That means that I’ve come to know summer for long, warm evenings that stretch well into the summer nights. It also means that the time of year we’re in now — late fall heading into winter — can have me cursing the dark like our ancient cave-dwelling ancestors may well have done.
Dark Mornings Sap My Motivation to Get Up
The mornings remain inky black until well after the morning radio news program has signed off and are quickly bookended by the closing in of the velvet drapes of night long before the schools let out in the afternoon. The sun seems to barely raise itself a fist or two above the horizon before it begins to dip again toward the sea. I measure the length of the days by where the sun sets outside the large, westerly facing window that fronts my writing desk. Well into the summer, it finally dips behind the mountains far beyond the northern sill. These days, it dives nearly as far out of sight below the southern frame of the glass. It’s difficult to find motivation to get out of bed with multiple sclerosis (MS) issues weighing heavier than the winter-weight duvet. Couple that with a morning that looks several hours younger than it is, and even the dogs don’t want to leave the warmth of their beds. Later, I find myself wondering what’s for dinner at around 3:30 p.m. because my eyes are telling me a different story from my stomach and the chronometer. RELATED: 10 Ways to Fight Off the Winter Blues
How Much Is Low Sunlight Affecting My MS?
This lack of sunlight in our days and on our skin can reduce the levels of vitamin D — an important factor in immune modulation and bone health — in our bodies, which can be a concern for people with MS. The extremes of latitude (north and south) have long been considered to have a strong association with incidences of MS as well. Until I started to dig into the emotional effects of the shorter days and their relationship with MS, I had no idea that what I was living through every October through February was something that went beyond my own experience. One study I read — nearly two decades old now — reports that the prevalence of “seasonal affective disorder (SAD), another illness for which latitude is a risk factor, appears to be related to the decrease in ambient light during the winter months, and offers some relevant insights into the geographical distribution of risk for developing MS.” Now, it must be reiterated that this is an old study, but the researchers also hypothesized that “the risk of developing MS is related to impairment of the immune system caused by light deprivation prior to adulthood.” So if sunlight equals vitamin D, and vitamin D helps regulate the immune system, and immune system malfunction is behind multiple sclerosis … you see where they were going. RELATED: More Evidence Links Vitamin D Deficiency and Multiple Sclerosis
Mind and Body Slump in Sync
So maybe my brain’s subconscious is crying out to me that these long, dark nights with intermittent periods of slightly brighter gray are bad for my health. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I mutter every morning, “It’s f!#@^$ dark in this g$&/)# town …” and then turn on a couple of extra lamps so that I don’t trip over a sleeping dog as I stumble to the kitchen and reach for the cafetière. And we’ll not talk about the increased caffeine intake here at Milltown Cottage between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes! Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
