MUSIC Well, here's a technology
shocker for you.
The average person looks at their phone - get this - more
than 100 times a day.
My teenager, over 500 times a day.
And while that might be great for your social media following
or your email inbox.
It is not necessarily doing your eyes any
favors.
Why?
Because of something called blue light.
Here to explain what it is, and what it's doing to your eyes, is
optometrist, Dr. Howard Purcell, from Essilor of America.
It is so great to have you on the
show.
Thank you Julie.
Great to be here.
You know, first of all, what is blue light?
Where does it come from?
Julie, probably the best way to explain that is
to think about the rainbow.
OK.
We have all the colors in the rainbow.
Gotcha.
Basically what that is is different wave
lengths of light.
At our company, being a leader in this
industry, we really feel an obligation to do research and to
understand the implications of light on the eye.
So blue, being one of those colors, we really
evaluated all of those.
OK.
And looked at what is a lifetime of
exposure.
Being able to do, in a research lab, actually expose
eye cells to different wave lengths of light, simulate a
lifetime of exposure.
And what we've recognized is blue light
can have a detrimental effect.
The other piece of it that's critical is we're exposing our
eyes to much more blue light than we ever have before.
The sun being the primary vehicle of
blue light.
OK.
But we get it a lot with all of the devices we
use.
We're exposing ourself more and more.
I mean, we almost never see ourselves or our
friends without some device in front of them.
No, iPad, you know, your iPhone, or phone,
it's every time you're turning around, your computer screen,
it's there.
Why is it potentially, you know, harmful
to our eyes, this blue light?
The science really suggests that there's a link between the
exposure and the significant exposure of blue light, and a
disease called macular degeneration, which is the
leading cause of blindness in adu lts over 50.
So it becomes a very important issue to protect
your eyes.
And that's what we're looking at.
Because today, glasses are more than just a
visual tool.
They're about protection and prevention.
So creating products that are going
to be able to block that bad blue light seems like a really
good idea and it's something our company's been working on for a
number of years.
And, in your opinion, do people, does America
know enough about blue light?
Studies tell us that about two thirds of Americans have at
least heard of blue light.
But the reality is probably only
about one in about four really know the harmful effects.
We're still learning.
We know there's indications through studies that
there may be some indications of effects, of negative effects.
Right.
But the reality is there's still work to be done.
But today, why not, let's protect our eyes.
So you've gotta give me some tips, and our
viewers some tips for, you know, how do we keep our eyes safe as
we get older?
Number one, make sure you're getting your
examined.
Number 2, protect your eyes from UV.
So prevention and protection.
Good way to remember.
Like it.
Eyeglasses are not just today for vision.
They're actually for protection and prevention.
And we've created a product at Essilor,
Smart Blue Filter, which filters out the bad blue, allows the
good blue to continue.
Which gives us the good sleep cycles,
but makes sure we're protecting ourselves over the long term.
Smart Blue Filter.
Earlier you mentioned Essilor.
Tell us about who Essilor is, because a lot of
our viewers watching us right now are actually wearing Essilor
lenses and they may not even realize it.
Well, they probably are.
Over a billion people around the world are wearing our
product.
And, really at the core of Essilor is our mission.
Improving lives by improving sight.
That's what we do.
And we as employees of the company take
that very seriously.
So by creating products that block
blue light, that block UV, that protect the eyes, really feel
we're living and breathing our mission everyday.
OK.
Let me see those glasses.
So, if anyone goes to their eye doctor, they
can ask, during their checkup, they could say, hey I wanna make
sure this is in my glass.
If you're high risk and you're
spending a lot time on devices, which pretty much represents
most of us.
Oh gosh.
Then you're likely to have it recommended.
But not a bad thing to ask about it.
Hey, is Smart Blue Filters, are those right for me?
You are such a wealth of information.
It was so great having you on the show today.
I could just talk for hours but -
where can our viewers find out more about you and your company?
Great, so at Essilorusa.com, a great place to start, and that
will point them in the direction that they need to go, based on
needs, etc.
OK, perfect.
And you can also log on to
thebalancingact.com for more info.
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