Want to sleep better? Switch off laptops, TVs an hour before bed

London: Experts suggest switching off the TV, computer and mobile phone an hour before going to bed to get a good night’s sleep.

Nine in ten people admit using electronics in the hour before turning out the lights – and they claim that it’s wrecking their sleep patterns, reports a daily. Artificial light emitted by TV and computer screens and over-stimulation of the brain have been blamed. The worst activities are video games, using mobiles and surfing the Internet, according to a major survey by the U.S. National Sleep Foundation. Dr Charles Czeisler, of Harvard Medical School, said, “Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts normal sleep patterns to a later hour.” Even after lights out technology is disrupting sleep. One in ten people in their 20s said they were routinely woken during the night by a phone call, text message or email. Professor Jim Horne, director of the sleep research centre at Loughborough University, said: “Even children aged five, six and seven have got video games in their bedroom. “They need to settle down and relax before going to bed.” ANI