Abuse of digital devices produces cataracts and dry eye

2023-04-18 22:00:12

• The light that cell phones emit into the eyes at night increases users’ alertness.
• The use of this type of equipment also alters circadian rhythms and causes sleep disorders.
• The most harmful light is ultraviolet and blue ultraviolet (short-wavelength) and is usually received from digital devices.

The modern world is marked by the daily use of mobile devices. Although its main objective is to simplify the tasks of life, in the end not everything is favorable. In the same way that it happens with other areas, when there is an abuse there are different health risks and the eyes are the most affected.

About this topic, P.ilar Duran Hernandezwho is a senior researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM, said that during the last three years the majority of the population has fallen into the abuse of digital devices. When that happens at night, before sleeping, they generate alterations in sleep quality and circadian rhythms due to photic stimulation.

Light from cell phones is quite dangerous

The light that cell phones emit into the eyes at night increases users’ alertness. It also causes damage to the organ that modulates vision.

“Every excess is bad. Overexposure to blue light from digital devices also causes macular degeneration, cataracts, corneal disorders, and dry eye, a problem due to the abuse in the use of these technologies.”

The neurobiology specialist explained that sleep is controlled by a homeostatic and a circadian process. So it is necessary to sleep to have good health and rest to recover what we lost during sleep. The problem is that with photic stimuli this no longer occurs.

He added that the most harmful of the lights are ultraviolet and blue ultraviolet (short wavelength). Normally they are the ones that are received by digital devices, which can also generate cataracts and alterations in awakening.

Vision damage could be inherited

When that light reaches the retina it is absorbed by the rods and cones, which causes a decrease in the amount of melatonin that is secreted and leads to changes in gene expression. This generates epigenetic alterations or specific changes that could even be inherited.

In adulthood, he continued, new neurons are generated, a process that could be reduced when faced with photic light stimuli at night, as well as a high stage of neuroinflammation. That is, a high degree of oxidative stress in the tissues, a decrease in learning-memory processes and alterations in mood.

“If we do not take care of our health, we would also be in the possibility of suffering from a series of disorders of the sleep-wake cycle such as insomnia, daytime hypersomnolence, narcolepsy, sleep apnea –which can cause neuronal death–, paradoxical sleep disorders such as carrying out activities at times that they are for resting, as well as restless leg syndrome.”

If we want to ensure a restful sleep, it is necessary to avoid the consumption of drinks exuding the central nervous system and intense physical activity at night. Also the use of digital devices at least two hours before bed.

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