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Brian Zoltowski, Chemistry, Why Americans don’t get enough sleep

Healthline

The following is from the March 2, 2016, edition of Healthline. SMU Chemistry Professor Brian Zoltowski provided expertise for this story.

We all know that a good night’s rest is vital to overall health, but we may not realize how essential it is or try hard enough to get it.

After all, a rough night can easily be “erased” by guzzling a good cup of coffee in the morning, right?

Maybe not.

Prioritizing sleep and finding solutions if you’re not getting enough is smart if you want to maintain optimal health. . .

Street light radiance isn’t the only culprit. Other sources of blue light from computers, televisions, or other electronic devices could be impairing your ability to sleep.

“As a society, we are using more technology, and there’s increasing evidence that artificial light has had a negative consequence on our health,” Brian Zoltowski, PhD, a professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said in a statement.

He conducted research in 2014 that reported how light impacts chemical signals in our bodies. The interruptions can affect sleep, metabolism, cancer development, drug addiction, and mood disorders, to name a few. READ MORE