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Original Source HereBy: Gary L. Morgan, OD Guest blogger Alan Burt shares his experiences at a blue light symposium. During the last weekend in June, I attended the 2015 New York Blue Light Symposium. As I walked across Times Square toward the hotel entrance, winding my way between the crowds of tourists taking pictures of the urban firestorm of LED billboards on their brightly backlit smartphones, I was struck by the perverse perfection of the choice of venue for an academic discussion on the emerging science of blue light. The event was an unintentionally well-kept secret from most of the optometric...

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SLEEP seems like a perfectly fine waste of time. Why would our bodies evolve to spend close to one-third of our lives completely out of it, when we could instead be doing something useful or exciting? Something that would, as an added bonus, be less likely to get us killed back when we were sleeping on the savanna?

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For years now, professionals in the fields of light energy and vision have known about the hazards ultraviolet (UV) light presents to ocular health. We are gradually having longer and more intense exposures to blue light; much of the world of commercial display and industry is lit with cool white fluorescent tubes which emit a strong spike of light in the blue and ultraviolet ranges. Indeed many homes and offices are lit with cool white fluorescent tubes. No one doubts more people are spending time in front of video display terminals (VDTs) which produce blue light. While some people find blue light irritates their eyes or causes headache, most are able to ignore it. Scientists only now are beginning to investigate its long‑term effects and offer some solutions for maintaining ocular health in the presence of blue light.

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Lack of sleep may promote neurodegenerative processes, say Swedish researchers

One night of sleep deprivation can increase the levels of molecules that are biomarkers for brain damage, according to a new study out of Sweden.

The study, conducted by researchers from Uppsala University's Department of Neuroscience and published in the journal Sleep, looked at levels of two types of brain molecules:

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Most of us will be going LED mad in a few days, as we set up shop for Christmas. Fairy lights for the tree, maybe a flashing reindeer for the garden and presents including tablets, smartphones – perhaps even the coveted Doctor Who sonic screwdriver torch. But with a recent study by Complutense University of Madrid claiming up to 99 per cent of the cells that protect the retina can be damaged by LEDs, should we reconsider our gift choices this Christmas? Hmm, maybe not quite yet.

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