MCT for Health

Let's continue exploring the effects of light on the eyes and metabolism. My interest focuses mainly on effects associated with the photoreceptors OPN3, OPN4, and OPN5. The first two are sensitive to blue light, while OPN5 is sensitive to near-ultraviolet light, that is, UV-A. It appears that OPN5 is an important component of the mechanisms involved in healing mechanical tissue injuries. Here, we'll look at an interesting study investigating the healing of corneal injuries. Genetic suppression of OPN5 (Opn5-/-) leads to impaired healing of corneal injuries and a loss of light sensitivity in the healing process. Perhaps we can quote a few paragraphs here. The non-visual opsins, OPN3, OPN4, and OPN5, are opsinfamily receptors that are activated by light but that subserve non-visual functions. We have previously shown that the local molecular circadian clocks in cells of the murine retina and skin display an Opn5-dependent violet-light-induced photo-entrainment, which is independe...

If you haven't read the previous post on this topic, here it is: Can Mobile Phone and Computer Screens Cause Obesity? What Is the Difference Between Blue Light and a High-Fat Diet? I have to return once again to the issue of modern light sources and the filtering of daylight by windows and glasses. It seems that inadequate research before the widespread adoption of new LED light sources may be responsible for a number of health problems. We could already observe changes when fluorescent computer screens were introduced, when it became apparent that their light could cause vision problems. Our ancestors were fairly lucky when fluorescent tubes were introduced into schools and workplaces. Fluorescent lights were developed in such a way that they are still used today as control sources of white light in animal studies . That does not mean they have no effect; it only means that the effect was sufficiently small that it went unnoticed. LED light sources are different. I really like thi...

Why are there so many light sensors in adipose tissue? Until today, I have always considered the influence of light only in terms of its direct effect on the functioning of enzymes in mitochondria . It is time to change that.  A strange question occurred to me, the one you see in the headline. Could modern LED displays on computers and mobile phones, with their limited emission spectrum, be causing not only the epidemic of myopia , but also metabolic problems and obesity? So I started investigating.  First, I asked artificial intelligence whether it happened to know anything about it:  AI quote  “Yes — OPN5 (opsin 5, neuropsin) has a demonstrable connection to the regulation of metabolism and thermogenesis, but so far mainly from experiments in mice. And interestingly, the connection with the thyroid gland was not directly confirmed in the key study.  What is known so far  OPN5 is a light-sensitive receptor. In the brain, specifically in the preoptic area o...

The Introduction from AI Myopia in children and adolescents is increasing significantly both in the world and in the Czech Republic. The trend is described as an "epidemic" and is mainly related to lifestyle (more time spent on close-up screens, less time outdoors in daylight), partly also to genetics and earlier/better diagnostics. According to an extensive meta-analysis (276 studies, over 5 million participants from 50 countries, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology): The prevalence of myopia in children and adolescents (approximately 5–19 years old) has increased from 24% (1990–2000) to approximately 36% (2020–2023). This corresponds to approximately 1 in 3 children/teens. The highest incidence is in East and Southeast Asia (often 50–80%+ in older schoolchildren/teens; e.g. Japan or South Korea have very high values). In Europe and some other regions, it is lower, but it is also increasing. The prevalence is higher in adolescents than in younger children, in g...

After more than ten years since I first became acquainted with the work of Dr. Bates, I am finally returning to the issue of the eyes, which actually started my interest in how the mechanisms in the human body work. At the end of 2012, I put away my glasses, which I had worn almost constantly until then. Since childhood, I have had excellent vision in my right eye, but my left eye is amblyopic. I wore the glasses so that my left eye would not turn off completely, so that the strongly blurred image in the left eye would be at least as large as in the right eye. In fact, I had seen very well all my life, but a few years before that, my eyesight began to deteriorate. I also had eye inflammation almost every year. During one of these, my diopters and astigmatism in both eyes suddenly changed. I was very surprised by this and even more surprised that the ophthalmologists didn't care at all, they would simply prescribe you different diopters and that would be the end of it. Then my diopt...