Many people believe that the modern-day skincare trends are a scam made by the big pharma companies who wish to make more money. This is a recent trend of ‘Anti-Aging’ skincare that keeps yourself on toes for the innate need for women to stay ‘young’ if they wish to be desirable. The beauty industry, in a way, feeds on such societal-made insecurities. But the recent rise in the trend has taken a different turn. While before people did it before to look prettier or fairer, now people are looking at this skincare routine as a way of taking care of themselves rather than doing to match someone else's beauty standards. This is why, this trend has resurfaced in the skin care community. This is the blue light routine.

In today's digital age, where we spend countless hours looking at screens, from phones and tablets to laptops. This constant screen time exposes us to blue light, which research suggests can have negative effects on our skin. It also leads to premature aging and dark spots. The screens also leads to stress, which could further cause harm to skin. While ditching our devices isn't realistic, a growing number of skincare products claim to protect against blue light. But do these products actually work?

What is Blue Light Skincare?

You can find many skincare products that say they protect against blue light, like sprays, creams, gels, and sunscreens. Some promise to undo the damage blue light might cause, while others try to prevent it in the first place. Blue light sunscreens are special because they protect against both the sun's UV rays and blue light. This is what regular sunscreens don't do very well. Regular sunscreens, whether they use chemicals or minerals, don't block blue light as effectively.

However, tinted sunscreens are different. Tinted sunscreens with SPF 30 or higher can protect your skin from blue light, as well as UVA and UVB rays from the sun. This is because of the coloring in the tint. Some newer sunscreens also have special ingredients that help protect against visible light, including blue light. While scientists are still learning about how blue light affects skin, many skin doctors have found it to be helpful for skin.

What is Blue Light and Why Might It Be a Problem?

Blue light comes from screens, TVs, and even the sun. While we used to worry mostly about how it affects our eyes and sleep, now we're learning it might also affect our skin. Some studies show that too much blue light can damage skin cells and speed up aging, leading to wrinkles and uneven skin tone. It can also cause dark spots on the skin. This happens because blue light can cause something called "oxidative stress" in the skin, which is linked to aging. It leads to dead skin cells. Blue light goes deeper into the skin than the sun's UV rays and can make skin cells produce more pigment, causing dark spots. It's important to know that not all blue light is bad. There is a difference between the blue light that comes out of the screens and the blue light that is used from a certain blue light wavelength as a therapy. The latter is used by doctors to treat acne and some skin cancers.

Melatonin use has increased around the world as people grow more aware of sleep health and seek quick solutions for restless nights. The market now includes both standalone melatonin tablets and mixed formulas combined with calming plant extracts. Many doctors, however, are urging caution, warning that daily use may not be as safe or effective as people assume.

Why Are Doctors Warning Against Daily Melatonin Use?

A few years ago, pediatric sleep specialist Dr Judith Owens began noticing something unusual in her clinic. Owens, who teaches neurology at Harvard Medical School and works at Boston Children’s Hospital, has spent decades treating children who struggle to sleep. What startled her was how many of them were now taking melatonin. She explains that in most cases parents had already tried the supplement before seeking medical help, a sharp change from what she saw earlier in her career.

Also Read: Can High Blood Sugar Lead To Blindness? Expert Explains

As per TIMES, adults have followed a similar path. Between 1999 and 2018, the number of people in the United States using melatonin rose more than fivefold. Because it is sold as a supplement, companies can promote it as a harmless, natural sleep helper without formal review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Yet major sleep groups, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, do not recommend melatonin as a treatment for insomnia. Researchers continue to stress that its long-term impact remains uncertain.

How Much Melatonin Is Too Much

As night approaches, the pineal gland begins to release melatonin into the bloodstream. Levels rise through the night and decline after sunrise, helping the body understand the length of darkness and adjust internal functions accordingly.

