Is your phone affecting your eyes?
Eye expert are warning against the rise in 'Screen Sighted' vision impairment caused by smartphones.
Smartphones have caused cases of Myopia (short-sightedness) among young Brits to surge, according to a leading laser eye surgeon.
David Allamby, Founder of Focus Clinics, has reported a 35% increase of patients with advancing Myopia, since the launch of smartphones in 1997, and warns that worsening Myopia in young adults could increase by 50% within 10 years. The trend has led to David dubbing the condition 'Screen-Sighted'.
Half of Brits own smartphones and spend an average of two hours per day using them – combined with the amount of hours spent in front of a computer screen, laptop, tablet and television – it means that particularly young people and children are at risk of permanently damaging their vision.
New research found that the average smartphone user holds the handset 30 cm from their face - with some people holding it just 18cm away- compared to newspapers and books, which are held 40cm away from the eyes.
According to Mr Allamby, excessive screen watching at a close proximity keeps the genes that control myopia activated well beyond the age that short-sighted would historically have stabilized, around the age of 21. This is known as ‘epigenetics’. Myopia used to stop in our early 20s but now we see it progressing throughout the 20s, 30s, and even into our 40s.
David Allamby comments: "If things continue as they are, I predict that 40-50% of 30 year olds could have Myopia by 2033 as a result of smartphones and lifestyles in front of screens – an epidemic we call Screen-Sightedness. People need to ensure they limit screen time wherever possible even by going outside without their phone for a period of time each day (getting out into the sunshine has been shown to reduce the progression of short-sight), and also seriously consider the age at which they give their children a smartphone."
Mr Allamby says today's generation of children are most at risk of Myopia – with children as young as seven being given their first smartphone. It is predicted that by 2014 teenagers aged 12 to 17 will be the second biggest market for smartphones behind 18-24 year olds.
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