Blue Light from Digital Devices and Mobile Phones can Speed up Night Blindness

A study has found that the blue light emitted from mobile phones as well as other mobile devices can accelerate night blindness. The study was carried out by the University of Toledo, USA and the researchers explained that the blue light that was emitted from these devices lead to macular degeneration as there was a possibility of it causing poisonous molecules to be generated in the light-sensitive cells of the eye.

Although we know that the blue light from mobile phones does harm our eyes but not about how all this happens. As per the assistant Professor of the Department of Chemistry and biochemistry of the University, the idea of the experiment is to explain how the acceleration of blindness occurs so that therapies for slowing down macular degeneration can be discovered and implemented. One such example of the same is a ‘new kind of eye drop’.

What is Macular Degeneration?

One of the major causes of blindness, macular degeneration has affected millions of lives and is caused due to the deterioration of the macula also known as the retinas’ central position. The macula is the most sensitive area of an eye and is responsible for controlling our eye abilities like driving, reading, identifying colors, people, and object details. Macular degeneration is of two types dry (atrophic) and wet (exudative). Over 90% of the cases of vision loss are due to the dry type and only around 10-15% are that of wet type.

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) has three stages –

• Early AMD – Recognized by yellow deposits under the retina early AMD does not have major symptoms as there is no loss of vision. Hence, it is a good idea to examine your eyes on a regular basis.
• Intermediate AMD – Some vision loss is there but still not noticeable enough. An eye test can help determine the pigment changes in the retina.
• Late AMD – This is the stage when vision loss becomes noticeable.

Macular degeneration occurs when photoreceptors viz. the light-sensitive cells die away. The cells also called the photoreceptor cells, sense light, and send signals to the brain further making it possible for us to see, all this with the help of molecules known as retinal.
The retinal kills the photoreceptor when the blue light falls on it because the molecule that sends the signal dissolves. Furthermore, there is no regeneration that occurs once the cells die. Photoreceptor cells once dead are dead forever.

As per the researchers, Blue light is best avoided by restricting the use of mobiles and tablets in the dark. Besides, you can also use sunglasses to protect your eyes as they have the ability to filter the blue light as well as the UV rays