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Blue light, a type of high-energy light, is part of the visible light spectrum. High-energy visible light (HEV light) is short-wave light in the violet/blue band from 400 to 450 nm in the visible spectrum, which has a number of purported negative biological effects, namely on circadian rhythm and retinal health (blue-light hazard), which can lead to age-related macular degeneration.
Prolonged optical exposure to sunlight, especially intense ultraviolet light, may be linked to cortical cataracts, [52] [15] and high levels of visible light is maybe linked to macular degeneration. However, significant daily exposure to bright light may be necessary for children to avoid myopia (nearsightedness). [53]
Photomedicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that involves the study and application of light with respect to health and disease. [1] [2] Photomedicine may be related to the practice of various fields of medicine including dermatology, surgery, interventional radiology, optical diagnostics, cardiology, circadian rhythm sleep disorders and oncology.
The history of light therapy can be traced back to ancient Egypt and India, where therapy with natural sunlight was first used to treat leucoderma. [3] In the 1850s, Florence Nightingale's advocacy of exposure to clean air and sunlight for health restoration also contributed to the initial development of light therapy for treatments. [4]
Light therapy, also called phototherapy or bright light therapy is the exposure to direct sunlight or artificial light at controlled wavelengths in order to treat a variety of medical disorders, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD), circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, cancers, neonatal jaundice, and skin wound infections.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology practice guidelines do not recommend laser coagulation therapy for macular degeneration, but said that it may be useful in people with new blood vessels in the choroid outside of the fovea who do not respond to treatment with anti-VEGF drugs. [3] [4]
The incidence of age-related macular degeneration and its associated features increases with age and is low in people <55 years of age. [101] Smoking is the strongest modifiable risk factor. [102] As of 2008, age-related macular degeneration accounts for more than 54% of all vision loss in the white population in the US. [103]
Photic retinopathy is damage to the eye's retina, particularly the macula, from prolonged exposure to solar radiation or other bright light, e.g., lasers or arc welders.The term includes solar, laser, and welder's retinopathy and is synonymous with retinal phototoxicity. [1]