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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Neurodegeneration
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1378498

Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease

Provisionally accepted
Robin M. Voigt Robin M. Voigt *Bichun Ouyang Bichun Ouyang Ali Keshavarzian Ali Keshavarzian
  • Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevalence has increased in the last century which can be attributed to increased lifespan, but environment is also important. This study evaluated the relationship between outdoor nighttime light exposure and AD prevalence in the United States. Higher outdoor nighttime light was associated with higher prevalence of AD. While atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and stroke were associated more strongly with AD prevalence than nighttime light intensity, nighttime light was more strongly associated with AD prevalence than alcohol abuse, chronic kidney disease, depression, heart failure, and obesity. Startlingly, nighttime light exposure more strongly associated with AD prevalence in those under the age of 65 than any other disease factor examined. These data indicate a need to investigate how nighttime light exposure influences AD pathogenesis.

    Keywords: Alzheimers' Diseaase - AD, light pollution, artificial light at night (ALAN), Alzheimer's disease risk factor, alzheimer's disease prevalence

    Received: 29 Jan 2024; Accepted: 09 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Voigt, Ouyang and Keshavarzian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Robin M. Voigt, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.