Researchers have learned that melatonin’s reach extends beyond sleep. It influences immune activity, inflammation, and even the programmed death of cells. As per TIMES, experiments show that several tissues produce small amounts of melatonin on their own, and a wide range of cells carry receptors that respond to it.

Also Read: First U.S. Human Bird Flu Case In Nearly A Year Confirmed In Washington—New Strain Detected

Disturbances in melatonin rhythms have been found in conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, Type 2 diabetes, schizophrenia, some cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Interestingly, melatonin can be helpful when used under medical direction. Blind individuals with disrupted circadian cycles often benefit from carefully timed doses. Children with autism may sleep better with prescribed melatonin, and scientists have explored whether it could aid recovery after heart attacks.

Melatonin And Heart Failure: Is There A Link?

Despite these potential uses, most people take melatonin in ways that do not match how doctors view the hormone. Since large clinical trials are limited, some researchers have turned to electronic health records to spot trends.

One recent abstract, presented at an American Heart Association meeting, examined adults who were prescribed melatonin and took it for at least a year. These individuals had a markedly higher rate of heart failure compared with similar patients who did not take melatonin. The study sparked attention, though specialists caution against assuming that melatonin caused the problem. Insomnia and heart disease often coexist, so the need for melatonin may simply reflect early signs of heart trouble.

Is Melatonin Bad For You?

Many experts believe that the main issue is the lack of long-term data. Doctors still cannot say whether regular supplementation weakens the body’s own melatonin production. Owens is especially concerned about children who take melatonin nightly for long stretches. Melatonin influences bone growth, immune function, and reproductive development, which raises questions about possible effects later in life.

Some evidence offers reassurance. A Dutch research group followed children with ADHD and other diagnoses who were on medically supervised melatonin for nearly four years. They did not see harmful outcomes. Still, these children were monitored closely and given doses tailored to their needs. Without such oversight, adults and children may easily take more than required, disrupting the body’s internal clock and worsening sleep.

Metabolism also differs from person to person. A dose that is modest for one individual may linger in another’s system well into the morning.

Melatonin Use: Long Term Effects

Both Owens and sleep researcher Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge advise people to focus first on behavioral changes rather than pills. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I, is considered the most effective treatment for sleep problems in both adults and children. It relies on structured habits and practical adjustments that continue to help long after the treatment period ends.

Diabetes develops when the body can no longer use food efficiently for energy. In this condition, the system either produces too little insulin or does not respond to it well enough. Insulin is the hormone that moves glucose into the cells, where it can be used as fuel. When glucose stays in the bloodstream instead of entering the cells, it begins to harm the blood vessels and nerves that support every organ, including the eyes.

This raises a natural question: can diabetes lead to blindness?

To understand how this happens and what people can do to prevent it, we spoke with Dr Arpan Dev Bhattacharya, Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru.

Can Diabetes Lead To Blindness?

High blood sugar, especially in people living with diabetes, can lead to serious eye problems and even permanent vision loss. When glucose stays elevated for long periods, it harms the fine network of blood vessels that nourish the retina. This injury is known as diabetic retinopathy, a condition that may begin with mild blurring and gradually progress to significant loss of sight if it is not treated in time.

Other eye diseases linked to diabetes include diabetic macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma, each adding to the risk of visual decline.

Dr Arpan Dev Bhattacharya said, “Earliest changes almost always appear in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. The vessels here are extremely delicate. When sugar levels remain high, these vessels become fragile or start to leak, creating the groundwork for diabetic retinopathy.”

Diabetes And Blindness: Early Warning Signs Are Easy to Miss

Diabetic eye disease often begins without noticeable symptoms. Some early clues include blurred or shifting vision, faded colours, difficulty seeing in low light, or small dark floaters that drift across the field of sight. These symptoms can come and go, which makes people dismiss them. Routine eye exams with dilation remain the most reliable way to detect trouble before vision begins to decline.

