Posted: 06/03/2024
Light Exposure & Type 2 Diabetes Risk: What to Know
Originally published by The Lancet, 4 June 2024
Light at night disrupts circadian rhythms, and circadian disruption is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Whether personal light exposure predicts diabetes risk has not been demonstrated in a large prospective cohort. This study assessed whether personal light exposure patterns predicted risk of incident type 2 diabetes in UK Biobank participants, using ∼13 million hours of light sensor data.
The study concluded that type 2 diabetes risk was higher in people exposed to brighter night light, and in people exposed to light patterns that may disrupt circadian rhythms. Avoidance of light at night could be a simple and cost-effective recommendation that mitigates risk of diabetes, even in those with high genetic risk.