This Could Increase Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease More Than Anything: Study

. . .Researchers say that exposure to bright outside lights at night could increase your odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease more than other risk factors, especially for young people.

“We show that in the US there is a positive association between [Alzheimer’s] prevalence and exposure to light at night, particularly in those under the age of 65,” said Robin Voigt-Zuwala, an associate professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “Nightly light pollution — a modifiable environmental factor — may be an important risk factor.”

Voigt-Zuwala’s team studied maps of light pollution — such as streetlights, roadway lighting and illuminated signs — and divided the lower 48 states into five groups, from lowest to highest nighttime light intensity.

Artificial light at night can disrupt the body’s 24-hour biological clock and ruin sleep. Sleep deprivation and insomnia are associated with cognitive decline.

For seniors, Alzheimer’s prevalence had stronger ties to light pollution than risk factors such as alcohol abuse, chronic kidney disease, depression and obesity. (Read more from “This Could Increase Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease More Than Anything: Study” HERE)