Throughout the history of life on this planet, sunlight has been one of the most important factors for organisms to survive. It makes plants grow, animals heat, and also see.
We associate light with a need for sight since its reflection in surfaces is the magic that allows vision by the human eye. However, the effect of light on the development of eye disorders, such as myopia, is not generally known especially when it impacts indirectly, through the unbalance of our internal clock.
There is no doubt that myopia, or nearsightedness, is one of the most common refractive eye disorders among children and young adults. It represents the highest prevalence of all refractive errors in the world.
Many studies have shown that myopia is associated with a wide range of factors, including family history, increased near work, educational pressure, socioeconomic status, and less time spent outdoors, among others. Besides, recent studies have found that there is a link between this visual disorder and our internal clocks, called circadian rhythms, which regulate the rhythms of our bodies throughout the day and night.
In a recent study, researchers monitored the melatonin levels of young adult myopes and emmetropes (without myopia) throughout the day. The study found that the release of melatonin in myopes was delayed about 1 hour compared with the one in normally sighted emmetropes. This explained the results of a delayed sleep time, a reduced sleep duration, and a sleep onset 56 minutes longer than for non-myopic ones.
Due to spending most of our time indoors under artificial light, we are disrupting the light/dark cycle that regulates our circadian rhythm, which influences the normal growth of the eye.
Staying longer under natural and healthy daylight would help our body fight against this kind of disorder, caused by an unbalanced internal clock. In addition, circadian lighting, or the one that simulates the changing sunlight throughout the day, can also help when indoors.
KUMUX has used scientific data and research to develop a circadian lighting system that changes the color temperature (from warm white to cool light) and brightness of indoor light automatically throughout the day, to mimic sunlight while it adapts to the requirements of the activity that takes place in every area of a building.
From our birth in hospitals to our elderly age in nursing homes, including our childhood in schools and adult time working at the office, we can benefit from it. A system that brings the sun indoors to help regulate our circadian rhythms and reduce the risk of suffering from diverse types of disorders.
So let the appropriate light enter your eyes to see, but what is most important, let its effects on your circadian rhythms remain to take care of your eyes.
