Live data from Hacker News

Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

sciencedaily.com

71–80 of 117 posts

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#71
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?

This is the hex value for 670 nanometre red. #ff0000 Per https://academo.org/demos/wavelength-to-colour-relationship/

yes but when i drag the slider i see that 645-700nm is also ff0000.

i don't know how precise it should be..

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#73
post #72

This may improve colour sensitivity, but by far the biggest vision problem due to ageing is long-sightedness. This does nothing for that.

The paper also talks about improving retina sensitivity alongside color sensitivity, aren't these two different methods? How relevant is the former?

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#74
post #72

This may improve colour sensitivity, but by far the biggest vision problem due to ageing is long-sightedness. This does nothing for that.

> This may improve colour sensitivity,

It looks like it also improves low-light sensitivity, which is arguably more useful than colour sensitivity.

"Rod sensitivity (the ability to see in low light) also improved significantly in those aged around 40 and over,"

> by far the biggest vision problem due to ageing is long-sightedness.

I had cataracts at a young age, and had my natural lenses replaced with fixed-focus implants. There were lots of positives after the procedure, but the downside was an immediate loss of any ability to focus. (Progressive loss of ability to focus is why long-sightedness becomes an issue as you age, and this is a complete loss of that ability in fifteen minutes.)

It may be that I have a 1.5D (intentional) delta in the two lenses, but loss of focusing ability hasn't been that bad so far. In fact, I can now write this on a laptop without any external correction at all. At least from my anecdotal experience, I'd characterize long-sightedness as potentially frustrating, but easily manageable.

What scares me, though, are retinal issues (the ATP loss described in the paper, as well as others). Treatment options there are generally far less effective and far more intrusive.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#75
post #29
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…

Most LED have their wavelength in their datasheet.

Just select one that has the one you are looking for, it's going to be cheaper and easier than getting an expensive or inaccurate spectrometer.

For instance, this classic one is at 660nm:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Lumex/SSL-LX5093SRD-D

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#76
post #18

A quick google search shows that 670nm lights are quite commonly made and easy to obtain, amazon has a plethora of them (although 660nm is considerably more common).

I emailed the professor who did the research and asked about 660 vs 670:

"Yes I am aware that the 670nm LEDs are hard to come by, they are also rather variable between batches which has caused a lot of problems for us as we now have to test extensively. I think 660nm will work. Question is, will it work as well as the 670nm? I suspect not. But also I do not know if this can be compensated for by longer exposures etc etc… There are a lot of variables here that we do not know about"

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#77
post #65
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it’s not controversial to post a scientific publication supporting your claims. I suggest you Google-fu yourself.

A quick search turned up the following. The list is non-exhaustive and wasn't vetted in detail. 2017: Aging Retinal Function Is Improved by Near Infrared Light (670 Nm) ... "Our data suggest, 670 nm light can significantly improve aged retinal function" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28129566/ --------------------------------------------------- 2016: Red Light of the Visual Spectrum Attenuates Cell Death in Culture…

And this site includes an interesting chart of effective light frequencies:

"This chart pulled from the Joovv site shows that one of the receptors of light energy in our body, Cytochrome C Oxidase, absorbs many more photons at certain wavelengths."

https://primalhacker.com/blogs/learn/red-light-photobiomodul...

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#78
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?

This is the hex value for 670 nanometre red. #ff0000 Per https://academo.org/demos/wavelength-to-colour-relationship/

I would assume one needs a very good laser+DLP projection system to make this work.

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#79
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you doing it?

There have been persistent claims that cool color-temperature (bluish) light in the evenings disrupts sleep quality. I unfortunately can’t remember if that comes from rigorous studies or pop psychology.

The application flux has a lengthy list of studies on their site.

I struggle for any period of nighttime on a screen without it now.

https://justgetflux.com/research.html

Re: Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

Indeed, we are all stone age hardware trying to run modern software.

Post reply on HN