Continuous use of smart phones can lead to headaches and eye strain. The blue light rays also pose health problems to the eyes. Use of smart phones at night can lead to the disruption of circadian sleep cycle and production of lesser amount of sleep hormone named melatonin. Let us examine the situation in detail.

Circadian rhythm

Circadian rhythm of body is the 24 hour internal clock that controls one person’s sleep cycle. In other words circadian rhythm specifies the time to sleep and the time to get up in respect of a particular person. For some people the time between 4 am to 6 am is associated with low energy. Similarly the time period between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm are low energy periods and hence is used for an afternoon nap. This low energy period can change from person to person as some people are active at night whereas most people are active in the morning. If the circadian rhythm is disrupted it can lead to problems with his sleep like insomnia and can lead to eye problems like blurry vision, redness, dry eyes etc.

Importance of circadian rhythm

Now let us examine why circadian rhythm is very important? This 24 hour internal clock is related to sleep and awake patterns of a person. It further controls the hormone levels in the body. Sleep experts opine that using smart phones before going to sleep can result in the disruption of circadian rhythm and in less production of sleep hormone called melatonin. Reduced production of sleep hormone, can lead to deprivation of sleep thereby keeping the patient awake late at night. Normal production of melatonin hormone is necessary for healthy sleep pattern and maintaining the circadian rhythm.

How to solve the problem?

Let us think about how we can solve this problem. People who cannot avoid using smart phones even at the time of sleep are advised to wear special glasses that can filter harmful blue light when using smart phone. Studies have shown that people who use special orange tinted glass that can filter blue rays will be able to maintain their circadian rhythm without any damage. Such users are found to get healthy sleep as the sleep hormone produced in their case does not undergo any change at all.

A person who regularly uses smart phone should understand that sleep is very precious to eye sight.  So such person should be careful about the problems associated with the use of smart phones at night and take suitable steps as suggested above to cover the blue rays and to maintain the circadian rhythm.