anxiety gets the best of all of us sometimes and makes us think irrationally! it's not something I can help at the moment and I am going to therapy on and off bc I can't always afford it.
It was a .gov site and article so that's what caused my suspicion and worry.
Not some fake Daily Mail, the .gov is what got me worried because there were a bunch of citing and medical journals. However I didn't read the whole thing thoroughly when I first saw it I just sprung into panic.
I do understand how it could seem comical though so I'm not annoyed or angered at anyone's responses but, definitely didn't read correctly and got scared in the process.
---------- Post added at 15:55 ---------- Previous post was at 15:55 ----------
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002207/
Here is the link I read if anyone is curious.
That was what the DM used for their article but they took it more nto needing to take action when the study has flaws. They took it on face value.
Our NHS write articles to counter these scaremongering media articles because they cause panic. Captain Irrational poste it earlier and there are some interesting things they pointed out:
What kind of research was this?
This was an evidence-informed opinion piece, or narrative review (http://www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/Newsglossary.aspx#Narrativereview), where the researchers discussed the theory that electrical light, especially at night, disrupts our normal body block. They consider whether this poses a risk to our health.
This narrative discussion is referenced throughout, but no methods are provided. It does not appear to be a systematic review (http://www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/Newsglossary.aspx#Systematicreview), where researchers search all the available evidence to identify studies related to the issue of the effects that electrical light may have on the body clock.
This means we do not know that all the relevant studies related to this issue have been identified. As such, this review must largely be considered to be an article outlining the researchers' opinions, as informed by the evidence they looked at.
Conclusion
But this study has two prominent limitations. It does not appear to have been a systematic review. No methods are provided, and we do not know whether the researchers have searched the entire global literature on the subject to identify all relevant studies.
We also do not know whether studies linking light at night with disease could have been preferentially discussed as examples, while other studies that did not find any links were either not identified or not discussed in this review.
As such, this review must largely be considered to be the opinion of the researchers as informed by the evidence they looked at.
AND
The second limitation is the strength and quality of the evidence linking light exposure at night to disease.
Most of the experimental studies discussed, where people were exposed to different light levels at night, were very small (one included 12 people, another eight).
These results are specific to the small sample included. This means they may be heavily biased and confounded by the characteristics of the participants, and therefore not apply to wider populations.
The small sample size may also fail to identify any real differences because of a lack of statistical power.
And just measuring body chemicals after a couple of nights of artificially manipulated light levels may not give us reliable evidence of health effects that would be seen with longer-term patterns.
AND
Much of the evidence looked at is also circumstantial and based on observational studies. Though the design and quality of these underlying studies was not examined as part of this appraisal, it is likely the studies may be subject to various sources of bias or confounding, making it difficult to establish direct cause and effect.
AND
Overall, the possible links between electrical light exposure at night and disease is definitely worthy of further study. But, for now, people should not be overly alarmed by these findings and feel the need to rush out to buy blackout blinds for their bedroom windows.
It's not easy reading research articles because you have to be careful about bias. Researchers look, or should do, beyond to see what proves otherwise as well as what proves their views/results.
So, with a meta analysis they should be looking for anything recorded referenced to light and then splitting it into a) proves my point, b) disproves my point and c) is irelevant to the study.
The NHS argue they do not state whether they did b) & c) therefore the researchers cannot argue any proof.
A good example is Omega 3. There are equal numbers of studies showing it works in depression as there are that it doesn't. Therefore they can't argue it works because they can't eliminate the others. We know it's often worth a try to see if it works for us, but from a scientifi point of view it's not really worthy of anything when there is proof for & against and further research is warranted.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 04:57
MyNameisTerry...definitely the original post
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-17, 05:02
MyNameisTerry...definitely the original post
Isn't that the nature of irrational fear? Pretty much all the thread on here are of the same.
This seems to apply:
Walkerbull,
It's not more irrational than your own threads. Consider how the OP feels.
What Terry said. Play nice.
If you note we've made it very clear the idea is tripe, and had a go at the so called newspapers spreading this, but not the OP. Pointing out the rubbishness of the stories they read were meant to help the OP put the thought behind them not make them feel stupid, and anger was directed at the so-called "journalists" that spread this without thinking what it does to anxious people. You can't blame people worrying about stuff they see in actual newspapers.
Falling for a Daily Mail story is no different to thinking you have a brain tumour because you have a few twitches. We are all on here because anxiety takes hold and temporarily defeats logic - the actual nature of our fears is usually arbitrary.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 05:04
I suppose there is the irrational fear but then there is the absurd. I sympathize with the OP if they were generally worried but thats almost like me asking if the betta fish in the bowl on my desk will escape and kill me in my sleep
ScaredLizard
30-04-17, 05:12
I suppose there is the irrational fear but then there is the absurd. I sympathize with the OP if they were generally worried but thats almost like me asking if the betta fish in the bowl on my desk will escape and kill me in my sleep
Don't be rude. Anxiety doesn't discriminate.
I once broke a bowl and couldn't clean it up because I was afraid I'd get cut and the glass would somehow end up in my blood or heart or stomach.
I suppose there is the irrational fear but then there is the absurd. I sympathize with the OP if they were generally worried but thats almost like me asking if the betta fish in the bowl on my desk will escape and kill me in my sleep
Well... if you leave the lights on then he can see you ;)
Positive thoughts
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 05:14
Don't be rude. Anxiety doesn't discriminate.
I once broke a bowl and couldn't clean it up because I was afraid I'd get cut and the glass would somehow end up in my blood or heart or stomach.
Its not being rude its being honest. And you don't have to tell me how anxiety works because I'm pretty aware of it. If the OP thought I was being mean then I apologize to them, if anything my comment was suppose to bring a little ease to the thread.
