KEEP your bedroom as dark as possible, say researchers who have shown that exposure to light at night - from street lighting or night lights - can increase the risk of heart problems and type 2 diabetes.
If you can see your hand in front of your face but wouldn't be able to read the words on a page if you were holding a book, the lighting is just right, says Professor Daniela Grimaldi, a neurologist at Northwestern University in the United States.
She showed that heart rate, which normally falls as our body relaxes during sleep, stays raised in those exposed to light, which reduces the body's ability to recover from the day's stresses.
Light also disrupted the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels, the journal PNAS reported in March.
It's thought light stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which accelerates heart rate and slows digestion in times of danger.
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