(Toledo, OH) University of Toledo researchers say long-term smartphone use could make you go blind.
A new study out Wednesday found the blue light emitted by smartphones and similar devices can change the molecules in the eye and lead to the early onset of macular degeneration.
Researchers tracked the amount of blue light emitted from the sun and compared it to digital devices. A professor conducting the study says that as people get older, they become more sensitive to blue light exposure.
Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that results in significant vision loss starting on average in a person’s 50s or 60s. The eye disease involves the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Scientists are now working on experiments in hopes of finding therapies for the causes of blindness.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.