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A selection of articles about autumn for you this week as we get ready for the clock change and for many of us a period of gloom – and that’s without thinking about the news!
Daylight savings = Winter blues?
It may be just an hour but for some it’s a killer. This Danish study of over 185,000 patients found the shift ‘was associated with an 11% increase in unipolar depressive episodes’ – Daylight Savings Time Transitions and the Incidence Rate of Unipolar Depressive Episodes
In Spain, DST is associated with an average cost of 1.5 additional lives lost every year due to road traffic accidents’ in capital cities alone. The solution? Set your body clock up!
1/ Switch off and get to bed a bit earlier if you can – make sure the room is dark. Encourage the kids to do the same – especially teens whose body clocks are already running around two hours later. Plan to eat a bit earlier too. Even night owls can shift their body clocks by managing food intake – and avoiding midnight snacks! – Mistimed food intake and sleep alters 24-hour time-of-day patterns of the human plasma proteome
2/ Get outside first thing in the morning. A good breakfast will give your brain another boost.
3/ Accept you may feel a bit up and down in the first few days and take more care behind the wheel – the effect wears off after a few days for most. The global impact of just one hours’ shift might be just the trigger we need to finally give our body clocks the respect they deserve – and use light and darkness to give it a helping hand!
“Nobody is coming…”
A favourite quote from the great Mel Robbins…
I am often asked ‘what should governments do to ensure a basic right to sustainable light (and darkness) for all? Regulations, joined up thinking and decisions based on science spring to mind. But if there is a silver lining to these desperate days, it is a timely reminder that there are no ‘grown up’s’. We can ‘get away with murder’ – and some always will.
But Benjamin Franklin’s classic phrase ‘doing well by doing good’ stands the test of time. Environmental, According to some, social and Governance benchmarking is a tough sell, adding around 4.5% to the bottom line – McKinsey tackles the objections one by one – Does ESG really matter—and why?
For the lighting sector, TM66 offers practical solutions to tackle the ‘E’ – is a great start according to this article by CIBSE – TM66 – Creating a circular economy in the lighting industry now available
Nobody’s coming. It really is up to you.
Want to improve your footwork?
Sleep will help you keep in step! This article explains that chronic and acute sleep deprivation get in the way of a stable gait – Sleep deprivation affects gait control
Keep winter weight gain in check?
This paper explains that bright ‘blue’ light from sunlight during the summer not only affects mood, attention and sleep though our eyes- and our likelihood of reaching for comfort food – through the winter,- but seems to affect the fat cells too – Subcutaneous white adipocytes express a light sensitive signaling pathway mediated via a melanopsin/TRPC channel axis
All the more reason to get as much daylight as you can – and make sure you get enough sleep – Getting more sleep reduces caloric intake, a game changer for weight loss programs
As ever, do get in touch if there’s something you’d like me to cover – and if any of you are as passionate as I am about evidence-led design please come along on the 3rd of November to this panel debate sponsored by the SLL – we’ve got over 200 guests so far from around the world and some inspiring speakers who will share funding opportunities and ways for each of us to get involved. Look forward to seeing you there! Register here.