Research
excerpts discussing the debilitating effects of cool-white fluorescent
lights, how light affects our mind and bodies..
Many
thanks to The University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology for
providing Hollwich, Dieckhues, Hartmann excerpts and articles.
Many thanks to these Doctors for their wisdom and insite to investigate
and prove that we need to respect and manage our light.
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According to Dr. Sam Berman,* our eyes respond better to full-spectrum light. His research included the eye's pupil response to light. The findings included that the pupil responded accurately to natural light spectrums. Unnatural or skewed spectrums, the pupil was not accurately responsive. Hence, a starting point for eye strain.
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Dr. Fritz Hollwich (professor, author, researcher Professor of
Ophthalmology, University of Muenster, West Germany), said his
findings explain the agitated mental and physical behavior of
children who spend up to six hours each day in school under artificial
illumination (3500 and 3200 1x). He goes on to stress the importance
of using light that is closest to natural light.
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The
Hollwich study concludes in summary, that under equal conditions,
the full-spectrum fluorescent tubes produced significantly less
of the "stress hormones" ACTH and cortisol, than were
found with the widely used standard cool-white lamps. "In
other words, from the standpoint of health, this broad spectrum
tube is much better tolerated regarding the endocrine response
of the human body than the standard cool-white one."
(Page 94 of Hollwich's book, "The Influence of Ocular Light
Perception on Metabolsim in Man and in Animal")
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[The
effect of natuaral and artificial light via the eye on the hormonal
and metabolic balance of man (author's transl)]. [German] Klinishe
Monatsblatter fur Augenheilkunde. 171(1) :98-104, 1977 Jul.
Abstract
Examinations of hormone levels in blind persons compared with
almost blind and people with normal vision and hormone evaluation
with increased artificial light exposure show a definite stimulating
effect of light on the human hormonal balance. The effect of light
is mediated by an intact perception of light by the eye over an "energetic part" of the visual pathway (Hollwich 1948) - hypothalamus
- hypophysis - peripheral endocrine gland. Increasing the intensity
of artificial light with "neon-tubes" (fluorescent tubes) leads
to "light stress" proved by increased hormone production - especially
the stress hormone Cortisol. The belief that artificial light
is the same as natural light and that it can fully replace it,
is inappropriate in the medical view and needs correction
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Authors
Hollwich F. Dieckhues B.
Title
[Effect of light on the eye on metabolism and hormones]. [German]
Original Title Der Einfluss des Lichtes uber das Auge auf den
Stoffwechsel und die Hormone.
Source
Klinische Monatsblatter fur Augenheilkunde. 195(5):284-90, 1989
Nov.
Local Messages
Hardin Library has current subscription
MeSH Subject Headings
*Cataract/pp [Physiopathology]. *Cataract Extraction. Circadian
Rhythm/ph [Physiology]. *Corticotropin/bl [Blood]. *Energy Metabolism/ph
[Physiology]. English Abstract. Eosinophils/ph [Physiology]. Human.
*Hydrocortisone/bl [Blood]. Hypothalamus/pp [Physiopathology].
Leukocyte Count. *Light. Retina/pp [Physiopathology]. Visual Pathways/pp
[Physiopathology].
Abstract
Numerous metabolic parameters in serum and urine were examined
in 110 cataract patients before and after cataract surgery. The
marked reduction in light passing through the eye due to opacities
(vision less than 1/10) leads to characteristic metabolic and
hormonal disturbances. ACTH and cortisol production decreases,
metabolism slows down and due to an adrenal insufficiency for
which the pituitary is responsible there are characteristic changes
in the cortisol-dependent metabolic processes. In addition, an "energetic action" of the light affecting the hypothalamus via
the retino-hypothalamic pathways (the "energetic portion" of the
visual pathway) was proved in patients who were blinded by cataract
and had metabolic disturbances as a result. Postoperatively, after
elimination of the lens opacities, the metabolism and hormones
of the same patients returned to normal. As a result of restoration
of exogenous light stimulation to the diencephalon-hypophysis
system via the retinohypothalamic pathway ("energetic pathway" of the optic system) the metabolism and hormones returned to normal
during the patients' stay in the hospital. These comparative investigations
in the same patients before and after cataract extraction provide
for the first time irrefutable scientific evidence of the influence
of light via the eye on the human organism.
Registry Numbers
50-23-7 (Hydrocortisone). 9002-60-2 (Corticotropin).
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Authors
Hollwich F. Hartmann C.
Title
[Influence of light through the eyes on metabolism and hormones].
[French] Original Title L'influence de la lumiere a travers l'oeil
sur les metabolismes et sur les hormones.
Source
Ophtalmologie. 4(4):385-9, 1990 Jul-Aug.
Local Messages
Journal not held at the University of Iowa Libraries
MeSH Subject Headings
Animal. Cataract/pp [Physiopathology]. Cataract Extraction. English
Abstract. Eye/ph [Physiology]. *Eye/re [Radiation Effects]. Hormones/se
[Secretion]. Human. Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System/ph [Physiology].
*Light. *Metabolism/re [Radiation Effects]. Research. Retina/ph
[Physiology]. Retina/re [Radiation Effects].
Abstract
The eye plays a double role: on the one side it is the optic camera,
on the other side independent of the optic path ways it is the
light receptor which stimulates the retino-hypothalamique pathway
of the endocrine-visceral system. To determine this influence,
we compared the metabolisme (water balance, blood sugar and blood
cell count) as well as the hormones (ACTH, Cortisol) of fifty
patients with bilateral almost total cataract, before (practically
blind) and after cataract surgery (regain of light). There was
a significant difference between the metabolic and hormonal values
before and after cataract extraction, reaching physiologically
normal levels due to the stimulating influence of light after
the operation.
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The American
Institute of Architects now recommends that full-spectrum replace
lights replace cool-whites in our learning environments where
concentration levels need to be at their highest.
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*Sam Berman is presently senior scientist emeritus at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He was the originator and the first leader of the lighting research program. Before joining LBNL, he was professor of physics at Stanford University, where he was a member of the team that founded the Stanford Linear Accelerator.
