- The gist of this article
We’ll never know whether Jack Masquelier would have been an iOS man or an Android kind of guy. But we can be sure that he would have been concerned about the detrimental effects on our eyesight caused by looking at screens all day. And he would surely have reminded people of the way in which OPCs are effective in terms of preserving our eyesight as we age.
Such is the concern around this subject that Apple has introduced a Night Shift mode on its smartphone. This followed an incident in which two women were temporarily blinded form constantly checking their phones in the dark. And, whilst this is at the extreme end of the spectrum, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that our dependence on screens for work, information and leisure is damaging our eyesight, with that damage occurring at an increasingly younger age.
Of course, we can take various steps to protect our eyes from overstraining at night, not least by simply not using screens before we sleep. This has other benefits because evidence suggests that the use of devices late at night disrupts our circadian clock, causing sleep disorders that negatively affect our general health.
Vascular degeneration of the eyes
But whatever nighttime steps we take, the fact is that the eyes are extremely delicates structures and particularly vulnerable to the effects of free radicals. This makes it difficult to ‘nourish’ the eye, which is why our eyesight inevitably degenerates as we age. Add in the effects of looking at screens 24/7 and it becomes obvious that we all need to take more care.
Thus Jack Masquelier’s discovery that OPCs protect the vascular system is particularly relevant to our eyesight. And by protecting the vascular system that nourishes our eyes, we limit the effects of excessive strain and the consequences of too much or too little light. Indeed, a study conducted in France in the 1980s demonstrated that the eyesight of 98 out of 100 people was improved by a daily dose of OPCs.
