SLEEPING WITH LIGHT ON MAY CAUSE CANCER

KIDS who sleep with the light on could risk leukaemia,
parents were warned yesterday.Scientists have found the
body needs darkness to produce a chemical that fights cancer.
Even switching the light on for the toilet, staying up late,
travelling across time zones,or the light from street lamps
can stop enough melatonin being made, they say.

The body needs the chemical to prevent damage to DNA and
its absence stops fatty acids reaching tumours and preventing
them growing. Texas University Prof Russell Reiter,who led
the research, said: 'Once you go to bed you should not even
switch the light on for a minute.

'Your brain immediately recognises the light as day and
melatonin levels drop.'

Rates of childhood leukaemia have doubled in the past 40
years.About 500youngsters under 15 are diagnosed with the
disease each year and around 100 die. A conference on
childhood leukaemia in London yesterday heard that people
were being subjected to more light at night than ever..

This suppressed the production of melatonin which normally
happens between 9pm and 8am.Past research has shown those
most affected,like shift workers, had higher levels of breast
cancer.Blind people, who are not vulnerable to fluctuations
of melatonin, have lower rates of cancer, it was found.

Parents are advised to use dim red or yellow bulbs if their
youngsters are scared of the dark.