Macular degeneration is the deterioration of the central portion of the retina within the eye and affects the images we see. There are two types: wet and dry. Wet macular degeneration is when fluid leaks from blood vessels that develop under the macula. Due to the fluid, photoreceptor cells die or degenerate and the macula rises from its previous position. Vision loss of this form is more aggressive and causes lines to appear wavy and spots to appear in the middle of one’s vision. Dry macular degeneration occurs in eighty-five percent of people with the disease and has varying results with the most common being the need for more light, blurred vision, and less vivid color (Degner, par.3-5) . Both dry and wet macular degeneration can be caused by looking closely into the blue-violet light of a computer for an exceedingly long duration of time, which causes eyestrain (“Smartphone Overuse”, par. 4-7). Blue-violet light emitted at higher levels by smartphones and other technological devices, reaches deeper into the eye than other wavelengths in the light spectrum, and causes eyestrain and damages the back of the eye (Dunbar and Melton, par. 6-8, 13-15). Once a computer users vision begins to deteriorate it is incurable, as it is a progressive disease, and causes significant vision loss in the central field of vision but does not affect the user’s peripheral vision (“What is Macular”, par. …show more content…
Cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are all health risks increased exponentially due to this exposure. Melatonin, a natural hormone that regulates your sleep and rest cycle, levels are decreased due to blue-violet light suppressing the secretion of the hormone, which interrupts someone’s natural circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are a twenty-four hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings. In a study, Harvard researchers gradually shifted the timing of ten people’s circadian rhythms. The results showed an increase in blood sugar levels, causing them to go into a pre-diabetic state, and a decrease in leptin levels, which inhibits hunger. No matter the amount of blue-violet light someone is exposed to at night, it is much more likely to affect someone as it is more powerful at night (“Blue Light”, par.1-7). A statistic, given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, states that adolescents between the ages of fifteen and nineteen were on their computers and other technological devices an average of 1.3 hours a day in 2015 (“American Time”, par. 19). If even a fraction of this time occurs at night, adolescents are at an increased risk of attaining these health risks through computer usage and other