Medicine is light years ahead of urban design. It shouldn’t be.
Humans evolved in the daily cycle of light and darkness, a rhythm we still follow today. What’s new is our understanding of the health consequences from disrupting that cycle and how the built environment can play a role for better or worse.
Last week we covered the connection between mood and daylight at home. Respondents to a Rennselaer Institute survey found anxiety and depression levels went down and happiness increased in correlation with exposure to light.
But medical researchers are finding light affects more than feelings and that our lives literally depend on it. Getting enough daylight, especially in early morning hours, is the key to setting our circadian rhythms. Without it we’re vulnerable.
Studies show shift workers with years of disruption to their daily schedules have a higher risk for many cancers including breast, prostate and rectal. Because of this in 2007 the World Health Organization’s cancer research division identified circadian disruption as a probable human carcinogen (group 2A).
New research from the Salk Institute and University of California in San Diego describes how at the cellular level, disruption of circadian rhythms predisposes us to cancer, tumors and metabolic disorders. Armed with this knowledge, scientists are now exploring how to target the body’s circadian clock with new anti-cancer therapies.
Studying diseases of the mind, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has researched the connection between Alzheimer’s Disease and circadian rhythms, searching for clues to help prevent the disease or delay, slow its decline, or improve the quality of life in patients. With 14 million Americans estimated to suffer from Alzheimer’s by 2050, it’s an urgent problem.
Short of a medical breakthrough, Alzheimer’s research is turning to changing patient environments starting with light. The University of Southern California (USC) schools of architecture and medicine recently collaborated on a pilot study to “design for dementia” by establishing evidence-based lighting guidance and create dementia care environments that reduce the need for pharmacological treatments for depression and other health conditions.
That’s a great first step and the same design requirements should be mandatory for all new commercial and residential buildings.
The body of medical research linking daylight and health grows daily. Seattle’s goal to build a sustainable, environmentally safe city should start by following medicine’s oath to “do no harm.” That means establishing measurable, healthy standards for daylight and requiring designers, developers and zoning rules to follow them.
Next week: A look at daylight design standards and best practices in the US and around the world.
