E-books may actually be bad for your health

The more you read about the wonders of modern day technology, accompanying it would also be their corresponding dangers, making you wonder whether you would be better off increasing your life expectancy by being a Luddite. Having said that, if you happen to find e-book readers to be an indispensable part of your technological regime, then you might want to take note that you could be damaging your health each time you curl up and sleep with your e-book reader, according to US doctors.

If you curl up under the duvet with an e-book for a bedtime read then you are damaging your sleep and maybe your health, US doctors have warned. A team from Harvard Medical School compared reading paper books and light-emitting e-readers before sleep. They found it took longer to nod off with a back-lit e-reader, which led to poorer quality sleep and being more tired the next morning. Original Kindle readers do not emit light so should be fine, say experts. Experts said people should minimise light-exposure in the evening. Whether you are perusing the Man Booker shortlist or leafing through Zoella, the impact of reading on your sleep is probably the last thing on your mind. But there has been growing concern about the dangers of light before bedtime.