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-17, 05:15
I suppose there is the irrational fear but then there is the absurd. I sympathize with the OP if they were generally worried but thats almost like me asking if the betta fish in the bowl on my desk will escape and kill me in my sleep
Fair enough, in which case I withdraw that.
I'm not a HAer myself, whether you fear you have cancer because you have fatigue or a brain tumour because of a headache or fear getting HIV from a glass of juice in a diner, it's all absurd.
Many of mine were absurd. Fearing changing my clothes bringing something bad to pass, eating with the wrong cutlery for the same reason, etc. The fear though is as valid as any other because of how it affects you.
We have to remember that probably all the threads on this board would be absurd to a non sufferer because they can instantly see there is nothing to worry about, especially if several doctors have already said nothing is wrong.
I understand what you mean though.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 05:21
Well... if you leave the lights on then he can see you ;)
Positive thoughts
Very true. I may have to think about that when I go to sleep tonight :yesyes:
---------- Post added at 04:21 ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 ----------
Fair enough, in which case I withdraw that.
I'm not a HAer myself, whether you fear you have cancer because you have fatigue or a brain tumour because of a headache or fear getting HIV from a glass of juice in a diner, it's all absurd.
Many of mine were absurd. Fearing changing my clothes bringing something bad to pass, eating with the wrong cutlery for the same reason, etc. The fear though is as valid as any other because of how it affects you.
We have to remember that probably all the threads on this board would be absurd to a non sufferer because they can instantly see there is nothing to worry about, especially if several doctors have already said nothing is wrong.
I understand what you mean though.
Ive had pretty absurd thoughts too with my anxiety. Just today I had my legs crossed and my foot fell asleep..I mean went totally numb.. and I thought I was having a stroke. We can laugh at ourselves and acknowledge when we're being outlandish or absurd or whatever. Nothing to take personally to the OP and whoever else thought my comment was rude. In the words of the Joker, "why so serious?" :roflmao::roflmao:
walkerbull
30-04-17, 05:30
Interesting, I was told my Mother would put me in a mental asylum if I didn't shut up.
Its bizzare, half of me knows I am being irrational, while the other half just stares into space not knowing if I only have days to live.
Because it's a serious place. I always feel like most of the people here are frowning at me whenever I have a joke here. This place could benefit from a bit of light heartedness.
---------- Post added at 14:06 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------
Interesting, I was told my Mother would put me in a mental asylum if I didn't shut up.
Its bizzare, half of me knows I am being irrational, while the other half just stares into space not knowing if I only have days to live.
You have been given good advice regarding your mother's refusal to take you to the doctors. Go and see the school counsellor and he or she will make it happen.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 05:39
Swajj I agree!
walkerbull
30-04-17, 05:40
Because it's a serious place. I always feel like most of the people here are frowning at me whenever I have a joke here. This place could benefit from a bit of light heartedness.
---------- Post added at 14:06 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------
You have been given good advice regarding your mother's refusal to take you to the doctors. Go and see the school counsellor and he or she will make it happen.
I am not going to the doctor by myself, I am trying to make her.
I never said go to the doctor yourself. I said go to the school counsellor. The school counsellor will get the ball rolling.
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-17, 06:49
Ive had pretty absurd thoughts too with my anxiety. Just today I had my legs crossed and my foot fell asleep..I mean went totally numb.. and I thought I was having a stroke. We can laugh at ourselves and acknowledge when we're being outlandish or absurd or whatever. Nothing to take personally to the OP and whoever else thought my comment was rude. In the words of the Joker, "why so serious?" :roflmao::roflmao:
:D The nurses outfit would be distracting me a bit though...:whistles:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/82/ab/3b82abfd5446c6b8a937b9b6c47a74ae.jpg
ElectricAlice
30-04-17, 08:54
:D The nurses outfit would be distracting me a bit though...:whistles:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/82/ab/3b82abfd5446c6b8a937b9b6c47a74ae.jpg
:roflmao:
ChildOfTheKing
30-04-17, 15:25
Those rag mags always take something even if unfounded & run with it for a good scare. They're the same types that run articles saying deodorant will give you cancer, but I'd hope people wouldn't run around without some deodorant on. You're fine OP. Promise. Being HA myself I get reading a scare article and developing fear from it.
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 17:30
So I kept trying to post a meme I found that went well with that pic Terry but my tech savviness isn't what I thought it to be.
But yes, the dress can be a little worrying...but just check out that winner's smile.
*swoon*
ScaredLizard
30-04-17, 17:34
So I kept trying to post a meme I found that went well with that pick Terry but my tech savviness isn't what I thought it to be.
But yes, the dress can be a little worrying...but just check out that winner's smile.
*swoon*
LOL! I wondered what had happened and why you had two deleted posts. I thought your computer might have been acting up
Jackrabbit... I see you survived the night and your beta fish didn't get you! ;)
Positive thoughts
Jackrabbit
30-04-17, 18:04
Jackrabbit... I see you survived the night and your beta fish didn't get you! ;)
Positive thoughts
Yes thankfully my fish decided to spare me last night. However, he has been giving me death glares all day so I may have to sleep with one eye open tonight.
:lac:
MyNameIsTerry
01-05-17, 06:57
So I kept trying to post a meme I found that went well with that pic Terry but my tech savviness isn't what I thought it to be.
But yes, the dress can be a little worrying...but just check out that winner's smile.
*swoon*
Haha! Yes, it's a bit fiddly posting images at first. Always preview them as you know if the forum will accept the link (always always pain when you find just the right image). It highlights the link too so I always click off the post window otherwise I end up deleting the link again.
I used to have fish. Mine just looked a bit thick...and they do say pets & owners share things :ohmy: :biggrin:
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