Posted on 01/23/2024 7:52:21 PM PST by ConservativeMind
As levels of nighttime artificial outdoor light rise, so do the odds for a leading cause of vision loss, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Researchers found that people living in areas of that country with the highest levels of streetlights and other artificial light had more than double the odds for AMD, compared to those living in areas with the lowest levels.
That risk remained even after they accounted for confounding factors such as sleep issues and depression, said a team led by Dr. Ahnul Ha.
City dwellers may be at particular danger for macular degeneration, since the link between the illness and artificial outdoor light "was found solely in urban areas, where the mean outdoor-artificial-light-at-night level was three times higher than in rural areas," Ha's group reported.
AMD occurs when a part of the eye's retina called the macula deteriorates over time. People begin to lose their central vision, making common tasks such as driving or reading difficult.
There's research suggesting that artificial light might harm the retina in various ways. Light exposure can damage sensitive retinal cells, Ha's group noted. It can also upset circadian rhythms and damage these cells, and it can trigger hormonal changes that might also be harmful.
In the new research, Ha and her colleagues analyzed data on over 126,000 South Koreans ages 50 or older. About 4,100 of them had been diagnosed with AMD.
The main finding: Older people who lived in urban areas with the highest levels of outdoor artificial light had 2.17 times the odds of developing AMD, compared to folks living in areas with the lowest levels.
Living in an area that had even just a bit more nighttime artificial light (compared to areas with the lowest levels) was still linked to a 12% higher risk for AMD.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Paul Harvey had a cure for that. I forgot what it was.
That’s silly, what about the people who live in rural areas and/or don’t go out at night?
It was those dang candles.
See where this is going? They want to outlaw night lights now.
How ‘bout - sunlight stimulates your pineal gland. The wise can take it from there.
LOL....no, the gas and whale oil lamps! :-)
Coincidence is causation, as we all know.
I would think the growth of INDOOR artificial lighting since 1900 would have a far greater effect than outdoor lighting. Plus the spectrum of artificial indoor light is so different than outdoor light. And what about computers, pads and phones?
The author wrote urban areas have three times higher lighting than rural areas. It’s got to be a hundred times more. Even suburban neighborhoods have more than 3X urban areas.
sunglasses
rest
sleep
Lutein
My mother has advanced wet macular degeneration, and my sister has just had it diagnosed in one eye.
Neither, especially my mother use light late at night so much. They are both “early to bed, early to rise” types.
Friend has kept macular degeneration at bay for twenty years through acupuncture treatments.
If this is true, then rates of age-related macular degeneration in a state like Virginia should be lower than other states.
Virginia generally has very low levels of street lighting, even in suburban areas. VDOT doesn’t generally install street lighting and the counties generally don’t bother to install them unless a developer is paying for it. Cities and towns tend to have more street lighting, but there are few of those in Virginia.
So in other words, they’re trying to figure out why liberals are blind. Heck, I can explain that without needing to appeal to science.
Sounds silly. If true, people would be more affected by artificial INDOOR light.
Try banning the head lights they use now that absolutely BLIND EVERYBODY!
I have wet AMD and am getting shots in both eyes regularly. I don’t live in the filthy city.
Dry (so far) MD here. Thanks for thread CM. So many factors
Thanks.
Pinging dolly...macula degeneration
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