Sleeping while exposed to any type of light whatsoever — even dim light — is linked to an increase in the likelihood of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure) in older adults, according to a new study.

The study has been conducted by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“Whether it be from one’s smartphone, leaving a TV on overnight, or light pollution in a big city, we live among an abundant number amount of artificial sources of light that are available 24 hours of a day,” said Dr Minjee Kim, a corresponding author of the study.

“It appears that even a tiny amount of light has a noticeable effect on our body’s response,” Kim told Medical News Today.

While this particular study scrutnised the negative effects on adults, Medical News Today reported that previous studies have shown that not sleeping in darkness affects all age groups.

Kim explained that in young and healthy adults, who were experimented in a sleep lab overnight, increased heartrate and blood glucose was found.

Cholera and diarrhea cases are rising among children and adults in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province, local officials said.

Abdul Qahar Ahadi, provincial health director, said that more than 20,000 patients suffering from various diseases visited public health facilities during the past two months, which is unprecedented.

Takhar’s main hospital meanwhile said that most of the visitors were treated for cholera and diarrhea.

Hayatullah Imami, an official at Takhar hospital, said that 30 percent of patients visiting the facility daily were suffering from diarrhea.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with the cholera bacteria. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.

The European Commission on Tuesday said it had signed a deal with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO) for the delivery of around 110,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine.

The agreement marks the first time that the EU budget is used for the direct purchase of vaccines and would make the shots rapidly available to all EU member states, Norway and Iceland, the commission said.

Around 900 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 19 EU countries, Norway and Iceland since May 18.