Full Spectrum Light Bulbs Help Depression

The Many Health Benefits of MCT Oil Mercury-Free Dentistry 2016 — A Progress Report A clinical trial suggests that bright light therapy could help treat symptoms of major depression in older adults. The trial looked at close to 90 adults aged 60 or over who had been diagnosed with clinical depression. About half of the patients were randomly assigned to bright light therapy for three weeks. This involved spending an hour each morning with the same kind of light-therapy box as that used for treating seasonal affective disorder. "The results of the trial showed those given bright light therapy made improvements over the controls, and the improvements were comparable to the use of antidepressant drugs ... The light-therapy group also showed an increased level in the evening of the sleep-promoting hormone, melatonin, and a decrease in levels of cortisol, the stress hormone."The fluorescent light bulbs in this category all have broad spectral power wavelength distributions necessary to be accurately called "full spectrum".

We also offer daylight simulating "neodymium" incandescent bulbs. What is "full spectrum" light? There are perceived differences in the "quality" of light produced by electric light bulbs. The term "full spectrum light "is used to highlight a couple of these differences. However, the term does not have a precise technical definition.
Dachshund Puppies For Sale Columbia Mo"Full spectrum" electric light is commonly understood to be light that is similar to "daylight" in two ways.
Window Cleaning New Lenox IlOne, the light is perceived to have the bluish white appearance and brightness values of daylight and, two, the light has strong color rendering capabilities accross the visible spectrum.
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The fluorescent light bulbs Topbulb offers in this category have both of these characteristics. Daylight includes all wavelengths in the visible spectrum, it represents "full color" or the "full spectrum." What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? For some people, the onset of fewer hours of daylight means dealing with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) a form of depression. After years of research and some initial skepticism, it is now widely recognized that SAD is a medical condition affecting about 10% of the population in northern latitudes (about 2% in a place like Florida). There are many theories about the causes of SAD. One is related to the chemical melatonin that regulates sleep. Melatonin is produced by the body when there is an absence of light and helps induce sleep. Melatonin can be suppressed by light. A fluorescent light box is designed to help, assuming a person sits in front of it for at least 30 minutes each morning. Blue wavelength light is particularly important.

Any fluorescent, metal halide or LED light bulb with a color temperature of 5000K or higher will have a large blue light component. Topbulb carries many bulbs that provide both quality illumination and 5000K or higher color temperature. A good place to start is with light bulbs in this category. Read more about Seasonal Affective Disorder Viewing 1-20 of 22 Eiko F8T5/D - 8W T5 Fluorescent 6500K- Daylight Click for Product Details & Availability » 13W CFL 2-Pin 6500K Daylight Eiko - 13W CFL - 60W Equal - 6500K Very Cool White Light - Daylight Sylvania - 25W T8 Fluorescent - Full Spectrum - 5000K - CRI 9018W CFL 6500K 1080 Lumens 15W CFL - 60W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light Energetic - 9W LED - 60W Equal - 5000K 32W CFL - 120W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light F15T8/FS Bulb - 15W T8 Fluorescent Full Spectrum Standard - 9.5W LED - 60W Equal - 5000K Bulbrite 65R40FL/N - 65W R40 Incandescent - Flood - Daylight

TCP - 18W CFL - 75W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light Standard - 40W CFL - 150W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light TCP - 42W CFL - 150W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light Bulbrite - 23W CFL - R40 - Flood - 5000K Very White Light F30T12/C50/RS - 30W T12 Fluorescent 5000K, 90 CRI CFML27VLX - 27W CFL - Natural Spectrum - 4 Pin F10T8/D - 10W T8 Fluorescent - 6000K - Daylight Megalight - 85W CFL - 350W Equal - 6500K Very Cool Daylight-White Light TCP - 18W A21 LED - 100W Equal - 5000K - DimmableFull-spectrum light sources and color perception. Full-spectrum light sources will probably provide excellent color rendering. Color rendering index (CRI) values for full-spectrum lighting sources are typically greater than 90. Color is a human perception constructed from the combination of the spectral power distribution (SPD) of the light source, the spectral reflectance of the materials being illuminated, and the tri-chromatic nature of the human visual system.

