Eye Health & Blue Light

If you suffer from any type of sleep disorders, seasonal affect disorder (SAD), jet lag when you travel, or even if you would just like more energy and better quality sleep, then this article has information that will help you do just that.  It’s about the blue light discovery that we’ve had all along and didn’t know about, & what great effect it has on our eye health.

You may already know that your retina (the back of your eyeball) has different kinds of light receptors.  The rods are for night vision and peripheral vision, but they don’t see color.  Three kinds of cones sense different wavelengths of light, red, blue and green. All together, they make up your color vision.  If you happen to be missing one, then you’re “color blind”.

Photoreceptors & The Eye

For hundreds of years it was thought that we humans had only two types or photoreceptors, rods and cones.  Recently it was discovered that we have non-rod, non-cone ganglion cell photoreceptors that mediate circadian rhythms, behavior and pupil reactions. Ganglion cell photoreceptors reside in the inner retina and rods and cones reside in the outer retina.  This creates two distinct photoreceptor pathways.

These retinal ganglion cells are there strictly for setting our circadian clock. They allow us to tell whether it’s light or dark even with our eyes closed. Another interesting fact about these ganglion cell photoreceptors is they are more sensitive to blue light.  Some people think it’s because the sky is blue and that is natural light.

The Effect Of Light

Now we have to start thinking in a whole new way about how light affects the brain and our eye health, because these retinal ganglion cells are not related to our vision in the way we have been traditionally thinking about it.  This discovery is monumental to human health.

We all know that on a nice bright sunny day, we are just full of life and energy and on a dark, dreary winter day, we’re kind of blah.  This has to do with the amount of natural light we are exposed to. Modern office buildings and workplaces are being designed to maximize natural lighting as opposed to electric lighting, which they believe will improve worker’s health and productivity.

Circadian Rhthm & The Eyes

Since these ganglion cell photoreceptors are sensitive to blue light, patients with a circadian rhythm disorder can benefit from blue light therapy.  Imagine what this could do in space travel.

Circadian rhythm is associated with the solar day, a 24 hour period.  Humans go through changes in heart rate, metabolic rate, wakefulness and flexibility.  The signal for circadian pattern is the change from darkness to light.  Bipolar disorder, sleep disorders, jet lag, fatigue and insomnia are all attributed to a disruption in circadian rhythms.  Low intensity short wavelength blue light has been shown to be very effective in treating some of these disorders.

Blue Light & Eye Health

Most of us haven’t heard of blue light therapy for the same reason we haven’t heard about the ganglion cell photoreceptors.  Just imagine something that could give you a natural boost, increase your energy, get better eye health, and even help you sleep.

Well, now we know that the newly discovered receptors in our eyes are responsible for converting the blue light from the summer sky into the chemicals our bodies need to be active and energetic.  Using the right wavelength of light triggers your active hormones naturally.  This boosts your mood and helps eliminate “Seasonal Affective Disorder” (SAD), which occurs when we don’ get enough natural light in the wintertime.

This amazing new discovery in our eyes can lead to a much healthier lifestyle as soon as technology catches up and gives up blue sky light indoors all year round.

Tags: Eye Health