Doctors were puzzled at first: why were so many women, aged 22 and 44, coming into their offices complaining about temporary blindness? These incidents happened frequently, sometimes lasting almost 15 minutes.
Researchers conducted MRIs, heart scans and other numerous tests without finding an answer that made sense. So, they began investigating these women’s lifestyles instead. What they discovered was absolutely astonishing.
The cause? Using cell phones before bed. We’ve all done our fair share of web surfing before falling asleep, and now doctors have linked that phone usage to this pattern of temporary blindness. Sadly, one of the women continued this harmful practice even after knowing the risks.
Further research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, helps us better understand why cell phone usage at night causes this bizarre problem. Without knowing any better, most of us who check our phones in bed are putting extra pressure on one eye at a time. Because we often lie on one side, it makes one eye do the work while the other is closed or covered by a pillow or blanket.
As a result, there is a discrepancy between the amount of light received by both eyes. One eye gets used to darkness, while the other gets used to the brightness of the screen. Once we finally go to sleep, this discrepancy between the eyes confuses the brain. It is unable to distinguish between daytime and nighttime.
Sadly, this confusion can lead to the symptoms of temporary blindness, and in the worst-case scenario can even cause lasting damage to the eye.
Is that what we want to be doing to our eyes?
We’re so quick to adopt the latest gadget that we don’t think about the adverse health effects. The light that comes from the LED screens on our cell phones is now being absorbed by the eye in quantities greater than ever before. But is it safe?
Because it’s so new, it’s escaped the notice of many eye doctors. Slowly, but surely, people are starting to take notice. Like with ear buds and the hearing problems they cause, long-term exposure to cell phone light is leading to increasing amounts of eye damage.
Horrifyingly, there are reports from some doctors of patients with eye damage so severe, that the lenses of younger eyes look like those of the elderly. And the damage can go even further!
That blue cell phone light isn’t just linked to eye damage. Researchers at Harvard have also discovered links between cell phone light and a range of other illnesses. These include obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
It’s all too easy to stick to unhealthy habits, but is it worth all that risk just to scroll endlessly on Facebook? We don’t yet know all the details, but one thing is clear: once you get under the covers, that phone should be put away. We know you could use the sleep.
*Click here for the full story of two women who went blind after using their phones in bed.
Source: Super Tasty Recipes
Share It To Your Friends!
