The 21st century has come with many technological inventions and innovations, but it has also brought many dangers. For instance, the advent of smartphone operating systems such as Android and iOS has caused many people to become addicted to their smartphones. Many of them cannot go to sleep without going through their phones. However, checking your phone before going to bed can cause eye problems and result in deteriorated eye health. Eye doctor St. Louis believes that staring at your phone before retiring to bed is an unhealthy way to end your day.
The number of doctors worried about deteriorating eye health caused by the blue light emitted by smartphones is a cause for concern. According to these doctors, more screen time can negatively affect your vision and overall health. Blue light waves tend to scatter more easily, unlike other light waves. This is why large water bodies and the sky seem blue. Blue light mainly comes from the sun, and the human body is designed to respond to it by being active during the day. Sunlight boosts attention, energy levels, mood, memory, and reaction times. This signals the brain to be active, and the body can be ready to go about it’s daily routine.
According to medical professionals, throughout the human life cycle, the crystalline lens of humans absorbs ultraviolet light and undergoes a slow yellowing process. By the time humans attain the age of 20, the lens has already yellowed to a point where it can filter only some but not all of HEV blue light. There is evidence suggesting that the absorption of light throughout life could contribute to aging and the formation of cataracts. By protecting the eye from UV and blue light, you can delay the beginning of aging of the retina and the lens.
Computer screens, smartphones, and other light-emitting digital devices produce significant amounts of potentially harmful blue light that could result in eyestrain. Unfortunately, people are increasingly spending more time looking at these digital devices which keeps emitting high-energy blue light waves that continue to scatter in the eye and create visual noise. The visual noise reduces contrast and could lead to eyestrain. This eye strain can lead to regular headaches and other visual problems
Overexposure to blue light could potentially damage the eye’s light-sensitive cells located in the retina. The resulting changes resemble those caused by macular degeneration (AMD). AMD can cause permanent vision loss. Recent studies have revealed that the cumulative effect of overexposure to this light could result in this damage. Once the retinal pigment epithelium and the cones are affected, a person can suffer vision loss. The cones are merely the photo-sensitive cells that ensure central and color vision, whereas the RPE cells provide the nourishment of the retinal cells. Human retinas contain lutein, a pigment that actively blocks blue waves, thereby helping to protect against its damaging effects.
It is not advisable to be exposed to blue light before going to bed because it could potentially damage vision and even result in permanent vision loss. Staring at your smartphone or computer before retiring to bed could be slowly leading to vision loss and other eye health issues.
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