Why iPhone and Droid Aren't Smart for the Bedroom

Smartphones more than ever are capturing the hearts of American consumers. Look at most tech blogs these days and you’ll find a vast number of articles are about Apple’s iPhone 4 or Google's latest Android phone. It’s not hard to see why. The modern “super phone” does it all; it’s a phone, a computer and an entertainment system rolled into a handheld device.

Just don’t bring these devices into the bedroom. Smartphones are smaller, but functionally similar to the supposedly insomnia-causing iPad.

Obviously that story reported by countless news outlets in April was a bit overblown. iPads, smartphones or computers with bright screens won’t cause insomnia outright, but they can be detrimental to your sleep.

If you’re familiar with the concepts of sleep hygiene you would know that bright screens can prevent you from feeling tired. The blue and green light emitted from the screen can alter the natural human circadian process by preventing the body from secreting melatonin. Sleep hygiene also advise against using your bedroom for activities other than sleep and sex.

Going against both of these recommendations by using your iPhone in bed is a recipe for disaster, right? Not necessarily. Some people can get away with using smartphones in bed without the slightest change in sleep. It’s kind of like how some people prefer to fall asleep with the television on.

The Sleep Education Blog of course doesn’t advocate either practice. We recommend turning off all electronic devices at least a half hour before bed, especially if you typically have a difficult time falling asleep. Try reading a book, listening to music or a podcast or doing light chores around your home instead.

Even your run-of-the-mill cell phone may interfere with sleep. Parents complain teens and young adults may stay up too late texting or talking to friends. Some studies have gone so far as to suggest the radio frequency field can alter your sleep architecture just by keeping your cell phone on the nightstand. Other studies have reported no such effects.

Because there are so many conflicting reports, we don’t know exactly what kind of other effects cell phones have on our sleeping patterns. So maybe it’s best just to be safe and leave cell phones and smartphones out of the bedroom.

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Green light also alters sleep, television before bed still bad

Sleep experts warn the bright light produced by televisions, computers and iPads can meddle with sleep. There’s a line of products made to counter that effect by blocking out blue light wavelengths, which can reset the body’s circadian clock. Online you can purchase special sunglasses and screen filters, but there’s no guarantee the products will work as advertised and prevent insomnia.

There’s new evidence that its not just blue wavelength light that alters the body’s circadian clock. Researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found the green light produced from those same sources has a similar effect.

More than a decade ago, scientists discovered there are special cells in the eye that contain the blue light-absorbing pigment melanopsin. When the eye detects blue light, it delays the body from secreting melatonin.

The authors of the new study wanted to see if the eye’s rods and cones, which respond to green light wavelengths, also contributed to the body’s circadian adjustment.

The researchers exposed a group of volunteers separately to blue and green light, both for several durations and intensities. The experiment happened in the evening, before the body naturally secretes melatonin. Scientists measured the subjects’ melatonin response in each condition.

At low intensity, there was very little difference in the body’s reaction to blue and green light wavelengths. However, blue light produced a greater effect over time and at higher intensities.

The authors suggest there’s room to improve light therapy for sleep disorders based on these findings. The treatment may be more effective if the light devices combined blue and green light.

The study may have potentially substantial implications for the field of sleep research.

AASM President Clete Kushida told USA Today “(the finding) sort of goes against what was believed before.”

He said researchers should explore the possibility that the full spectrum of light may affect the body clock.

For our readers who aren’t scientists, the study reinforces the notion that evening use of electronic screens can hinder sleep, and special sunglasses won’t help. We recommend shutting off the television or other bright electronic devices an hour before bedtime and picking up a book, or better yet, an e-reader.

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iPad insomnia: Amazon Kindle better for your sleep than Apple tablet

With a nearly limitless library of books available for instant download, the Apple iPad is a tempting purchase for literature lovers.

There’s just one small deal-breaker: it’s bad for bedtime reading.

The device’s bright, colorful screen can get in the way of bedtime habits and encourage insomnia.

Over the weekend Frisca Yan-Go, director of the AASM certified UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, told the Los Angeles Times books won’t mess with your sleep cycle like the iPad.

“Light-emitting devices, including cell phones and yep, the iPad, tell the brain to stay alert. Because users hold those devices so close to their face, staring directly into the light, the effect is amplified compared with, say, a TV across the room or a bedside lamp, said Frisca Yan-Go, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center in Santa Monica.”

So using the iPad as an eReader isn’t much different than using a laptop or watching TV in bed, both habits we recommend against.

eReaders like the Amazon Kindle, appear to be a better alternative because they don’t give off light. The gadgets e-paper, a Sony developed technology that imitates the printed page.

AASM member and UCLA Neurology Clinic Director Alon Avidan also cautioned against using electronic gadgets before bed in an email to the Los Angeles Times. He did say however, that the Kindle is better for your sleep.

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