New research links nighttime illumination with breast cancer rates

Here's an article from today's USAToday. Viable? Maybe not. Interesting? Yes.

And geez... doesn't it just seem like everything can give you cancer these days? Don't stand in front of the microwave. Don't excessively use your cell phone. Don't eat too much Sweet 'n Low. And now - stay away from places with too much artifical light?

Maybe cancer is just a natural progression in our less-than-perfect bodies?

New research links nighttime illumination with breast cancer rates

When Israeli scientists matched satellite images with cancer registries, The Washington Post says they discovered that the breast cancer rate was much higher among women who lived in the brightest spots on the map.

They didn't find a similar correlation with other types of cancer, the Post says.

"The mechanism of such a link, if real, remains mysterious, but many scientists suspect that melatonin is key," the paper says. "Secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, the hormone helps prevent tumor formation. The body produces melatonin primarily at night, and levels drop precipitously in the presence of light, especially light in the blue part of the spectrum produced in quantity by computer screens and fluorescent bulbs."

Experts say that includes the energy-saving compact-fluorescent bulbs that have become so popular in recent years.

Last year, the World Health Organization announced that it considered the graveyard shift a "probable carcinogen" because of mounting research that suggests a link between exposure to light at night and the development of cancer.

Here's an overview of recent studies on light and cancer. The Post says this latest research is described in Chronobiology International.