The default setting on most devices features black text on a white background, but switching to dark mode reverses this to display white text on a dark background. This feature is often touted as a solution to reduce blue light exposure and alleviate eye strain caused by prolonged screen use. However, the health benefits of dark mode remain debatable. Here’s an overview of what we know about dark mode, blue light, and their effects.

Understanding Blue Light's Role

To evaluate dark mode’s impact, it’s essential to understand how blue light interacts with our eyes. Blue light, emitted by screens, primarily originates from the sun and colours our sky blue. These high-energy light waves signal the brain that it’s daytime, which can confuse our body’s natural rhythms when exposed to screens at night.

Proponents of dark mode claim that reducing blue light before bedtime helps them fall asleep faster and improves sleep quality. This theory stems from the idea that excessive blue light disrupts the circadian rhythm and suppresses melatonin production, the hormone responsible for inducing sleep. Dark mode is also said to reduce glare and improve readability in low-light settings, potentially minimizing eye strain.

What Research Says About Dark Mode

Studies on dark mode’s effectiveness in mitigating blue light exposure are inconclusive. While some research suggests dark mode may influence sleep patterns, evidence linking it to reduced eye strain is limited.

For instance, a 2019 study examined Apple’s Night Shift feature and found no significant difference in melatonin levels between participants who used Night Shift and those who didnt. The study also emphasized that adjusting screen brightness could be as effective, if not more so, than using dark mode alone.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) supports this perspective, attributing digital eye strain to how screens are used rather than the blue light they emit. The AAO recommends reducing glare and brightness settings alongside activating features like dark or night mode for overall comfort.

A 2017 study further explored the connection between blue light and sleep. It revealed that individuals who played games on smartphones before bed took longer to fall asleep compared to those who used blue light filtering software.

Potential Benefits of Dark Mode

Despite inconclusive research, dark mode offers some potential advantages:

1. Reduced Eye Strain

Dark mode might improve text-background contrast, making reading on screens more comfortable. While it won’t eliminate digital eye strain entirely, it may offer some relief during extended screen use.

2. Decreased Blue Light Exposure

Using dark mode could limit blue light exposure, particularly in dim environments. However, turning down screen brightness is another effective way to achieve similar results.

3. Extended Battery Life

While not directly a health benefit, dark mode can save device battery life, allowing longer use between charges—especially useful for frequent screen users.

John Cena, the beloved WWE wrestler and actor, has opened up about his skin cancer diagnosis. Being diagnosed with melanoma twice, he recalled getting a phone call twice as his doctors told him the biopsy for came out cancerous. The first spot had appeared on his pectoral muscle and a year later it was in a different spot on his upper trapezius muscle. He explains that this information was sobering and prompted him to change his life.

He has also now become the face of Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 70 that moves to normalize the use of sunscreen among men. He admitted he always neglected sunscreen, but now he has added it to his daily routine. While there has been a rise in the number of cancer diagnoses, there hasn’t been a clear reason why.

Is There A Gender Gap For Sunscreen?

Cena noticed that women talk about skin care and sunscreen more openly than men. He believes it can be harder for men to start these conversations. But he thinks it shouldn't be that way. "Men are becoming more aware of taking care of themselves," he says. "We just need to make it a normal thing." Cena wants more men to use sunscreen as often as women.

Studies show that women are much more likely to use sunscreen than men. However, by the age of 50, men have a higher risk of getting melanoma, a serious type of skin cancer, than women. At any age, men are more likely to die from melanoma. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, only a small percentage of men (12.3%) always used sunscreen when outside in the sun for more than an hour, compared to a much larger percentage of women (29.0%). Younger men used sunscreen the least.

A recent survey done by Neutrogena also found that a third of people never go to a skin doctor for check-ups. Women were also more likely to be told to wear sunscreen every day compared to men. Cena believes that sunscreen is often linked to beauty in women's minds, which might explain why they use it more.

Why Is Melanoma Becoming An Increased Issue?

According to 2023 review published in the Cancer journal, in the US, the number of melanoma cases have increased by 40% from the years 2009 to 2019. The number of new cases that have been predicted to happen is 110,000, which is a drastic increase considering the 65,000 in the year 2011. The study says that there is a disproportionately higher risk of men developing cancer and by 2040, melanoma will be the second most common cancer overall.

Cena says he doesn't care if men use sunscreen for health reasons or to avoid wrinkles – he just wants them to use it. He compares using sunscreen to going to the gym for looks but getting healthier in the process. He says using SPF is "super easy," like brushing your teeth. His hope is that men will start keeping sunscreen next to their toothpaste and use it every day. Cena says his own life perspective changed after his cancer scares, and he wants to encourage others to be proactive about skin protection before it's too late.

