Blue light emitted by devices like smartphones, computers, and televisions is becoming a major factor disrupting our sleep cycles. Research reveals that a significant number of Americans use electronic devices close to bedtime, contributing to poor sleep quality. Reducing exposure to blue light, particularly in the evening, is a simple yet effective way to help your body prepare for restful sleep.

What Is Blue Light?

How Does Blue Light Impact Circadian Rhythms?

Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that control essential bodily functions, including sleep. Light is the primary factor that aligns these rhythms with day and night. Historically, exposure to sunlight during the day helped set our body clocks, signaling when to be awake and when to sleep. However, the widespread use of artificial lighting and electronic devices has introduced more light exposure after dark, disrupting these natural cycles.

Blue light, in particular, has the strongest impact on circadian rhythms. During daylight hours, blue light helps us feel alert by stimulating the brain, raising body temperature, and increasing heart rate. But in the evening, exposure to blue light can confuse the body’s internal clock, suppressing melatonin—the hormone responsible for making us feel sleepy. As a result, our brains may remain in “daytime mode,” preventing us from winding down for the night.

Health Consequences Of Disrupted Sleep

Persistent disruption of circadian rhythms can lead to a range of health issues, including metabolic disorders, poor mental health, and increased risk for conditions like depression and anxiety. Furthermore, the inability to sleep well at night affects cognitive performance, mood, and overall well-being. Chronic exposure to blue light in the evening may significantly contribute to these negative health outcomes.

Devices That Emit Blue Light

Many common devices in our daily lives emit blue light, including:

- Smartphones and tablets

- Computer monitors and laptops

- Televisions and e-readers

- LED and fluorescent lighting

- Video game consoles

How To Minimize Blue Light Exposure

To reduce the effects of blue light on your sleep, here are some practical strategies:

1. Turn off screens before bed: Try to avoid using electronic devices at least two to three hours before bedtime. Reducing screen time helps prevent blue light from interfering with melatonin production.

2. Adjust your lighting: Dim your home’s lights or switch to warmer-toned lighting in the evening. You can also use lamps with red or orange light, which are less likely to impact your circadian rhythms.

3. Night mode settings: Many smartphones and computers have a "night mode" feature that reduces blue light emission. Make use of these features to limit exposure in the hours leading up to bedtime.

4. Blue light-blocking glasses: Special glasses designed to filter out blue light may be helpful for some individuals. These glasses can block or reduce the melatonin-suppressing effects of blue light.

5. Apps for blue light reduction: There are several smartphone and computer apps available that reduce blue light emission, allowing you to use your devices before bed without disturbing your sleep.

6. Create a sleep-friendly environment: If you can’t control light sources in your bedroom, consider using an eye mask to block out ambient light and promote better sleep.

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by slowness of daily activities, rigidity, and tremors with gait issues, commonly seen after the age of 45-50 years.

It is two times more common in men than women, though clinical features, response to the treatment, and prognosis are different in women as compared to men. From subtle early signs to how the condition develops over time, gender can shape the Parkinson’s journey in important ways.

Women usually experience Parkinson’s disease at a later age, but with faster progression of symptoms as compared to men. There is a need for more research in this space; however, we will try to shed light on these differences in Parkinson's trajectories in men and women based on available evidence.

Why Is Parkinson’s Less Common In Women?

Estrogen, a group of primary female sex hormones, is neuroprotective and protects dopaminergic neurons in women; women also have a higher baseline reserve of dopaminergic neurons. Hence, Parkinsonism is less common in women.

In the post-menopausal period, once this estrogen-related neuroprotective effect disappears, Parkinson’s symptoms progress rapidly. Motor symptoms emerge later in women with tremors, rigidity, and gait disturbances being more common and severe. Freezing of gait and postural instability with falls are more common in women.

Differences In Motor vs Non-Motor Symptoms

Non-motor symptoms like pain, fatigue, autonomic disturbances, sleep disorders, constipation, and mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are more common and severe in women. Men with Parkinson’s disease have worse general cognitive abilities; however, women have worse visuospatial abilities.

Women with Parkinson’s receive less social support, lower quality care, attend medical appointments alone, and report more psychological stress. Women have a lower body mass index and higher bioavailability of levodopa, which makes them more susceptible to the side effects of levodopa, such as motor fluctuations and dyskinesia, which entail involuntary movements like fidgeting and writhing.

Why Personalized Treatment Matters

There is a clear need for personalized and tailored treatment. The different and distinctive clinical features in women, like later onset, higher tremors and rigidity, higher dyskinesia and motor fluctuations from drugs, and worse non-motor symptoms, require tailored, sex-specific treatment strategies rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Clinicians must give importance to the screening and management of non-motor symptoms in women, which are the main factors of their decreased quality of life. Women with this ailment go through longer delays in diagnosis and less access to specialists, highlighting a need for better healthcare access for women.

While HPV vaccines are most known for preventing cervical cancer, a top US doctor says they can also help curb the rising incidence of head and neck cancers.

According to Mikkael A. Sekeres, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Professor of Medicine at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, Human papillomavirus (HPV) — the same sexually transmitted virus that can infect the genital area and lead to cervical cancer — is now the greatest risk factor for head and neck cancer.