If there are gaps or large variations in the SPD of a light source, there is a potential for confusion between the apparent colors of objects. Since full-spectrum light sources usually provide radiant power throughout the visible spectrum, subtle differences in the spectral reflectance characteristics of different objects are discernable. So, when color identification is part of the visual task, such as for graphic arts, museums and color printing applications, full-spectrum light sources will ensure good color discrimination. Full-spectrum light sources and visual performance. Full-spectrum light sources will not provide better visual performance than other light sources under most circumstances. Visual performance is the speed and accuracy of processing achromatic information (e.g., black print on white paper) by the human visual system. At the relatively high light levels typically found in schools and offices, visual performance is essentially unaffected by the spectral power distribution of the light source, so full-spectrum light sources are, lumen for lumen, no better than any other light source.

Lighting produced by full-spectrum lamps may be, however, perceived as providing brighter architectural spaces than other lamps (Boyce, 2002; Three factors may contribute to this effect. First, full-spectrum light sources typically have a high correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5000K - 7500K. Lamps with higher CCT values produce greater brightness perception than lamps with lower CCT of the same luminance. Second, most full-spectrum light sources have high color rendering properties, meaning that surface colors will appear more saturated. Greater saturation will also give the impression of greater brightness (Boyce, 1977). Third, the ultraviolet (UV) radiation produced by some full-spectrum fluorescent lamps has a fluorescing, brightening effect on textiles and paper that have been treated with whitening agents. These combined effects on brightness perception may indeed have positive impact on building occupants, but greater perceived brightness can also be a liability, depending upon the expectations of the space's occupants (Veitch and McColl, 2001).

Full-spectrum light sources and health. Full-spectrum light sources will not provide better health than most other electric light sources. Recent research has shown that human daily activities are strongly influenced by the solar light/dark cycle. The most notable of these daily, or circadian, cycles is the sleep/wake cycle; but other activities including mental awareness, mood, and perhaps even the effectiveness of the immune system go through regular daily patterns. Light is the most important environmental stimulus for regulating these circadian cycles and synchronizing them to the solar day. Short wavelength (blue) light is particularly effective at regulating the circadian system; long wavelength (red) light is apparently inconsequential to the circadian system. Thus, to maximize efficiency in affecting the circadian system, a light source should not mimic a full spectrum, but instead should maximize only short wavelengths. Even if a full-spectrum light source includes short wavelength light in its spectrum, it will not necessarily ensure proper circadian regulation because, in addition, the proper intensity, timing, and duration of the light exposure are all equally important for satisfactory circadian regulation (Rea et. al, 2002).

Light therapy treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) usually involves regulated exposure to a white light source, commonly 10,000 lux at the eye for 30 minutes per day (Partonen and L�nnqvist, 1998). Any white light source will be effective at these levels (Lam and Levitt, 1999), so full-spectrum light source is in no way special for treatment of SAD. Full-spectrum light sources have no demonstrable benefit for dental health. These claims have no scientific merit (McColl and Veitch, 2001). The section, "Is ultraviolet radiation production important?" gives more detail. Full-spectrum light sources and psychological benefits. Full-spectrum light sources may have psychological benefits, particularly in societies that place value on "natural" environments. One of the claims often associated with full-spectrum light sources is that they are most like natural daylight. Unlike full-spectrum electric light sources, however, daylight does not have a fixed spectrum. Rather, natural light varies with latitude, time of day, season, cloud cover, air pollution, ground reflectance, and, if a person is indoors, window tinting.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that people consistently prefer natural lighting from windows and skylights to electrical lights. These preferences are robust and may reflect psychological associations with the natural environment that produce positive affect in many people. Positive affect induced by daylight may, in fact, help improve mood and motivation and thus increase productivity and retail sales. Full-spectrum light sources offer this positive association with daylight. Although positive psychological benefits from full-spectrum light sources may have been observed in some circumstances, there appears to be no biophysical explanation for those observations (Heschong, Wright & Okura, 2000). Still, the power of psychological associations cannot be denied and it is certainly conceivable that cleverly marketed full-spectrum light sources may provide beneficial effects to some people susceptible to that marketing. As NLPIP's survey demonstrated, there appears to be a strong positive association with full-spectrum light sources that has resulted from marketing, presumably because of the association between full-spectrum lighting and "natural" light.