https://www.zmescience.

com/medicine/you-should-close-the-blinds-when-
you-sleep-heres-why/

This is an example of an authentic text:

You should close the blinds when
you sleep. Here’s why
Light is not your friend during the night. We'd be wise to shut it out.
by Mihai Andrei

March 15, 2022

in Health, Home science

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In these stressful times, sleeping can be pretty difficult — and

light is not your friend. According to a new study, sleeping in a
room with light coming through is not only bad for your sleep, but
it is also associated with a number of health problems. According
to the new study, having light in the room increases heart rate
and nervous activity over the entire sleep period, one study
author told ZME Science.
Lights, lights everywhere
Having access to electricity is without a doubt one of the most
impactful things in our society. If you think about, it’s a true
wonder that electricity is so easily available that in most cities,
there’s always light. Here lies the problem: there’s always light.
We have light from bulbs inside our homes, we have streetlights,
we have neon signs and of course, we have screens. For
millennia, humans have generally followed the solar cycle of
light, but this is no longer true — the lights we’ve let into our
house are changing our sleep patterns, and according to new
research, also affecting our health.
“We wanted to understand why there is an association between
exposure to light at night with increased prevalence and
incidence of weight gain and obesity. The objective was to
understand how moderate levels of light during sleep affects
cardiovascular and metabolic function,” said senior study author
Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern
Medicine physician, for ZME Science.

Exposure to artificial light during sleep is common, the new study

says. Up to 40% of people sleep with a headlamp on or the TV or
laptop, the researchers estimate. But sleeping in a room with
even dim light is associated with an increased risk for heart
disease and diabetes, the study found.

“The results from this study demonstrate that just a single night of exposure to moderate
room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation, which are
risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome,” Zee added. “It’s
important for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure during sleep.”

While this is an observational study (it just observed a

correlation and did not establish a direct cause-effect
relationship), this fits well with previous studies.
ANALYSIS

I. PRONUNCIATION

For pronunciation and definitions, use these links:

Dictionaries:

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/headlamp (longman)
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/science
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/es/diccionario/ingles/up-to
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/increase
For real examples from the corpora:

https://www.linguee.es/ingles-espanol/traduccion/
look+up+the+meaning.html

“We wanted to understand / why there is an association /

between exposure to light at night / with increased prevalence
and incidence / of weight gain and obesity. The objective / was to
understand / how moderate levels of light / during sleep / affects
cardiovascular and metabolic function,”/ said senior study author
Dr. Phyllis Zee, / chief of sleep medicine / at Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine / and a Northwestern
Medicine physician,/ for ZME Science.

EXPOSURE /ɪkˈspəʊʒə(r)/ – SAID /sed/ – SENIOR

/ˈsiːniə(r)/ -
AUTHOR /ˈɔːθə(r)/ – CHIEF /tʃiːf/ - SCIENCE /ˈsaɪəns/
INCREASED /ɪnˈkriːst/ – PREVALENCE /ˈprevələns/ –
MODERATE /ˈmɒd(ə)rət/ - FUNCTION /ˈfʌŋkʃ(ə)n/ - SAID
/sed/

II. Vocabulary in context

“We wanted to understand why there is an association between

exposure to light at night with increased prevalence and
incidence of weight gain and obesity. The objective was to
understand how moderate levels of light during sleep affects
cardiovascular and metabolic function,” said senior study author
Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern
Medicine physician, for ZME Science.

Exposure to artificial light during sleep is common, the new study

says. Up to 40% of people sleep with a headlamp on or the TV or
laptop, the researchers estimate. But sleeping in a room with
even dim light is associated with an increased risk for heart
disease and diabetes, the study found.

1. senior: with a high rank or position

a senior officer/teacher/manager

2. as far as
up to his waist in mud
3. increased: greater; higher
The increased investment will help stabilise the economy.
To increase: to become progressively greater (as in size,
amount, number, or intensity)