Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

sciencedaily.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 117 posts

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#11

Post by briefcomment »

dwheeler wrote: post #5

This seems dubious. What in world would be the mechanism? On the other hand, I don't see the harm in doing this and it seems easy to replicate. Hopefully others will quickly try to replicate it, and if they do, try to figure out why.

Red light is established as a powerful trigger of cell repair mechanisms. Sunlight is a massive source of red light (and other colors) and if you stay indoors as much as the average person does, shining artificial red light on yourself may help make up for deficiencies.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#12

Post by briefcomment »

lsllc wrote: post #3
alister wrote: post #2

Questions: (a) Does this study sound plausible? (b) Would staring at the correct red color on a monitor work? Or would that not work since monitor colors are generated by mixing R, G, and B pixels and therefore not a pure wavelength? (c) Would it be reasonable methodology to test one eye to see if it improves over the other eye?

I have one of those aviator LED flashlights that has the red LED for chart reading at night without destroying your night vision. I'm going to give this a try!

Please be careful, and stop as soon as you notice any discomfort.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#14

Post by tkahnoski »

ars wrote: post #8

I wonder if our eyes need campfires when we are older, just like they need bright sunlight when children in order to properly develop and function. (Myopia is caused by insufficient bright light as a child.) Campfires have a LOT of deep red light.

I can't wait for doctor prescribed sunsets and campfires.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#15

Post by klipt »

briefcomment wrote: post #11
dwheeler wrote: post #5

This seems dubious. What in world would be the mechanism? On the other hand, I don't see the harm in doing this and it seems easy to replicate. Hopefully others will quickly try to replicate it, and if they do, try to figure out why.

Red light is established as a powerful trigger of cell repair mechanisms. Sunlight is a massive source of red light (and other colors) and if you stay indoors as much as the average person does, shining artificial red light on yourself may help make up for deficiencies.

Wow, it even decreases dementia? Crazy

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/red-light...

I guess the new LED bulbs miss a lot of frequencies that were present in incandescent (black body radiation) bulbs. I wonder if we'll see a bunch of "light frequency deficiency" diseases arising as a result.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#16

Post by car »

s9w wrote: post #9

I'm not sure why the comments here seem so dismissive. The mechanism that eyes need red light for regenerative processes is known for a long time I think. I remember a friend working in optics telling me about that a decade ago. Eyes are adapted for sunlight, which is more than plausible. It's just not popular because it implies that screen use is bad and those unpopular scientific topics are often pushed under the r…

Source please.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#17

Post by jb775 »

dwheeler wrote: post #5

This seems dubious. What in world would be the mechanism? On the other hand, I don't see the harm in doing this and it seems easy to replicate. Hopefully others will quickly try to replicate it, and if they do, try to figure out why.

I think it seems a little dubious as well just considering the study was done with only 24 ppl.

If it works, I'd imagine the mechanism is something on the cellular level, similar to how blue light disturbs sleep by stirring up activity within a certain type of retinal cell.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#19

Post by harry8 »

ars wrote: post #8

I wonder if our eyes need campfires when we are older, just like they need bright sunlight when children in order to properly develop and function. (Myopia is caused by insufficient bright light as a child.) Campfires have a LOT of deep red light.

>Myopia is caused by insufficient bright light as a child

That seems like an /extremely/ dubious assertion. Maybe it's counter-intuitive and correct? Anything to back it?

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#20

Post by SubiculumCode »

jb775 wrote: post #17
dwheeler wrote: post #5

This seems dubious. What in world would be the mechanism? On the other hand, I don't see the harm in doing this and it seems easy to replicate. Hopefully others will quickly try to replicate it, and if they do, try to figure out why.

I think it seems a little dubious as well just considering the study was done with only 24 ppl. If it works, I'd imagine the mechanism is something on the cellular level, similar to how blue light disturbs sleep by stirring up activity within a certain type of retinal cell.

While the sample is small, the article states "Researchers built on their previous findings in mice, bumblebees and fruit flies, which all found significant improvements in the function of the retina's photoreceptors when their eyes were exposed to 670 nanometre (long wavelength) deep red light." This might not be so out-of-the-blue implausible.
Post reply on HN