Dr. Sachin Mehta on Blue Light – CBS5 & AZFamily Channel
PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) –
It is easier than ever to see those smartphone screens and LED televisions. With every generation, the screens get brighter and brighter, but that clarity could be damaging your eyes without you knowing it.
There are some 30,000 cells in your eyes that react to something called blue light. That blue light is found in, you guessed it, smartphones, LED monitors, computers, and laptops. Those blue light emissions could be causing deterioration in your eyes.
Blue light can penetrate the layers of your eyes a lot easier than infrared or red light. What’s more, there is no pigment in the back of your eyes that can absorb the blue light.
“An increased duration of excess blue light exposure or ultraviolet light exposure can lead to damage even in non-macular degeneration patients,” Dr. Sachin Mehta explained.
Some scientists are beginning to link age-related macular degeneration with blue light, although nothing has been proved just yet. Still, Valley eye doctors said there are already methods to cut down on the amount of blue light getting into your eyes.
“What we can do now is implant inter-ocular lens implants into the eye that will selectively block that harmful blue light and allow the less lighter blue light to enter into the eye,” Mehta said.
Eyeglasses to filter blue light emissions are in development.
But your smartphone, the source of some blue light, also can be a source for cutting down the damaging light. There are apps for blue light filters in both the Apple’s App Store and Google Play. There also are physical filters you can buy online.
“If you are reading something from an LED monitor, take frequent breaks and that will reduce your risk of developing stress in the back of the eye,” Mehta added.
