Blue light from digital devices could accelerate blindness
Washington, Aug 13: Blue light from digital devices including smartphones could accelerate blindness, researchers have found.
According to a research by the University of Toledo in the US, exposure to blue light continuously might cause poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye's light-sensitive cells and lead to macular degeneration, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
As one of the leading causes of blindness in the US, macular degeneration does not lead to total blindness, but can make daily activities difficult.
"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop," said Ajith Karunarathne, an assistant professor in the university's department of chemistry and biochemistry.
Macular degeneration is caused by the death of photoreceptors, a kind of light-sensitive cells.
Photoreceptor cells need molecules called retinal to sense light and trigger signalling to the brain, enabling us to see.
"If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signalling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a PhD student at the university who was involved in the study.
"Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good," Ratnayake added.
To protect eyes from blue light, researchers advise people to wear sunglasses which filter both UV and blue light outside and avoid using smartphones or tablets in the dark.
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MP: 7-year-old girl raped and murdered; minor relative detained
Barwani (MP), Jan 28 (PTI) Police on Wednesday detained a 17-year-old relative of a seven-year-old girl in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly raping her and killing her by throwing her into a canal, a police official said.
Superintendent of Police Jagdish Dawar told reporters that the body of the child was recovered from the Indira Sagar Canal on January 26, following information from residents of a village in the Rajpur police station area of the district.
He said the post-mortem report concluded severe injuries to the girl’s private parts and attributed her death to drowning.
Dawar said a 17-year-old boy, a close relative of the girl, has been detained in connection with the rape-murder.
The teenager told the police that he kidnapped the girl from her home on the night of January 25 while her family members were asleep, took her to a nearby canal and raped her, according to the official.
When the girl started screaming during the sexual assault, the minor boy allegedly threw her into the canal, with the intention of killing her. The child drowned in the water body, the official said.
The detained minor will be produced in a juvenile court.
A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation is underway, he added.
