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Computers Linked to Glaucoma?
An anonymous reader writes "Maybe we should have listened to our parents and gone outside instead of playing video games. In newly published study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, heavy computer users were 74% more likely to develop visual field problems as compared baseline in a group of 10,202 randomly selected workers. Furthermore, heavy computer users were found to be 81% more likely to develop glaucoma."
For a non-slashdotted link to information on Glaucoma: clicketie-click
For reference:
CNN
Glaucoma Research Foundation
Canadian Opthomological Society
National Eye Institute
I realize that letting facts get in the way of things is not the norm here on /. but there's always a first time.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Every company I've worked for in the UK has offered free eye tests to heavy computer users (and has done for some time now). A study like this can only encourage this practice becoming wider-spread. One of the things I've been tested for in the past has been glaucoma too.
-- now where did I put that
That's a nice anecdote. Apparently neither you nor the author understand the difference between correlation and causation.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Glaucoma is definitely related to diabetes, and diabetes is definitely related to a sedentary lifestyle.
Although, glaucoma also is caused by a number of other things (many of which we do not know); the article is down right now, so I can't tell what type of glaucoma these people were found to have.
Assuming that the increased rate could be explained by the sedentary lifestyle associated with heavy computer usage, it's just more news of the same: we're getting fat, lazy and stupid, and we'll look for any thing to blame it on other than the fact that we eat too much, don't exercise, and think education is a joke.
What?
Unfortunately not. I was looking forward to writing my own 'geeks for weed' jokes or maybe something about outsourcing to Canada, but it turns out that while THC can reduce pressure it also reduces blood flow through the optic nerve which is apparently not good for glaucoma.
Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3
Oh well.
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
BTW, most medical plans cover eye diseases (such as glaucoma). Vision plans are typically just for getting glasses or contacts and checking how bad your vision is in the first place.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I don't think it's the electron stream. I think it's the excessive brightness and just plain glare. My eyes are light-sensitive to begin with, and I noticed it immediately, but most people don't.
My eyes complained when I went from an amber-mono screen (where the unused part of the screen is truly BLACK, that is, unlit) to VGA. If you look at a VGA screen in the dark, and set your desktop to plain black, you'll see that even the "black" is *bright*. Well, no wonder VGA tires the eyes more than mono!
When I have to use someone else's computer, it always makes my eyes hurt. Using my own doesn't. The difference? Most people leave theirs at the factory settings for brightness, that is, "FRY". Conversely, my big ViewSonic is turned down as far as it can be and still see the screen (contrast 75%, brightness 0%). Everyone complains that my monitor is too dark, but it's a lot easier on the eyes this way. And I have the desktops I see all the time set to dark, eye-soothing colours.
The REAL difference between LCD and CRT? LCD isn't nearly as bright. Compare how much waste light each produces, by having each screen as the only light source in a dark room.
As to eye changes, after 12 years or so of heavy computer use, I've only noticed the normal ones that come with age -- at 49, I no longer have close focus at all, and have lost most distance focus. (That is, I can see everything at any distance, but I can't resolve text.) But I do a fair amount of physical work every day, I don't have glaucoma-predisposing factors like diabetes (nor obesity), and I didn't have unusually bad eyes to begin with.
Considering how many vision-impaired and unsocial people have become heavy computer users, especially since they can now "safely" socialize via the Net (and how many of these types then become obese through an increasingly sedentary lifestyle) and the correlation between obesity ==> diabetes ==> glaucoma, I suspect this is a case of correlation being mistaken for causation.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Why didn't you post this link?? Glaucoma Research Foundation Check out the side effects of these "safe" medications...
Yes, it helps but no, it doesn't help much. There were apparently a bunch of studies done back in the late 90s, since it is a known fact that marijuana, specifically THC, the psychoactive substance therein, does reduce intraocular pressure, which is the primary symptom of glaucoma.
However, the relief is apparently short-lived and comes only with sufficiently high dosage to get fairly high, so you can't just have a few toots twice a day to treat your glaucoma effectively. Furthermore, there are more effective eye-drop based treatments that have no side effects.
Also (according to some sources) marijuana reduces blood flow to the optic nerve, which is not good for glaucoma patients. Not sure how substantial this effect is. Anyway, Googling for "marijuana glaucoma" turns up tons of stuff, some of it from fairly reputable sources and studies.
Certainly, I don't think tooting some marijuana will hurt your glaucoma, but it doesn't seem like it will cure it either.