Restoring the Celestial Connection

"Not long ago, operating rooms had windows. . . . there was the benediction of the sky, the applause and reproach of thunder. A Divine consultation crackled in on the lightning! And at night, in Emergency, there was the pomp, the longevity of the stars to deflate a surgeon's ego. It did no patient a disservice to have Heaven looking over his doctor's shoulder. I very much fear that, having bricked up our windows, we have lost more than the breeze; we have severed a celestial connection." ¹

We are the first generation of Americans to spend a majority of our lives under artificial light. For a species which evolved under the African sun, this represents a major change in solar exposure. By severing our celestial connection we may be exposing ourselves to a whole new set of health problems related to changes in the intensity, timing, and spectrum of light.

At the same time, sunlight has been getting bad press as the cause of skin cancer, premature aging of the skin, cataracts and damaged retinas. We may well be doing ourselves a disservice, however, by avoiding the sun altogether because we know excessive amounts cause problems. How often has moderation been determined to be the prudent course rather than an all or nothing approach?

What science is beginning to discover is that physiological as well as psychological health are both dependent upon sunlight or its equivalent. We know for instance, that ultraviolet light triggers the chemical process which produces Vitamin D in the skin. Vitamin D is essential for maintaining calcium balance in our bodies through absorption of calcium from food, and through the remodelling of bone. We also know that visible blue light helps infants break down bilirubin in their bodies. Excessive bilirubin is the cause of neonatal jaundice, which can lead to brain damage. In the field of phototherapy, there is a psoriasis treatment which uses PUVA. Psoralens (P) are chemical compounds which, when ingested, sensitize the skin to light. The skin is then exposed to long wave ultraviolet light (UVA) causing changes in the skin which can produce remissions in this debilitating disease.

Also in the field of phototherapy is a proven treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression. The role of melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland, is of interest here. The pineal is a tiny gland located deep within the skull. It turns out that increased production of melatonin at certain times of the day can lead to depression in some people during the winter months when days are shorter. By exposing these sensitive individuals to powerful full spectrum light early in the morning, the afternoon production of melatonin is sufficiently delayed to interrupt the depression cycle. Access to the pineal gland is through what Fritz Hollwich, M.D., a German ophthalmologist, first described in 1948 as the "energetic" portion of the optic pathway. Light energy which enters the eye travels along this pathway to the pineal gland.² Hormones secreted by the pineal gland tend to balance those of the pituitary. For example, the pituitary stimulates the thyroid, whereas the pineal inhibits it. Until recently it was thought that light had no effect on the pineal gland. It seems early experiments were done with levels of light too low to stimulate the pineal, which responds to normal outdoor sunlight. Light also has an effect on growth and sexual maturation through the pineal gland. Preliminary experiments also suggest a connect on between light and water balance, glucose metabolism, and blood count.²

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have determined that bright light can also reset the daily human biological clock through a response that involves hormone regulation by the nervous system and is intensity dependent. The practical applications of this phenomenon include therapeutic intervention in certain types of insomnia, and minimizing the effects of jet lag.³

What we are beginning to find is that life under artificial light with a limited spectrum not only precludes all the benefits of sunlight or full spectrum light, but also is responsible for a number of negative effects as well. Research on these health effects of light is still in its infancy; however, there have been a number of studies that look very promising.

Dr. John Ott, in the early 1970s, first looked at hyperactivity in school children as a function of the spectrum of ambient lighting. In an experiment conducted in Sarasota, Florida, Dr. Ott found that when normal cool white fluorescent lights were replaced with full spectrum lights, hyperactive children observed by video camera demonstrated improved behavior. Positive behavioral changes were also noted by their teachers.⁴ More recently, Dr. Harry Wolfarth, at Elves Memorial Child Development Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, performed a study in which full spectrum lighting coupled with wall colors of blue and brown, replaced cool white fluorescent lighting with wall colors of orange, yellow and white in a classroom of severely handicapped children. A third phase returned to the original cool white with orange colors. Analysis showed that aggressive behavior and diastolic blood pressure were most improved during the phase with full spectrum lighting.⁵

