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British doctors have reported cases of temporary blindness caused by the use of smartphones in the dark. Two women aged 22 and 40 years complained of recurring episodes of vision loss lasting up to 15 minutes. Article describing the symptoms published in the New England journal of Medicine.
Women underwent a series of medical treatments, including examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and testing of cardiac activity. But doctors found no abnormalities that could be associated with loss of vision. Ophthalmologist found out from the patients what they did during bouts of blindness. It turned out that both women lay on the bed on his side and looked at the screen of the smartphone in the dark with one eye, covering the other eye with a pillow.
In this case, one eye accustomed to the light, and the other to the dark. After turning off the smartphone begins a long process of dark adaptation. This is what caused the temporary blindness of that eye that looked at the screen. To avoid discomfort caused by different types of adaptation of view, doctors are advised to watch with both eyes on the screen of digital devices in the dark.
The doctors tested their hypothesis by conducting an experiment on myself. They looked at the bright screen of a smartphone in a few minutes with one eye, and then assessed the loss of light sensitivity. It turned out that vision is really deteriorating, and its restoration will take several minutes. Experts believe that such short-term blindness does not pose a threat to health by itself. However, doctors warn that it is necessary to inform patients about such cases to avoid unnecessary anxiety and stress.