Writing in The Washington Post, Sekeres noted that HPV accounts for about 30 per cent of oropharyngeal cancer worldwide.

HPV is believed to be responsible for the recent rise in head and neck cancers, which include malignancies affecting the mouth and throat (oral cavity and pharynx), voice box (larynx), sinuses and nasal cavities, and salivary glands.

Sekeres said the US records about 60,000 new cases of head and neck cancers each year, while the global incidence is expected to rise by 30 per cent by 2030.

What Are The Risk Factors?

The expert noted that men develop oral cavity and pharynx cancers at approximately 2.5 times the rate of women.

Major risk factors include:

• Tobacco use, including smoking, secondhand smoke and smokeless tobacco
• Chewing areca nut, also known as betel quid
• Heavy alcohol consumption
• HPV infection

Also read: PM Modi Launches Nationwide Free HPV Vaccination Drive; A Landmark Step, Says WHO

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the high-risk HPV subtypes most associated with head and neck cancers are detectable in the mouths of 4 per cent of adults aged 18 to 69.

While a pap test detects early-stage cervical cancer in women, no such test exists for penile, anal, or head and neck cancers in men, which can worsen their survival rate.

HPV Vaccination Best Prevention Strategy

Thus, Sekeres said: “The best way to prevent the most common types of HPV is through vaccination, with two doses of the vaccine recommended for children at age 11 or 12, or starting as early as 9 years and up to age 26 for those who missed it as a child".

He noted that although the vaccine is approved for use up to age 45, it is generally less beneficial after age 26 because many individuals may have already been exposed to HPV. However, doctors can help determine whether vaccination may still be beneficial for adults.

Earlier this year, the European Cancer Organization also urged broader HPV vaccination regardless of gender.

“HPV affects everyone, regardless of gender. It can lead to cancers of the cervix, mouth and throat, anus and penis. This is why universal protection is so important,” the organization said in a social media post.

Read More: Who Needs HPV Vaccine? Guide For Every Parent, Teen And Adult

HPV Vaccine Can Boost Cancer Risk

A 2026 study published in JAMA Oncology found that boys and men who received the HPV vaccine between the ages of 9 and 26 were nearly 50 per cent less likely to develop cancers of the head and neck, esophagus, anus, or penis.

The findings, based on data of more than 510,000 boys and men, highlight the importance of vaccinating all children and adolescents against HPV, said Taito Kitano, first author of the study and a researcher at Nara Prefecture General Medical Center in Japan.

“Children, adolescents, parents and health care workers should be more informed about the expected benefits of the HPV vaccine, not just cervical cancer,” Kitano said.

FIFA has launched a groundbreaking initiative aimed at advancing research and knowledge to boost health and performance of female athletes.

The FIFA Female Health and Performance Project comes ahead of the tenth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Brazil next year.

The initiative aims to provide specialist, science-based educational resources tailored to the preparation and development of female athletes. It also seeks to close long-standing gaps in understanding the unique health and performance needs of female players, many of whom still lack access to the scientific data needed to support their development and optimize performance.

“FIFA’s aim is to optimize every female footballer’s health, well-being and performance, and to improve knowledge around women and girls in football at every level of the game,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer.

“Collectively, we can do so much more to better support our growing number of female players and ensure they are trained, supported and understood according to their specific needs as women.”

Why Is The Initiative Significant?

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A study analyzing 5,261 research articles published in sport and exercise science journals between 2014 and 2020 found that only 34% of study participants were female, while just 6% of sport science research focused exclusively on women.

Only 8% of elite female athletes have sufficient knowledge about how the menstrual cycle may affect training and performance.

Many training methodologies, workload models and performance benchmarks used in sport have historically been derived from male athlete data, requiring female athletes to adapt to systems that may not accurately reflect their physiological characteristics.

What Will The Project Achieve?

The initiative is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the female athlete, her individual needs, her environment and the tailored support required to optimize health and performance.

The educational modules cover universal topics in football and elite sport science, including sleep, recovery, strength and conditioning, all examined through the lens of the female athlete.

Female-specific topics such as physiology, pregnancy, postpartum health and menopause are also included.

Four separate learning levels — from “Introduction” to “Integrated” — provide tailored information for a wide range of audiences, from sports professionals to members of the general public.

Read More: Hepatologist Recommends 9 Most Effective Exercises For Better Liver Health

In addition to improving access to knowledge and education, the initiative aims to break taboos, normalize language, eliminate social stigma, encourage open communication and establish a supportive environment in which female athletes can thrive.

“We need to normalize conversations around female health and embrace this, using it to our advantage instead of ignoring it or being fearful of discussing it,” Bareman added. “It is not a weakness; it is a strength.”

Key areas covered by the project include:

• Female physiology
• Reproductive years
• Menstrual health tracking
• Pregnancy and postpartum health
• Fertility
• Menopause
• Pelvic health
• Nutrition
• Recovery
• Sleep
• Strength and conditioning
• Screening and profiling
• Injury and injury prevention

Who Will Benefit?

Available to all through FIFA’s Training Centre platform, the FIFA Female Health and Performance education modules are the result of collaboration with leading experts to generate, curate and apply the scientific evidence underpinning the program.

All 211 FIFA Member Associations will have access to specialised, peer-reviewed, science-based information through 13 tailor-made educational modules.