TY - JOUR
T1 - High prevalence of breast cancer in light polluted areas in urban and rural regions of South Korea
T2 - An ecologic study on the treatment prevalence of female cancers based on National Health Insurance data
AU - Kim, Yun Jeong
AU - Lee, Eunil
AU - Lee, Hyo Sun
AU - Kim, Mari
AU - Park, Man Sik
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a future environmental R&D grant (RE201206020) funded by the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - It has been reported that excessive artificial light at night (ALAN) could harm human health since it disturbs the natural bio-rhythm and sleep. Such conditions can lead to various diseases, including cancer. In this study, we have evaluated the association between ALAN and prevalence rates of cancer in females on a regional basis, after adjusting for other risk factors, including obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption rates and PM10 levels. The prevalence rates for breast cancer were found to be significantly associated with ALAN in urban and rural areas. Furthermore, no association was found with ALAN in female lung, liver, cervical, gastric and colon cancer. Despite the limitations of performing ecological studies, this report suggests that ALAN might be a risk factor for breast cancer, even in rural areas.
AB - It has been reported that excessive artificial light at night (ALAN) could harm human health since it disturbs the natural bio-rhythm and sleep. Such conditions can lead to various diseases, including cancer. In this study, we have evaluated the association between ALAN and prevalence rates of cancer in females on a regional basis, after adjusting for other risk factors, including obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption rates and PM10 levels. The prevalence rates for breast cancer were found to be significantly associated with ALAN in urban and rural areas. Furthermore, no association was found with ALAN in female lung, liver, cervical, gastric and colon cancer. Despite the limitations of performing ecological studies, this report suggests that ALAN might be a risk factor for breast cancer, even in rural areas.
KW - Artificial light at night
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Generalized poisson distribution
KW - Light pollution
KW - Treatment prevalence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84931825672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/07420528.2015.1032413
DO - 10.3109/07420528.2015.1032413
M3 - Article
C2 - 25955405
AN - SCOPUS:84931825672
VL - 32
SP - 657
EP - 667
JO - Annual Review of Chronopharmacology
JF - Annual Review of Chronopharmacology
SN - 0743-9539
IS - 5
ER -
