There are potentially some issues with the regulation of your sleep cycle due to how the pineal gland reacts to light.
From bit.ly/ZZw1Y1:
"Sleeping with the light on can impair a person's body clock. Research has shown that the body clock is negatively affected even if the person continues to doze off. The research into the effect of light on sleep can help foster new treatments for various sleep disorders.
Being exposed to light at nighttime can trigger a chemical process that can operate as a neural switch that can switch the sleep/wake cycle on and off. By nature, the sleep/wake cycle is run by the pineal gland. The pineal gland, located in the brain, secretes melatonin. The production of melatonin is at its peak when a person sleeps.
An enzyme called AA-NAT or N-acetyltransferase is involved in the production of melatonin. This particular biochemical machine can cause the production of melatonin to turn on and off. High levels of the AA-NAT enzyme can produce high levels of melatonin to induce sleep. In general, the pineal gland shields the AA-NAT enzyme from being destroyed by proteasomes or barrel-shaped cell structures.
Turning on a bedside lamp at nighttime can block the stimulation of the pineal gland causing the AA-NAT protein to be destroyed by the proteasomes. This results in a continuous drop in the level of melatonin secretion."
Is it normal to sleep with the light on?
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There are potentially some issues with the regulation of your sleep cycle due to how the pineal gland reacts to light.
From bit.ly/ZZw1Y1:
"Sleeping with the light on can impair a person's body clock. Research has shown that the body clock is negatively affected even if the person continues to doze off. The research into the effect of light on sleep can help foster new treatments for various sleep disorders.
Being exposed to light at nighttime can trigger a chemical process that can operate as a neural switch that can switch the sleep/wake cycle on and off. By nature, the sleep/wake cycle is run by the pineal gland. The pineal gland, located in the brain, secretes melatonin. The production of melatonin is at its peak when a person sleeps.
An enzyme called AA-NAT or N-acetyltransferase is involved in the production of melatonin. This particular biochemical machine can cause the production of melatonin to turn on and off. High levels of the AA-NAT enzyme can produce high levels of melatonin to induce sleep. In general, the pineal gland shields the AA-NAT enzyme from being destroyed by proteasomes or barrel-shaped cell structures.
Turning on a bedside lamp at nighttime can block the stimulation of the pineal gland causing the AA-NAT protein to be destroyed by the proteasomes. This results in a continuous drop in the level of melatonin secretion."