New study: Screen time causing irreversible eye damage
(WISH) – A new study says screen time could be robbing you decades of eye sight.
The study conducted out of the Universidad Compultense de Madrid, calls it a “global epidemic of blindness” because people are spending hours in front of screens.
Researchers behind this study said staring at the high-energy light emitted from digital screens is causing irreversible damage to our eyes. They said hours of screen time is deteriorating our retinas, possibly leading to central blindness.
One study looked at the amount of light entering the eye based on the device, the user, the diameter of the pupil and the distance of the device to the eye. The other study exposed the retinas of rats to tablet screens emitting white LED light, one group with filters and the other group without filters.
After three months of exposure to white LED lights, the rats exposed to tablets without filters experienced approximately a 23 percent increase in retinal cell death, which can lead to a loss of vision. The rats that were exposed to tablets with a screen filter experienced no retina cell death.
But, according to a United Kingdom news outlet, the study was co-funded by a Spanish company that holds the rights to LED screen filters. Also, the other lead researcher, Dr. Celia Sanchez-Ramos, has developed a filter to put on devices that makes light less damaging.
Despite those facts, the study is showing that so much screen time can be very damaging for eye sight in the long run, and children are most at risk now.