Blue Light from Smartphone Causes Blindness
- Blue light from digital devices damages vision and can cause blindness
- The use of smartphones at night can disturb your sleep pattern
- Smartphones may increase the incidents of certain head and neck tumours
Recent research published by the University of Toledo in the US has captured the imagination of smartphone users and ophthalmologists worldwide. Several newspapers and health websites were quick with alarming banner headlines that suggested that blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damage vision and can cause blindness.
The research suggests that prolonged exposure to blue light which has a shorter wavelength and more energy compared to other colors can damage your vision. The damage to the macula, the light-sensitive part of the retina, is called macular degeneration. Exposure to blue light results in the generation of toxic chemical molecules within the photoreceptor cells which are light-sensitive cells in the retina.
Is my phone making me blind?
While there is definite merit in being careful when using smartphones, laptops and other screen devices, the panic generated by this study is largely unfounded.
In fact, the lead author of the study Ajith Karunarathne, PhD, was asked by The Verge whether his research showed that using electronic screens causes blindness, and he replied with a resounding, "Absolutely not."
This experiment does not reproduce real-life conditions, and the cells that were tested are not derived from human retina cells, and the research was carried out in rats. In addition to this, the study did not mimic real-life exposure to blue light from smartphones. The study, therefore, merely postulates how the damage may be mediated, and does not talk of blue light...................READ MORE
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