A day and a flashlight emitting red light are enough to significantly improve eyesight, which has deteriorated with age, argue the authors of the study, the results of which were published in the Journals of Gerontology. Thanks to this discovery, people over 40 will soon be able to give up glasses?
Age-related visual impairment, or presbyopia, is a natural problem associated with the aging of the body. And quite common, asapplies to anyone over 40 years of age to a greater or lesser extent.Although this process is practically impossible to stop, scientists are still looking for a therapy that could slow it down.
And, perhaps, they found it. British researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology at University College London argue that the solution to these problems may bea small, cheap flashlight emitting red light- to improve eyesight, just stare at it for three minutes a day for two weeks .
The main author of the research, prof. Glen Jeffery, in a UCL press release, explains that, looking for a solution, researchers triedto restart aging retinal cells in the eye with short bursts of longwave light .
explains that in people over 40, the retinal cells of the eye begin to age - the pace of aging depends, among others, on from the cellular mitochondria that produce energy (known as ATP). The greatest number of mitochondria are found in the retinal photoreceptors, i.e. cells that absorb light.
These cells have a very high demand for ATP - and when its level decreases with age (by as much as 70%), photoreceptors are not able to work properly, and this is one of the reasons why vision deteriorates.
As previous studies on mice, bumblebees and fruit flies have shown, when the eyes were exposed to 670 nanometers long red light (upper visible light range), the photoreceptors actually "revived".
Similar tests were then carried out on people. 24 people took part in the study: 12 men and 12 women, aged 28 to 72, who had no eye diseases. Prior to the examination, the sensitivity of the suppositories (responsible forcolor vision) and spiders (responsible for peripheral vision).
Then each of them received a small LED flashlight (manufactured for this study - there are currently no such devices on the market) and by for the next two weeks he had to stare at the red light it emitted for three minutes a day.
After this time, the sensitivity of the suppositories and rods was reassessed. The researchers found that while light with a wavelength of 670 nanometersdid not affect the eyesight of younger people ,had a significant improvement in people aged 40 and older , and in some of them the ability to detect colors improved by up to 20%. The ability to see in low light has also improved.
As summed up by prof. Glen Jeffery: - Our study has shown that it is possible to significantly improve the eyesight of older people by exposing them to short exposure to long-wave light. This causes the energy-generating system in their eyesto charge much likebatteries. The entire procedure is not only safe, but also cheap - the devices we use cost around £ 12, making the technology available to the general public.
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