If you want a good night's sleep, switch off the TV, computer and mobile phone an hour before going to bed, experts say. Nine in ten people admit using electronics in the hour before turning out the lights – and it's wrecking their sleep patterns, it is claimed。
Artificial light emitted by TV and computer screens and over-stimulation of the brain has been blamed. The worst activities are video games, using mobiles and surfing the internet, according to a survey by the US National Sleep Foundation。
Charles Czeisler of Harvard Medical School said: "Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin enhances alertness and shifts normal sleep patterns to a later hour."
Even after lights out technology is disrupting sleep. One in ten people in their 20s said they were routinely woken during the night by a phone call, text message or email。