Being exposed to too much mobile phone light at night can increase the risk of bowel cancer by up to 60%. This was revealed in a medical study in Spain.
The study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that artificial light, also known as blue light emitted at night, can lead to other medical problems such as sleep deprivation and obesity.
Medical experts have previously linked blue light emitted from mobile devices to breast and bladder cancers.
But now researchers say the habit also increases the risk of bowel cancer.
“Based on previous research, we decided to analyze the link between exposure to artificial light and bowel cancer, the third most common type of cancer worldwide, after lung and breast cancer,” he said. Is.
The survey included nearly 2,000 people from Barcelona and Madrid.
More than 650 of them were diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Using images from the International Space Station, researchers were able to determine the level of blue light at night in both of these Spanish cities.
The researchers found that residents of areas with high blue light had a 60 percent higher risk of developing bowel cancer than the others.
The study did not include people working night shifts, and the researchers said blue light emitted from mobile phone screens, white LED bulbs and tablets.
He added that this light emits a lot of energy and prolonged exposure to it causes the level of melatonin in the human body to decrease.
Melatonin plays a central role in regulating many important functions and day and night cycles, it is a powerful antioxidant and also helps in anti-inflammatory functions.
Researchers say that exposure to this light at night affects the amount and formation of melatonin, which depends on the intensity and wavelength of light.
However, he said more work was needed to verify the findings and issue evidence-based recommendations.
Earlier, a study by the same Spanish medical institution in 2018 revealed that there is a link between blue light and breast and bladder cancer.
The results of the new study were published in the medical journal Epidemiology.
It is believed that cancer is the fastest spreading disease in the world and in 2018, 18.1 million new cases were reported and 9.6 million people died.