Looking at red light for three minutes a day can significantly improve your vision. This is the finding of a new study that is the first of its kind in humans. Decreasing vision improved by viewing deep red light from an LED flashlight.Due to agingof the retina, many people show some degree of visual decline. Scientists believe the discovery could signal the beginning of new affordable eye treatments that could help millions of people worldwide with naturally decreasing vision.
Can red light heal eyes?
As we age, the visual system deteriorates significantly. Retinal sensitivity and color vision are gradually being eroded and with an aging population this is becoming an increasingly important issue. To curb or reverse this decline, researchers tried to reboot the retina's aging cells with short, long-wavelength flashes of light. In people around the age of 40, the cells in the retina of the eye begin to age. The pace of this aging is caused in part by the cell's mitochondria. Their job is to produce energy and increase cell function. The density of mitochondria is greatest in the photoreceptor cells of the retina, which have high energy requirements. As a result, the retina ages faster than other organs, with a 70% reduction in energy over a lifetime. This, accordingly, leads to a significant deterioration of the photoreceptors as they lack the energy to carry out their normal task.
The researchers built on previous findings in mice, bumblebees and fruit flies. They all found significant improvements in the function of the retina's photoreceptors after the scientists exposed the eyes of the test animals to 670 nanometers deep, long-wave red light. Mitochondria have specific light absorption properties that influence their performance. Longer wavelengths of 650 to 1000 nm are absorbed and improve the performance of mitochondria to increase energy production. In addition, the population of photoreceptors in the retina consists of cones, which mediate color vision, and rods, which enable peripheral vision and adjust vision in dim light.
Research with human subjects
The researchers conducted the study on 24 people (12 men, 12 women) between the ages of 28 and 72 and without any eye diseases. At the beginning of the study, the team tested all participants' eyes for the sensitivity of the rods and cones. They attributed this sensitivity accordinglyadapted eyeswith dilated pupils. All participants were then given a small LED flashlight to take home. You should look into the deep red 670 nm light beam for three minutes a day for two weeks. The subjects were then tested again for the sensitivity of the rod cells in the retina. The researchers found that red light had no effect in younger people, but produced significant improvements in people aged 40 and over. In addition, color contrast sensitivity (ability to recognize colors) improved by up to 20% in some people aged 40 and over.
Improvements were even more significant in the blue part of the color spectrum, which is more susceptible to aging. Rod sensitivity (the ability to see in low light conditions) also improved significantly in people aged 40 and over, although less than color contrast.This studythus shows that it is possible to significantly improve vision, which has declined in older people, through simple short exposure to wavelengths of light that recharge the energy system that is decreasing in the retinal cells, similar to charging a battery. The technology is simple, safe and uses a deep, red light of a specific wavelength. Mitochondria in the retina absorb this light and then provide energy for cell function.