Light has also been found to effect productivity. Cornell University psychologist James Maas has reported that objective measurements have demonstrated less fatigue and better visual acuity among students after 4 hours under full spectrum lighting as compared to regular fluorescent lighting. The difference was not subjectively noticed by the students. At Ohio State, Dr. H. Richard Blackwell corroborated these findings using testing designed to simulate actual working conditions. Dr. Blackwell found an increase in productivity of 11.7% under full spectrum lights when compared with high pressure sodium, which are the most energy efficient lights made. They turned out to be the most costly in terms of reduced visual performance because they increased the amount of inappropriate focussing—the largest factor influencing visual performance as it relates to productivity.⁶ John Albright, manufacturer of the Ott-Lite, a full spectrum light, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, reports productivity increases conservatively in the range of 7-11% coupled with decreases in absenteeism of 9-15% at facilities where the Ott-Lite has been installed.⁷

Based on this kind of research, the government of West Germany now has a regulation requiring the use of full spectrum lighting in all public places including schools. ⁸ German researchers Steck and Dancig have written in effect that whenever the demand of the human body for sunlight is not supplied naturally, use of full spectrum lighting with ultraviolet components is both necessary and prudent.⁹

Despite all of the above research, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a health fraud notice on the other manufacturer of full spectrum lighting for making health claims such as improved visual acuity, reduced fatigue, enhanced calcium absorption, help with winter blues. The FDA states that "current research demonstrates no measurable health benefits from full spectrum lights although some studies of light therapy for clinical depression are now underway."¹⁰

A parting thought about the future of full spectrum lighting. It turns out that chickens placed under full spectrum lights, at lighting levels orders of magnitude above the industry standard, with a corresponding decrease in aggression, lay eggs which have at least 25% less cholesterol than standard eggs. At the same time, the chickens' productive life becomes longer, and they lay more and larger eggs with stronger shells at the same feed ratio.

Something remarkable is going on here. Whether humans who place themselves under full spectrum lights have a low cholesterol level remains to be seen. The take home lesson, however, concerning these chickens, is that they are metabolizing cholesterol more effectively and absorbing and/or utilizing food more efficiently under the full spectrum lights.

We accept the role of light in Vitamin D and bilirubin metabolism. What if every vitamin and mineral, protein, carbohydrate and fat is absorbed and metabolized more efficiently when given the benefit of full spectrum light, with all the wavelengths found in natural sunlight? Under artificial light, if a wavelength is not present, then the food component that might require that wavelength for optimum metabolism, is literally in the dark! Perhaps we've been starving ourselves for some nutrients for want of sunlight or its equivalent. Dr. John Ott has called this phenomenon malillumination, similar to malnutrition. And perhaps he's correct.

If we really want to get revolutionary and expand this discussion to include the entire electromagnetic spectrum, then it may well be that every organ requires a certain wavelength of sound or light to maintain its health, as well. Medicine in the future, therefore, may well be geared to finding the sound of a healthy gall bladder instead of operating; or determining the color of light that a healthy pineal gland needs to see, instead of chasing its tail attempting to correct hormonal imbalances.

With eyes wide open, we look to that future!

References

¹ Richard Selzer, Confessions of a Knife, Simon and Shuster, N. Y. 1979.

² Fritz Hollwich, The Influence of Ocular Light Perception on Metabolism in Man and in Animal, Springer-Verlag, N. Y. 1979.

³ Charles A Czeisler, et al. "Bright Light Resets the Human Circadian Pacemaker Independent of the Timing of the Sleep-Wake Cycle." Science, Vol. 233, August 8, 1986.

⁴ Joan Arehart-Treichel, "School Lights and Problem Pupils," Science News, Vol. 105, April 29, 1974.

⁵ Harry Wolfarth, "The Effects of Color Psychodynamic Environment Modification UponPsycho-physiological and Behavioral Reactions of Severely Handicapped Children." International Journal of Biosocial Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1982.

⁶ Richard D. Smith, "Light and Health—A Broad Overview," Lighting Design and Application, February, 1986.

⁷ John Albright, interview, March, 1987.

⁸ German Standard DIN 5031.

⁹ B. Steck, "Effects of Optical Radiation on Man," Lighting Research and Technology, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1982.

¹⁰ "From the FDA," Journal of American Medical Association, Vol. 257, January 9, 1987.

. . . Charles B. Knuth, MD. . . .

© Copyright 1988
Institute for domestic Tranquility