Computer use can lead to blindness....

[dr. what]

link

When work deadlines loom or the pressure of office life is turned up a notch it’s not uncommon for many of us to sit at our desks and stare at our computer screens for hours at a time without a break.

But rather than simply getting the odd headache or temporarily tired eyes, peering at your screen for long periods could significantly increase the risk of developing the eye disease glaucoma, according to new research from Japan.

Those who spend more than eight hours at a screen per session and who already need to wear glasses or contact lenses are a staggering 82% more likely to develop glaucoma than light PC users with good vision, according to the study by The Toho University School Of Medicine in Tokyo.

And glaucoma can ultimately lead to irreversible blindness.

“Our results suggest that the optic nerve in short-sighted eyes might be more vulnerable to computer stress than normal eyes,” explains Dr Masayuki Tatemichi, lead author of the Toho University research.

“Computer use is reaching higher levels than has ever been experienced before. In the next decade, it might be important for public health professionals to show more concern about short-sightedness in heavy computer users.”

Dr Kerry Jordan, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, stresses that more research is needed to establish whether or not heavy computer usage combined with short-sightedness can lead to an increased risk of developing glaucoma.

“Glaucoma has been around for a very long time – long before computers and monitors were invented,” he points out.

“I believe that more studies need to be conducted as glaucoma varies hugely between different racial groups and what may occur in Japan doesn’t necessarily have any correlation with what might happen in the Caucasian population in this country.”


WHAT IS GLAUCOMA?

Glaucoma is the name for a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged at the point where it leaves the eye.

Your eye needs a certain amount of pressure to keep the eyeball in shape so that it can work properly – the damage is caused either by raised eye pressure or a weakness in the optic nerve, but in most cases both factors are involved to a varying extent.

Source: RNIB]


CHRONIC GLAUCOMA

Some form of glaucoma affects around two in 100 people aged over 40, in the UK.

The most common is chronic glaucoma, which occurs when the eye’s drainage channels slowly become blocked by aqueous fluid over many years.

The eye pressure rises very slowly and the field of vision gradually becomes impaired.

SYMPTOMS: The danger with chronic glaucoma is that your eye may seem perfectly normal – there is no pain and your eyesight will seem to be unchanged.

RISK FACTORS:

Age – chronic glaucoma affects 1% of people over 40 and 5% over 65.

Race – If you are of African origin you are more at risk of chronic glaucoma and it may develop somewhat earlier and be more severe.

Family – If you have a close relative who has chronic glaucoma then you should have eye tests at regular intervals.

Short sight – People with a high degree of short sight are more prone to chronic glaucoma.

Diabetes is also believed to increase the risk of developing this condition.

TREATMENT: Treatment to lower the pressure is usually started with eye drops, followed by laser treatment or an operation called a trabeculectomy to improve the drainage of fluids from the eye.

CURE: With early diagnosis and careful regular observation and treatment, damage can usually be kept to a minimum, and good vision can be enjoyed indefinitely.


Source: RNIB]


HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE RISKS?

Health & Safety Regulations require employers to minimise the risks in VDU work, and include the following objectives:

Plan work so that there are breaks and changes of activity – short frequent breaks are better.

On request, arrange eye tests and provide spectacles if special ones are needed.

Provide health and safety training and information.

Employees are advised of the following;

Arrange your desk and computer to avoid glare – this is easiest if neither you or the screen is directly facing windows or bright lights.

Adjust the brightness and contrast controls on the screen to suit lighting conditions in the room.

Make sure the screen surface is clean.

If setting up software choose options where the text is large enough to read easily on your screen and select colours that are easy on the eye – avoid red text on a blue background or vice versa.

Individual characters on screen should be sharply focused and should not flicker or move.

Dr Kerry Jordan says that after the age of 40 you should have eye tests at least every two years and ask for all three glaucoma tests.
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Let's see now.....

Work in an office 8 hours/day in front of a computer? Check
Wear glasses? Check
Genetic predisposition to glaucoma? Check.
Approaching age 40? Check

That's it---I'm screwed.......

[Ryoga]

I dunno, I kind of agree with how Maddox puts it on his website when answering why he uses yellow text on a black background; he says that "computer screens aren't paper. Try turning the lights off in a dark screen when you have Microsoft Word open". I did, it's really bright.

Maybe that's why people go blind. Luckily we don't have that problem here at SDNet.

[dr. what]

Maybe that's why people go blind. Luckily we don't have that problem here at SDNet.

With the amount of internet porn everyone here seems to download, I think you people may want to start lining up for treatment real soon....

[SyntaxVorlon]

Great, now there's an economic incentive for legalizing Marijuana!

[LadyTevar]

well.... Fuck.

I've a family history of glaucoma, and I'm already suffering from astigmatism

[muse]

Great, now there's an economic incentive for legalizing Marijuana!

I can almost picture an entire IT division hot-boxing their cubicals.

[Jadeite]

Fuck. I definitely have the potential to develop it.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

So if you're surfing the Internet for extended periods of time, you might as well jack off to porn?

[Alan Bolte]

Defffinitely need to cut down. It's not loike I'm doing it for any good reason anyway.