Impact of Light on Health

        Lighting plays a very important role in the lives of human beings and our happiness and well-being. Based on the readings it seems as though we have a set schedule about what lighting we can be exposed to at what time of day and if that schedule is tampered with it can have damaging effects on our health. However, though good design it is possible to minimize these harmful effects by considering site planning, building orientation, architectural openings, shading and screening systems, and electrical lighting systems. There should be some kind of system in order to help with the health issues that people who work night shifts face because they are at work all night and then sleep during the day, which damages their circadian rhythm. I think that close attention should be paid to both the natural lighting entering a space as well as the artificial light within the space because they are both equally important to our well-being. Research has shown that the interruption to our circadian rhythm is not only harmful to our sleep but has also been found to contribute to a number of diseases. It has been proven that blue emitting lights have the ability to keep us more awake and alert throughout the day by suppressing the production of melatonin, which is the chemical in our brain that makes us sleepy. The only downside to this is that if you are staying up late with the lights on you are damaging your circadian rhythm by delaying the production of melatonin that would usually be released and make you go to sleep at that time. Being exposed to these lights late at night has been shown to cause weight gain and breast cancer. Hopefully we can find a health balance to keep us safer, especially in this day and age.