Blood Sugar Targets That Protect the Eyes

Good metabolic control offers the strongest defence. For most adults with diabetes, the recommended targets include an HbA1c below 7 percent, fasting glucose between 70 and 130 mg per decilitre, and post-meal readings under 180 mg per decilitre. According to Dr Bhattacharya, keeping blood pressure and cholesterol within recommended ranges also helps lower the risk of retinal complications.

Innovative Therapies For Treatment

Researchers are also studying whether certain diabetes medications may offer additional protection. Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist widely used for type 2 diabetes and weight management, has drawn particular interest. Dr Bhattacharya said, “Early studies suggest it may reduce stress on retinal cells and slow processes linked to cell injury. Later reviews show that semaglutide does not significantly raise retinopathy risk when compared with other treatments, and some findings even point toward possible benefits. More clinical trials are underway to define its role.”

While new therapies may strengthen prevention strategies, the core advice remains unchanged. Consistent glucose control, regular screening, and timely care provide the best protection against vision loss.

Lone Star Tick disease: Scientists have verified the first known death tied to a serious meat allergy brought on by a tick bite. The man, who passed away in 2024 after eating a burger, had alpha-gal syndrome. This condition begins after certain tick bites and leads to dangerous allergic reactions to red meat and other foods made from animals. Two weeks before his death, he had already reacted badly after eating a steak.

“The sad part is that no one recognised that earlier incident as anaphylaxis, so it was never linked to the beef,” said study co-author Thomas Platts-Mills, an allergist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who helped identify alpha-gal syndrome and diagnosed the New Jersey case, during an interview with NBC News. But how did he develop this condition in the first place?

Lone Star Tick: What Are Lone Star Ticks?

A tick marked with a small white dot is known as the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Many people already know that certain tick species can threaten human health. Lone star ticks are mainly found in Texas and Oklahoma, stretching across the Southern states and moving up the Atlantic coastline to parts of Maine. They live in wooded regions and are most common from April to September.

Falling ill after a lone star tick bite can take several days or even a few weeks. A bite can trigger various problems, including a serious meat allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome.

Lone Star Tick: What Is Alpha Gal Syndrome?

Bites from lone star ticks can lead to another major effect. The bite can cause the body to develop an allergy to meat. Substances from the tick, including alpha-gal, enter the bloodstream when it bites, which alerts the immune system and prompts the body to create antibodies to the alpha-gal molecule. Humans do not naturally produce this sugar, so the body treats it as foreign.

This reaction can make a person allergic to the sugar. Alpha-gal is present in many common foods, including beef, pork, lamb, dairy products, and gelatin. Once the allergy develops, a person can fall sick after eating these foods.

Experts believe that many people with alpha-gal syndrome have no idea they carry it. In the New Jersey case, it took scientists months to confirm that the man had the syndrome and had died as a result of it. Warmer winters have also allowed ticks to remain active for longer periods, raising the chances of bites throughout the year.

Anyone who thinks they may have this allergy can undergo testing to check. Although there is no cure for alpha-gal syndrome, doctors advise people with the condition to avoid all forms of meat, as well as dairy, gelatin, and some medicines that include these ingredients.

Lone Star Tick: How To Know if You Have the Alpha-Gal Allergy

Many people never realise they were bitten, unless a rash becomes visible. The symptoms of alpha-gal syndrome vary widely and may take weeks to appear, which makes it difficult to diagnose.

Signs of an alpha-gal allergy can include gastrointestinal discomfort after eating foods such as:

• Dairy products, which trouble about 10 to 20 percent of individuals with the allergy
• Red meats like beef, pork, lamb, or venison
• Foods and items that contain gelatin

Other signs may involve hives or, in severe situations, anaphylaxis. The allergy can take four to six weeks to form after the tick bite. Reactions may also be delayed for several hours after a person eats the food that triggers it.

A healthcare professional can test for the alpha-gal IgE antibody through a blood sample. Food challenge tests may also be carried out under medical supervision, in case a severe reaction occurs.