Night light alters menstrual cycles
Abstract
Dewan asserted 20 years ago that a bedside light could shorten and regularize the menstrual cycle among women with long and irregular menstrual patterns. To replicate this, seven volunteers slept with a 100-watt bulb by the bedside from days 13-17 of their menstrual cycles, while nine controls similarly used a dim red placebo (photographic safe light). Indeed, the 100-watt bulbs shortened menstrual cycles from a mean of 45.7 days to 33.1 days and reduced variability, but the placebo had no effect. These results suggest that light may have promise for treatment of infertility, for contraception, and for other endocrine interventions.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Night light shortens the length of the menstrual cycle.
“Several studies (43–45) including ours have shown that night light shortens the length of the menstrual cycle”
From Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon (2021) · cites this paper as [43]
Cites
Light Suppresses Melatonin Secretion in Humans
Lewy, A. J., Wehr, T. A., Goodwin, F. K., Newsome, D. A., & Markey, S. P. (1980) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.7434030 · Cited by 1,913 · see citing works
Antidepressant and Circadian Phase-Shifting Effects of Light
Lewy, A. J., Sack, R. L., Miller, L. S., & Hoban, T. M. (1987) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3798117 · Cited by 709 · see citing works
Melatonin: A Coordinating Signal for Mammalian Reproduction?
Tamarkin, L., Baird, C. J., & Almeida, O. F. X. (1985) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3881822 · Cited by 630 · see citing works
Human Melatonin Suppression by Light is Intensity Dependent
Mclntyre, I. M., Norman, T. R., Burrows, G. D., & Armstrong, S. M. (1989) · Journal of Pineal Research · doi:10.1111/j.1600-079x.1989.tb00412.x · Cited by 389 · see citing works
MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PATIENTS MAY BE SUPERSENSITIVE TO LIGHT
Lewy, A. J., Wehr, T. A., Goodwin, F. K., Newsome, D. A., & Rosenthal, N. E. (1981) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(81)91697-4 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Brainard, G. C., Lewy, A. J., Menaker, M., Fredrickson, R. H., Miller, L. S., Weleber, R. G., Cassone, V., & Hudson, D. (1988) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/0006-8993(88)90820-7 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Suppression of Nocturnal Plasma Melatonin and 6-Sulphatoxymelatonin by Bright and Dim Light in Man
Bojkowski, C. J., Aldhous, M. E., English, J., Franey, C. S., Poulton, A. L., Skene, D. J., & Arendt, J. (1987) · Hormone and Metabolic Research · doi:10.1055/s-2007-1011846 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
The melatonin message: Duration versus coincidence hypotheses
Reiter, R. J. (1987) · Life Sciences · doi:10.1016/0024-3205(87)90001-4 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
AMPLIFICATION OF NOCTURNAL MELATONIN SECRETION IN WOMEN WITH FUNCTIONAL HYPOTHALAMIC AMENORRHEA
Berga, S. L., Mortola, J. F., & Yen, S. S. C. (1988) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jcem-66-1-242 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Self-citationRosenthal, N. E., & Wehr, T. A. (1987) · Psychiatric Annals · doi:10.3928/0048-5713-19871001-10 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Carter, D. S., & Goldman, B. D. (1983) · Endocrinology · doi:10.1210/endo-113-4-1268 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Seasonal Affective Disorders and Phototherapy
Salzman, C. (1990) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.147.8.1081-b · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Seasonal affective disorders and phototherapy
Rosenthal, N. E., & Blehar, M. C. (1989) · Guilford Press eBooks · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Morning versus evening bright light treatment of late luteal phase dysphoric disorder
(1989) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.146.9.1215 · Cited by 105 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Early evidence suggests bright light also has therapeutic potential for nonseasonal depression (Kripke et al., 1989) and late luteal phase dysphoric disorder (Parry et al., 1989).”
BackgroundSelf-citationBright light can delay human temperature rhythm independent of sleep
Drennan, M. D., Kripke, D. F., & Gillin, J. C. (1989) · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpregu.1989.257.1.r136 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Self-citationMedical monitoring in the home and work environment
Miles, L. E. M., & Broughton, R. J. (1990) · Raven Press eBooks · Cited by 39 · see citing works
On the possibility of a perfect rhythm method of birth control by periodic light stimulation
Dewan, E. M. (1967) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/0002-9378(67)90260-8 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Night Shift Work, Light at Night, and Risk of Breast Cancer
Davis, S., Mirick, D. K., & Stevens, R. G. (2001) · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · doi:10.1093/jnci/93.20.1557 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
Parry, B. L., Berga, S. L., Mostofi, N., Klauber, M. R., & Resnick, A. (1997) · Journal of Biological Rhythms · doi:10.1177/074873049701200107 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Self-citationHelfrich-Förster, C., Monecke, S., Spiousas, I., Hovestadt, T., Mitesser, O., & Wehr, T. A. (2021) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe1358 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Reinberg, A., Smolensky, M. H., & Touitou, Y. (2016) · Chronobiology International · doi:10.3109/07420528.2016.1157083 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Nocturnal Light Effects on Menstrual Cycle Length
Rex, K. M., Kripke, D. F., Cole, R. J., & Klauber, M. R. (1997) · The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.1089/acm.1997.3.387 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationNovel perspectives on the influence of the lunar cycle on the timing of full-term human births
Matsumoto, S.-I., & Shirahashi, K. (2020) · Chronobiology International · doi:10.1080/07420528.2020.1785485 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lin, M. C., Kripke, D. F., Perry, B. L., & Berga, S. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kripke, Daniel F.
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1990-08
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-138
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2005199514
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2r01mh038822-03)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL 07491, T35HL007491)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 00117, MH-38822)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Keywords
- nighttime lights, menstrual cycle, light exposure, menstrual irregularity, cycle length, placebo effect, red light, infertility treatment, contraception, hormonal regulation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Menstrual Cycle, Phototherapy, Prospective Studies, Retrospective Studies
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
