As the days grow shorter and grayness settles over much of the country, the lack of sun can be felt. However, this lack of light has very specific effects on health.
“Research indicates that this lack of exposure to sunlight alters the functioning of a neurotransmitter in the brain called serotonin” and “this interruption can induce a depressive state,” the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a professional organization, explains on its website. of UK psychiatrists. This is the concept of seasonal or winter depression.
To avoid being affected, or to treat it, Dr. Faïza Bossy, a GP in Paris, gives some advice on BFMTV this Thursday. She first recommends phototherapy sessions, thanks to a lamp dedicated to this purpose, available without a prescription in many stores.
Melatonin production
Phototherapy “reproduces natural light” found in the sun and serves to “resynchronize the sleep-wake cycle,” explains Doctor Bossy on BFMTV.
“This light is transmitted to the retina, whose sensors emit an electrical signal to another system, through the optic nerve, to the brain,” he continues.
“In the brain, the conductor, the hypothalamus, will work with the musicians, including the epiphysis, which produces melatonin,” underlines the general practitioner. Melatonin is a “small molecule synthesized in our brain”, which helps to fall asleep and participates in the synchronization of our biological clock, according to Inserm.
The production of melatonin “increases at the end of the day, when the light decreases”, develops this public institute of medical research. This explains, therefore, the energy deficit that can be caused by a lack of sunlight.
a healthy lifestyle
Faïza Bossy advises her patients with seasonal depression to start phototherapy sessions in September and finish them in the spring. She recommends exposing yourself within a meter of this light with a power of 10,000 lux “every day,” for at least 30 minutes. “In general, after 72 hours we begin to feel a benefit,” describes the general practitioner.
In addition to phototherapy, he recommends vitamin D cures, the intake of which depends in particular on exposure to the sun.
The national health security agency, ANSES, points out on its site that vitamin D “plays an essential role in the quality of bone and muscle tissue, as well as in strengthening our immune system”, but that “most French people They don’t eat enough.” .”
Finally, Faïza Bossy recommends maintaining “a dignified lifestyle” in winter: “you have to go out, do physical activity, social ties”. The Royal College of Psychiatrists even advises going out “as much as possible during the day” and reminds that for the most severe forms of seasonal depression antidepressants may be prescribed. We can also take into account that from the winter solstice, December 21, the days will grow again.
Source: BFM TV
