Especially during autumn and winter, we often feel lethargic and tired. The reason for this is the lack of natural daylight and sunlight. That's because light plays an essential role in our health. Not only does it significantly influence our well-being, our sleep and our mood, but it also shapes our biological rhythm. To optimally supply your body with daylight during times of low light, it is worth using a daylight lamp.
With daylight lamps, you can easily bring the sun into your home. Daylight lamps cover the colour spectrum of daylight very well and produce a particularly bright light. As a result, they have a similarly positive effect on our body as natural daylight. Daylight lamps help you prevent light deficiency symptoms and compensate for the effects of light deficiency.
Whether a lamp has a medical effect depends essentially on two factors: the illuminance and the colour temperature. The illuminance of a lamp corresponds to its brightness and is measured in the unit Lux. The colour temperature of the lamp is the light heat and is given in Kelvin measurements. The higher the Kelvin number, the "colder" and whiter the light.
To achieve a therapeutic effect, an illuminance of at least 2,500 Lux is recommended. For comparison: In a well-lit office, the illuminance is only around 500 Lux. At the same time, electric light has an increased red component compared to daylight. Due to the low Lux value and the increased red component, electric light sources are therefore not sufficient to have a medical effect.
When the days become shorter in autumn and winter, this has a significant influence on the balance of the body's own hormones melatonin and serotonin and thus on our day-night rhythm. Melatonin is referred to as the sleep hormone and significantly influences the quality of our sleep. The pineal gland releases the hormone mainly in darkness. The longer it is dark, the more melatonin is produced. Serotonin is considered a happiness hormone, makes us feel awake and positively influences our mood. However, the two hormones are not just antagonists, as they are closely interdependent. Melatonin is largely formed from serotonin in the pineal gland.
If our body receives too little light, the hormone balance between melatonin and serotonin is disturbed. Sleep problems, daytime fatigue, lack of energy and drive, and even seasonally dependent depressions can be the result. Especially on dark days and when little natural daylight and sunlight is available for our body, this inner balance quickly becomes unstable and our general well-being is negatively affected. This is exactly where light therapy, also known as bright-light therapy, comes in with special daylight lamps and daylight lights.
The signs of light deficiency symptoms are varied and are often referred to as winter depression or light deficiency depression.
A lack of light can affect any of us. Especially in autumn and winter, it gets light late in the morning and dark early in the evening. Some days, we can see no sun at all. For comparison: On a beautiful summer day, the light intensity outdoors is up to 100,000 Lux. In winter with overcast skies, it is only around 2,500 to 3,000 Lux. In addition, we often spend more time indoors during autumn and winter, which can further intensify the lack of light.
Daylight lamps in the home office
Especially in the home office, we tend to retreat into our own four walls and rarely venture outside into the daylight. At the same time, we often do not have optimal lighting available in the home office.
As a result, there may be an increase in light deficiency symptoms such as depressive moods or sleep problems. Even when working from home, a daylight lamp provides you with an extra dose of light and helps you drive away the home office blues.
Do you recognise one or more of the symptoms? Then our daylight lamps can support you in your light therapy With scientifically proven effectiveness. The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care confirms that light therapy can have a positive effect on the severity and decline of autumn-winter depression. *1
The application of our daylight lamps is simple and uncomplicated. In addition, their use can be easily integrated into your everyday life.
Light therapy using a daylight lamp can generally be carried out as often as desired. For an effective application, we recommend using the lamp for at least seven consecutive days. The most effective time of day for treatment is between 6 and 20 o'clock.
Try it out and treat yourself to an extra dose of light and vitality for your everyday life with Beurer daylight lamps! If you are taking medication such as painkillers, blood pressure reducers and antidepressants or if you have eye diseases, you should discuss the application with a doctor before use.
The effectiveness of light therapy is scientifically proven. In the guideline "Unipolar Depression" of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology, light therapy is one of the "first choice for seasonally dependent depression"*2 treatment options.
The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) also confirms the positive effect of light therapy. According to IQWiG, seasonal autumn-winter depression is more common in northern countries than in southern latitudes. Surveys from Austria and Switzerland showed that around 2.5% of the population there are affected each year. For the report, the researchers evaluated 21 randomised controlled studies on light therapy with a total of 1,441 adults and found significant evidence of a short-term benefit of daylight lamps on depression-related symptoms.
This confirms that light therapy can have a positive effect on the severity and decline of a light deficiency depression. *3
Daylight lamps from Beurer can simulate daylight of 10,000 Lux and produce a very bright light. The colour temperature of the lamps is between 5,300 and 6,500 Kelvin, which corresponds approximately to the characteristic colour temperature of daylight. Thanks to the light intensity of 10,000 Lux and the colour temperature in the blue range, our daylight lamps are very good at simulating natural light. This makes them perfect for medically effective light therapy.
*1 https://www.beurer.com/web/de/presse/2020/200127_Lichttherapie_IQWiG.php
*2 https://www.leitlinien.de/themen/depression/archiv/pdf/depression-2aufl-vers1-kurz.pdf
*3 https://www.iqwig.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen-detailseite_9983.html
Beurer Healthguide
This advice page was made by Beurer GmbH and is intended to help you feel healthy and happy all round.
The content of the Healthguide is intended to provide assistance and information and can in no way replace the advice of a doctor.
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