Researchers have cautioned that temporary loss of vision can be caused by using a smartphone in bed.
According to a report in Sky news; the problem seems to occur when people stare at their bright phone screens in a dark room using only one eye; while the other one may be covered by a pillow.
The solution lies in using both eyes.
According to Dr Gordon Plant : “It’s because it’s taking many minutes to catch up to the other eye that’s adapted to the dark.”
Research on the condition has been detailed in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Two ladies aged 22 and 40 were described as having experienced “transient blindness” for several months. Each episode of temporary vision loss lasting for up to 15 minutes.
After having undergone several tests doctors could not pinpoint the reason for their blindness- until Dr Plant, from London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital, inquired about their precise activity when the episodes occurred.
Both the ladies admitted to have being checking their phones while in bed, lying on their side, with one eye covered by a pillow. When they put the phone down, the eye lost vision.
One of the ladies also got quite anxious and mistook the blindness for a symptom of a stroke but her fears were later proven wrong.
The team of experts from Moorfields Eye Hospital, along with academics from several London universities have published their warning in the medical journal:
“Smartphones are now used nearly around the clock, and manufacturers are producing screens with increased brightness to offset background ambient luminance and thereby allow easy reading,” the report said.
“Hence, presentations such as we describe are likely to become more frequent.”
