One more reason to stop watching night phones: the risk of eye damage is real

Green light even makes the eye cells kill each other - an effect that is too terrible.

Green light emitted from the phone screen and electronic devices in general has been shown to disturb the sleep cycle. It makes us unable to sleep on time, have trouble sleeping enough, and even suffer from insomnia.

But if that is not enough for you to give up the habit of using the phone at night, is the new study likely to work? Because experts from the University of Toledo (USA), the green light will make your eyes fade over time without any way to improve.

In fact, light information from phones and computers can harm the eyes is not new. But recently, experts have identified its harmful mechanisms, and all feel startled.

"It is not uncommon for blue light to damage the retina. But our research has shown the mechanism of that process" - quoted Ajith Karunarathne, a chemist from the research group.

Green light is really dangerous.

The culprit causing damage to the eye is not only 1

Karunarathne and colleagues focused on studying a chemical on the retina, named retinal . This is a variant of vitamin A, which allows light to enter the eye to be twisted into different forms.

"In order to see, you need a stable retinal supply. The light-sensing receptors in your eyes will not work without a retinal," Karunarathne said.

Normally, retinal will switch back and forth between different forms. This process is not perfect, and there is a form of retinal (ATR for short) that can even become toxic to the eye.

Degeneration of the macula causes the eye to no longer sense light.

This type of retinal ATR can be converted into molecules called lipofuscin, with the potential to destroy cell structure. It is one of the causes of degenerative eye cells, causing macular degeneration.

However, by experimenting on various light waves, Karunarathne found that the culprit was not just lipofuscin.Another threat is from blue light.

Experts said when retinal exposure to blue light waves, the molecules on the cell membrane are deformed. This process causes calcium levels to spike, causing cell size to change, and causing it to die gradually.

This effect does not occur when retinal is exposed to other colored light, even with white light from the bulb. Only blue light waves are stimulating it in the other way.

Retinal toxicity can kill any cell.

Notably, the harms of blue light do not stop with light-sensing cells. Through tests, it seems that heart cells, neurons, even cancer cells are affected. And because retinal has been shown to be able to move around the body, Karunarathne is concerned about the true harm that this phenomenon can create.

"It turns out that retinal toxicity due to blue light is very wide. It can kill any cell," Karunarathne said.

Old age is scary

Retinal toxicity has always been there, but people have not been affected too much for less exposure to blue light. In addition, the body also has a mechanism to create "antidote" which is a derivative of vitamin E called alpha-tocopherol .

But over time, we age, the ability to synthesize alpha-tocopherol also fades. It is currently unclear whether vitamin E supplementation is effective, but the theory needs to wait for science to prove it.

What we do?

Should stop using the smartphone after sunset.

Obviously, the easiest thing to do is stop using the smartphone after sunset. You have had too much contact with the blue light from the Sun, no need to add that artificial light anymore.