Exposure To More Light At Night Can Trigger Heart Disease? This Is An Expert Explanation

Illustration of children playing gadgets (Pexels/Towfiqu barbhuiya)

JAKARTA - Exposure to light at night, both from the use of cell phones and lights, turns out to be related to the risk of higher cardiovascular disease. This was revealed in the latest journal published in the JAMA Network Open.

In particular, experts see greater risks than exposure to excess light at night in heart failure,tengery arterial disease, atrium fibrillation, myocard infark (cardiac attack), and stroke.

The study was carried out by tracing a week of exposure to night light among 88,905 adults over the age of 40. Participants use wrist sensors to measure their light exposure from half a morning and a half to six a.m.

The researchers then looked at their heart health data for 9.5 years and adjusted it to cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking, physical activity, shift work, and socio-economic status.

As a result, people who are exposed to high light at night have the worst health results. Those who have high light exposure at night are likely to experience 56 percent higher heart failure, 56 percent more risk of a heart attack, and 30 percent greater risk of a stroke.

Researchers say that this happens because exposure to night light is related to the rhythm of circadian, which is a 24-hour sleep-building cycle of the human body.

Ritme sirkadian is really an important part of a healthy lifestyle and that disorder in that case, sleep-building cycles can be associated with cardiovascular events," said UChicago Medicine cardiologist Dr. Jeremy Slivnick, quoted from Huffpost, on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.

Professor of cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Aneni's Ehimen, said that exposure to excess light at night disrupts the rhythm of circadiance, which eventually leads to quality and duration of sleep. Lack of sleep can affect the overall health of the body.

"I think exposure to light translates into a circadidian rhythm disorder, which may affect sleep duration, of course affecting overall health," Aneni explained.

"Purturation of sleep can increase stress, anxiety, and improve the body's mechanism to fight or escape, which can stress the heart, and in the long term affect cardiovascular," added Slivnick.

Therefore, it is highly recommended to reduce exposure to light at night. Starting from turning off the lights while you are sleeping, limiting the light from the screen before bed, and prioritizing rest, it will help your heart health be maintained.

"And in terms of cardiovascular disease, the healthier you get, the lower the risk of cardiovascular disease you are," Aneni concluded.