In a new study, researchers found staring at a deep red light for three minutes a day can significantly improve declining eyesight.
They believe the discovery could signal the dawn of new affordable home-based eye therapies, helping the millions of people globally with naturally declining vision.
The research was conducted by a team at UCL and elsewhere.
In the UK there are currently around 12 million people aged over 65: in 50 years this will increase to around 20 million and all will have some degree of visual decline because of retinal aging.
As people age their visual system declines significantly, particularly once over 40.
The retinal sensitivity and the color vision are both gradually undermined, and with an aging population, this is an increasingly important issue.
In humans, around 40 years-old, cells in the eye’s retina begin to age, and the pace of this aging is caused, in part, when the cell’s mitochondria, whose role is to produce energy (known as ATP) and boost cell function, also start to decline.
Mitochondrial density is greatest in the retina’s photoreceptor cells, which have high energy demands.
As a result, the retina ages faster than other organs, with a 70% ATP reduction over life, causing a big decline in photoreceptor function as they lack the energy to perform their normal role.
The researchers built on their previous findings in mice, bumblebees and fruit flies, which all found big improvements in the function of the retina’s photoreceptors when their eyes were exposed to 670 nanometre (long wavelength) deep red light.
In the study, 24 people (12 male, 12 female), aged between 28 and 72, who had no ocular disease, were recruited.
All participants’ eyes were tested for the sensitivity of their rods and cones at the start of the study.
All participants were then given a small LED torch to take home and were asked to look into* its deep red 670nm light beam for three minutes a day for two weeks. They were then re-tested for their rod and cone sensitivity
The team found the 670nm light had no impact in younger individuals, but in those around 40 years and over, significant improvements were obtained.
Cone color contrast sensitivity (the ability to detect colors) improved by up to 20% in some people aged around 40 and over.
Improvements were more significant in the blue part of the color spectrum that is more vulnerable in aging.
Rod sensitivity (the ability to see in low light) also improved significantly in those aged around 40 and over, though less than color contrast.
The study shows that it is possible to strongly improve vision that has declined in aged people using simple brief exposures to light wavelengths that recharge the energy system that has declined in the retina cells, rather like re-charging a battery.
The technology is simple and very safe, using a deep red light of a specific wavelength, that is absorbed by mitochondria in the retina that supply energy for cellular function.
The new devices cost about £12 to make, so the technology is highly accessible to members of the public.
One author of the study is Professor Glen Jeffery (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology).
The study is published in the Journals of Gerontology.
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