Kids Sleeping With Light On May Cause Cancer

KIDS SLEEPING WITH LIGHT ON MAY CAUSE CANCER SLEEPING WITH LIGHT ON MAY CAUSE CANCER KIDS who sleep with the light on could risk leukemia, parents were warned yesterday. Scientists have found the body needs darkness to produce a chemical thatfights cancer. Even switching the light on for the toilet, staying up late,traveling across time zones, or the light from street lamps can stop enoughmelatonin being made, they say. The body needs the chemical to prevent damage to DNA and its absencestops fatty acids reaching tumors and preventing them growing.

Texas University Prof Russell Reiter, who led the research, said: 'Once you go to bed you should noteven switch the light on for a minute. 'Your brain immediately recognizes the lightas day and melatonin levels drop.' Rates of childhood leukemia have doubled in the past 40 years. About 500 youngsters under 15 are diagnosed with the disease each yearand around 100 died. A conference on childhood leukemia in London yesterday heardthat people were being subjected to more light at night than ever. This suppressed the production of melatonin, which normally happensbetween 9pm and 8am.

Past research has shown those most affected, like shift workers, hadhigher levels of breast cancer. Blind people, who are not vulnerable to fluctuations of melatonin, havelower rates of cancer, it was found. Parents are advised to use dim red or yellow bulbs if their youngstersare scared of the dark.