Tag: 18. August 2023

It’s been a long-held belief that blue-light glasses offer a foolproof defence against eye strain. Eyewear companies everywhere have capitalised on people’s desire to optimise their optic health, selling specialised frames at almost every price point. 

But the latest findings from a review into the blue-light lenses’ effect on visual performance, sleep, and macular health, have found them to be no more effective than standard frames.

The review examines 17 randomised controlled trials, each aiming to prove or disprove claims that blue-light filtering glasses reduce computer-induced eye strain, and improve sleep quality and retinal health.

Like what you see? Sign up to our bodyandsoul.com.au newsletter for more stories like this.

While the impact of the lenses on sleep quality and retinol health remains inconclusive, the findings related to eye strain are anything but.  

“Our review doesn’t support using a blue-light filtering lens if you’re a healthy adult for the purpose of reducing eye strain with computer use,” says Laura Downie, associate professor of optometry and vision sciences at the University of Melbourne. Downie is the review’s senior author, leading the inquest into the blue-light lenses. 

Concerns about the long-term effect of blue-light on our retinol health have been the major selling point for the frames for years, with eyewear companies claiming the light emitted from our personal devices and screens is a major cause of eye strain and even diseases such as macular degeneration. 

But, the latest conclusive evidence only echoes what ophthalmologists and eye-care specialists have always said.  

“There’s really been no evidence that blue-light blocking glasses have any health benefits or even ocular benefits when it comes to eyes,” Rahul Khurana, the vitreoretinal surgeon tells the Washington Post.

“Your eyelids normally blink 15 times a minute,” he says. “But when you’re concentrating on something, like looking at a screen or looking at a computer, your blink reflex goes down to maybe five to seven times a minute, and as a result, your eyes dry out.”

The trials reported no noticeable difference in visual fatigue between participants wearing blue-light filtering lenses compared with those wearing regular lenses.

What about the effect on our sleep?

Bright light at night, especially the short-wavelength light that comes from our phone and computer screens, is known to confuse our biological clock, making it hard for our brains to know it’s bedtime. 

The light can suppress the hormone signalling darkness, melatonin, causing us to find it hard to drift off or stay asleep throughout the night.

The review concluded blue-light filtering lenses had ‘little or no effect’ on visual performance and daytime alertness, but the trials involving sleep were found to be inconclusive. 

While the fashionable lenses have proven to offer little in the way of ocular protection, Khurana says there are simpler (and more cost-effective) ways to reduce eye fatigue and strain, for example:

Use the “20-20” rule. After every 20 minutes you spend directly staring at a screen, look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Sit about arm’s length from the computer screen. Sitting too close to the screen can have a negative impact on your eyes.

Give your contacts a break. It’s important to take a break from your contact lenses when your eyes feel dry. Regularly swap them out for your regular prescription glasses.

In some cases, persistent eye strain can mean more than just fatigue, so it’s a good idea to consult an eye-care health professional to perform a thorough examination of your eye health.

“Sometimes eye strain can be actually caused by an underlying eye health or vision problem,” Downie says.

Each year, around 20,000 Australian women have breast implant surgery for reconstruction due to cancer or for enhancement purposes. Afterwards, some notice a constellation of symptoms dubbed breast implant illness, or BII.

These may emerge immediately after surgery or months or years later and include fatigue, shortness of breath, joint and muscle pain, dry eyes, headaches, hair loss, rashes, gastrointestinal issues, brain fog, and more.

Medical experts are unsure of the exact causes of breast implant illness but suspect some patients are predisposed to an immune reaction to the implant materials, with the body reacting to the consequent inflammation.

Like what you see? Sign up to our bodyandsoul.com.au newsletter for more stories like this.

Cases aren’t restricted to patients whose implants have ruptured, says Dr Alia Kaderbhai, GP and chair of the RACGP Specific Interests Breast Medicine network.

“The exact causes are still unknown and being investigated,” she says. “We do know it can occur with any type of implant and it does not necessarily mean the implant has ruptured. We are seeing this illness in implants that are intact.”

