Orange lenses against adolescent insomnia

According to Mariana Figueiro, a researcher at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutes Lighting Research Center of Troy (New York), adolescents who don't sleep well can be helped just by wearing glasses with orange lenses.

The lenses block out a certain type of light and this helps to reset a teenager's biological clock.

The sleep problems typical of adolescence (late-night insomnia and difficulty in getting up in the morning) could be due to conflict between the biological clock and the normal 24-hour solar day. According to Figueiro, it is sometimes necessary to reset our internal clock which regulates the sleeping-waking rhythm and synchronize it with the light-dark cycle of the solar day.

But teenage habits and lifestyles (going to bed late and getting up early, but spending the first hours of the day closed inside school) can also contribute to altering the circadian rhythm.

An indication of this is given by melatonin levels; in adolescents with sleeping problems at one in the morning, they are similar to those normally recorded during the day in their contemporaries. In short, for certain teenagers it is as if the days are longer than normal because they extend into part of the night, making it difficult to sleep.

To solve the problem, the researcher and her team suggest that young insomniacs wear special glasses with orange lenses so as to block out the blue light of day when they go to school in the morning.

A few hours later, when their body temperature is lower, the youngsters should spend half an hour exposed to sunlight or to artificial blue light. This will allow the circadian system to be reset and teenagers will get to classes ready and eager after a good night's sleep.

(Source: Adnkronos Salute)