Lighting Times in Hospitals Affect Patients’ Health

Human beings are used to a cycle of light timings with light in the day and dark in the night. Accordingly, our mind and body feel active in daytime and laze afterwards. When we are exposed to light in inappropriate hours we tend to get irritated and find it hard to respond properly. Same phenomenon can get exacerbated if we are ill, as our body and mind is already fighting diseases and cannot bear extra agony. Yet this is a common sight in hospitals, medical centers and nursing homes that they are shining bright twenty-four hours – especially in the I.C.U. and other sensitive sections.

It has been ignored mostly but now researchers are paying attention to the potential ill-effects this untimely lighting has on our circadian rhythm, i.e. our biological clock. Scientists from University of Colorado suggest that if the hospitals, medical centers and the likes control their light intensity, duration and sunlight exposure than they may help patients recover quicker than otherwise. This subject is wide and welcoming for further research that can help improve the conditions.

Find out more on this topic from the research article, Entrainment of the Human Circadian Clock to the Light-Dark Cycle and its Impact on Patients in the ICU and Nursing Home Settings.