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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		A link between poor sleep and your smartphone
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:00
	Publish Date:		2016-12-31 18:00:00
	Description:		If you’re still clutching your smartphone as you hit the sheets at night you might deprive yourself of a good night’s sleep. That's according to a study by cardiologist Gregory Marcus of the University of California, San Francisco. So, why is a cardiologist looking into this? Marcus explains that a lack of sleep can cause high blood pressure, heart attacks, arrhythmia and strokes. "Poor sleep quality is not simply an issue of feeling tired the next day, we recognize now that sleep is extremely important to mood, to brain function, cognition." Almost 70 percent of Americans keep their phones on a bedside table at night and often scroll through content before falling asleep. Despite the health risks, Marcus says cell phones can still be our friends. "It is important not to broadly demonize technology that in general I think has such a great capacity to help enhance health." The key, Marcus says, is vigilance and putting the phone away at least an hour before sleep.
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