Bright light accelerates ageing in mice

OJO Images Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo Mice exposed to constant bright light over several weeks shifted to a 25.5-hour day. Eliane Lucassen works the night shift at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, beginning her day at 6 p.m. Yet her own research has shown that this schedule might cause her health problems. “It’s funny,” the medical resident says. “Here I am, spreading around that it’s actually unhealthy. But it needs to be done.” Lucassen and Johanna Meijer, a neuroscientist at Leiden, report today in Current Biology1 that a constant barrage of bright light prematurely ages mice, playing havoc with their circadian clocks and causing a cascade of health problems. Mice exposed to constant light experienced bone-density loss, skeletal-muscle weakness and inflammation; restoring their health was as simple as turning…


Link to Full Article: Bright light accelerates ageing in mice

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