Being overweight means tackling health issues like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases. However, gaining weight in certain stages of life is worse. While childhood obesity must be avoided, healthy weight gain is necessary for children’s growth, it is also not a big concern as kids who lead a generally active lifestyle.

So, are there certain ages when weight gain should be avoided or paid more attention to?

Science says yes. A recent study, showcased in the 32nd European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, found that putting on extra weight before you turn 30 could almost double your chances of dying early. Researchers looked at the health information of 620,000 adults and saw that most people gained about one pound each year between ages 17 and 60. However, becoming very overweight in your 20s had much worse health effects than gaining weight later in life.

How Gaining Weight In 20s Could Be A Health Issue

The study showed that men who became obese before they were 30 had a 79% higher chance of dying early compared to those who stayed at a healthy weight. For women who became obese before 30, this risk was even higher, at 84%. These findings are important because most people tend to gain weight when they are young adults. This often happens when people in their early 20s move out and start eating more fast food and easy, unhealthy meals.

Researchers explained that the most important takeaway from the study is that avoiding weight gain, especially when you're in your late teens and 20s, can really help your health in the long run. She said that gaining weight early in adulthood or becoming obese at a young age makes you more likely to die from many long-term illnesses later in life. The study followed men for an average of 23 years and women for an average of 12 years.

Why Young Adults Must Adopt Healthy Living

People who gained weight later in life also had a higher risk of dying early, but not as much as those who gained weight when they were young. Becoming obese between the ages of 45 and 60 increased the overall risk of early death by about one-fourth. If people became obese between 30 and 45, their risk increased by 52%. For those under 30, gaining just a little bit of weight each year (one pound) increased the risk of early death by 24% for men and 22% for women.

Experts said that the years between 17 and 30 are a very important time in life when building healthy habits can have long-lasting good effects. Experts say that even gaining a small amount of weight in your 20s can greatly increase your risk of dying early if it stays with you for many years. They emphasized that the earlier people start living healthily, the better their chances of living a long life.

Ibrahim Ali Khan recently opened up about his struggle with speech impediment since childhood due to severe jaundice. In a recent interview with GQ magazine, the 24-year-old actor said he had difficulty with speech since childhood and had to work "hard" on it.

Talking to GQ magazine, he said, "Soon after I was born, I had very bad jaundice, and that went straight to my brainstem. I went on to lose quite a bit of my hearing, and that impacted my speech."

He shared that he has worked a lot over the years to improve his speech and in fact, continues to do so. "My speech is something that I had to work hard on since I was a child, with coaches and therapists. It is not perfect; I am still working hard on it."

How Does Jaundice Impact One's Speaking And Hearing Abilities?

As per a 2018 study titled Risk Factors for Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia, published in the Iranian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, hyperbilirubinemia is a common neonatal problem with toxic effects on the nervous system that can cause hearing impairment.

What Is hyperbilirubinemia?

As per the National Library of Medicine, jaundice is also known as hyperbilirubinemia. It is defined as a yellow discoloration of the body tissue resulting from the accumulation of excess bilirubin.

Deposition of bilirubin happens only when there is an excess of bilirubin, and this indicates increased production or impaired excretion. The normal serum levels of bilirubin are less than 1 milligram per deciliter (mg/dL). However, the clinical presentation of jaundice with peripheral yellowing of the eye sclera, also called scleral icterus, is best appreciated when serum bilirubin levels exceed 3 mg/dl.

As per the Nationwide Children's Hospital, jaundice is a very common condition in newborn babies and appears in the first few days or weeks of life. Most causes of jaundice are not caused by any disease or concerning problem and clear up quickly without any treatment.

As per a 2016 study titled Audiologic impairment associated with bilirubin-induced neurologic damage, bilirubin-induced neurologic damage may occur in some infants. The auditory pathway is the most sensitive part of the central nervous system to bilirubin-induced toxicity, and permanent sequelae may result from only moderately elevated total serum/plasma bilirubin levels. The damage to the auditory system occurs primarily within the brainstem and cranial nerve VIII, and manifests clinically as auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

As per these studies high levels of bilirubin damage various parts of the auditory system, which also include the auditory brainstem nuclei, auditory nerve, and spiral ganglion. It leads to hearing loss and other auditory issues, which can in fact be permanent.

When the auditory nerves get damaged, the inner ear causes issues processing the sound, and it can thus translate into language difficulty. Severe jaundice and kernicterus can also cause other neurological problems, such as brain damage, cerebral palsy and developmental delays.