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Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

sciencedaily.com

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Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#21

Post by mikkelam »

harry8 wrote: post #19
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?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-sightedness

It is described here in the top section

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#22

Post by s9w »

car wrote: post #16
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.

Frankly my experience with posting sources on HN has almost never been good. It's often just taken as a reason to pick those apart and start a flamewar. My comment above has been downvoted at least 5 times which makes me confident that this is one those times.

For what it's worth I have no stakes in anything and no sources at hand. I remember having read at least two different studies about this, but it has been years. I'm sure your google-fu is as good as mine so maybe you can find something.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#23

Post by mannanj »

There are whole companies dedicated to selling this, Google red light therapy and you'll find a few. Novothor is the gold standard for athletes at $100k/pop. I myself jerry-rigged my own comparable unit and bath in it everyday- I haven't noticed eyesight benefits but I'm convinced I feel healthier and stronger as a result.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#24

Post by trophycase »

klipt wrote: post #15
briefcomment wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's not implausible. How many modern "ailments" are simply the result of not doing what our bodies were adapted to.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#25

Post by aaron695 »

If this is real it's a huge deal.

But unless they did a pre study release this is P hacked to death.

24 people, then narrowed to only over 40, 20% difference in some frequencies.

If science worked we'd immediately re-test this. The cost savings per year could be enormous if it's true.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#26

Post by harry8 »

mikkelam wrote: post #21
harry8 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-sightedness It is described here in the top section

Tentative evidence indicates that the risk of near-sightedness can be decreased by having young children spend more time outside.[4][7]

So that's a very, very much weaker claim "time outside may affect ..." and acknowledges the role of genetics and other factors. Of those 2 references I looked at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5599950/

I declare I have no expertise in the field but also didn't find the meta-analysis paper convincing.

This one: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26372583/

Looks the most promising. I couldn't find a replication.

So there could be something in "time outside" as a beneficial preventative measure for some children w.r.t. myopia. There is nothing much like "Myopia is caused by insufficient bright light as a child" as I understand that sentence. But maybe I've misunderstood?

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#27

Post by verdverm »

trophycase wrote: post #24
klipt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's not implausible. How many modern "ailments" are simply the result of not doing what our bodies were adapted to.

This is why I bought a squatty potty and make sure to walk for an hour most days.

Physical evolution does not keep up so well with modern society's pace of change and understandings therein.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#28

Post by [deleted] »

mannanj wrote: post #23

There are whole companies dedicated to selling this, Google red light therapy and you'll find a few. Novothor is the gold standard for athletes at $100k/pop. I myself jerry-rigged my own comparable unit and bath in it everyday- I haven't noticed eyesight benefits but I'm convinced I feel healthier and stronger as a result.

[deleted]

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#29

Post by alister »

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?

Another question:

(d) How much does the precise wavelength matter? The study used 670nm but also mentions the range 650-1000nm. Lots of red-light gadgets are available on Amazon but how do you verify the wavelength? I was thinking of an optical spectrum analyzer[1] but at $28,000 they are shockingly expensive. Even with raw LEDs bought from a reliable electronics distributor like Digi-Key, it would be nice to be able to measure it somehow.

[1] https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=52...

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#30

Post by jodrellblank »

klipt wrote: post #15
briefcomment wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> "Intranasal Light Therapy involves the simple process of clipping a small red light diode to the nose to illuminate the nasal cavity. Researchers have found that this act initiates the process of healing a large number of health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, sinusitis, dementia and various viral infections." - http://www.drgcohen.com/site/healing-approach/intranasal-lig...

The more panacea it is, the more woo it probably is, eh?

[Edit: NB. Nitric Oxide is produced in the paranasal sinus cavities[1], and when inhaling through the nose it gets drawn into the body. It appears to be involved in arterial flexibility, increasing blood flow, decreasing blood pressure, immunity, neurotransmission, and relatedly treating erectile dysfunction. Humming appears to increase the production of Nitric Oxide[3]. Maybe the red light up the nose just makes you breathe through your nose?]

[1] https://thorax.bmj.com/content/54/10/947

[3] https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200202-138...

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