Treatment generally involves taking out the implants and a capsulectomy, the removal of the scar tissue that has formed around the implant. However, getting to that point can be a long road of inconclusive tests and ruling out other potential causes. 

Professor Anand Deva is the head of Cosmetic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Macquarie University. He and a team of researchers have been studying the symptoms of BII to better understand the condition. The initial findings have been promising. “At six months and after having enrolled over 200 women, I can say that breast implant removal and capsulectomy results in a significant reduction in the number and severity of these symptoms,” he says.

“There are no specific diagnostic criteria as yet, as the condition is yet to be officially recognised as a medical condition,” says Deva. “We hope by documenting the range of symptoms, the association with any implant-related complications, and more importantly the progress of these women after implant removal and capsulectomy, that we can provide more objective diagnostic criteria.”

Professor Deva says it’s important to rule out symptoms being caused by other illnesses. “All patients need to undergo thorough clinical evaluation to exclude things like autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, iron/thyroid deficiency, and Vitamin D deficiency, amongst other disease before proceeding with any surgical treatment.”

As with other chronic illnesses, there is a link to anxiety and depression, says Deva. “Our latest paper has looked at the possible role of inflammation (for example, from chronic infection) combined with psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, which act as amplifiers for physical symptoms.”

The combined effects of mental and physical symptoms can be debilitating and the road to diagnosis can be a frustrating process.

Television host and author Andi Lew experienced breast implant illness due to an undetected rupture in her left implant, which felt different to the right one from when it was first inserted. Six surgeons and an MRI all told her there was no issue before she found a doctor who took her symptoms seriously.

“It was one of those things that I knew others were suffering, but I never knew that it would happen to me, and I didn’t know how deep the suffering was until I started joining the dots,” says Lew.

There was a severe impact on her lifestyle across the board. “It impacted my ability to earn, to concentrate, my ability to have any kind of relationship, and my relationship with myself was terrible because I actually thought I was going crazy when deep down inside I knew that there was something wrong.”

She had an explant – or implant removal – and capsulectomy surgery earlier this year and is happy with the results.

“After my removal, I felt instantly better,” Lew says. “The weight was literally off my chest. All the inflammation started to decrease within days.”

She has now written a book about nurturing women through their explant journey, which will be available in October in bookstores across Australia.

Elisha Casagrande was in the dark about breast implant illness when she began to experience symptoms of the condition four years after her implant surgery. Two years later, she noticed the rapid onset of capsular contracture, which is where scar tissue surrounding the implant hardens and squeezes the implant.

“I couldn’t lift my hands above my head, lie on my belly or my side, and my breasts were incredibly hard & sore,” she says. “This is when I made the decision to have them removed.”

She had her implants removed before she understood that there was a name for the illness she had experienced.

“I heard the term ‘breast implant illness’ roughly two years after my explant surgery,” she says. “I had already undergone explant surgery to remove my implants before becoming aware that there was an actual diagnosis for the condition I had experienced. I was never informed about the risks of breast implant illness, not before my surgery nor during the years when my symptoms were at their worst.” 

Casagrande now feels much better since having her implants removed.

“My immune system has drastically improved, I no longer have any auto-immune type systems, coincidentally clothes look better now than they ever did with implants, I have far greater upper body strength and I can now lie comfortably in bed at night which has improved sleep quality and my energy levels throughout the day,” she says.

With raised awareness, implant patients will be armed with an enhanced knowledge of what the symptoms are if they arise. Through further research to understand the causes and best treatments, medical staff will be able to reach a diagnosis faster and improve outcomes for patients.

“GPs should be aware of breast implant illness as a condition and the range of symptoms involved,” says Dr Kaderbhai. “Any woman with breast implants who displays a new onset of symptoms such as brain fog, poor concentration, unusual rashes, new-onset respiratory illness and joint aches should be thoroughly investigated, and we should have breast implant illness in the back of our minds.”