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Night Vision & Things That Affect Night Vision

Mighty_Emperor

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When spliff gets in your eyes...

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Wednesday July 7, 2004
The Guardian

We knew it gave people the munchies and made them giggle. Now researchers claim to have found a new property in cannabis - it helps us see in the dark.

Scientists made their discovery after becoming intrigued by Moroccan fishermen who not only failed to lose their sense of direction after smoking generous amounts of local kif, a mixture of cannabis and tobacco, but seemed to navigate better on dark nights.

"They attribute their ability to see to the consumption of kif that they spend entire hours smoking before getting into their barques," one of the research team, drawn from the US, Spain and Morocco, reported.

Jamaican fishermen have reportedly shown a similar reaction, suggesting that there may be something medically useful in cannabis apart from the pain-deadening properties already spotted by doctors treating cancer patients.

Equipped with a machine for measuring night vision, the researchers headed for the Rif valley, the centre of Morocco's flourishing cannabis trade. "High-grade sifted cannabis was mixed with tobacco in a 2:1 ratio and smoked as kif by subjects employing a traditional sebsi pipe," the team write in the latest Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Three "kif-experienced" Moroccan volunteers were then invited to make "numerous inhalations".

The volunteers demonstrated "consistent improvements" in tests, leading the researchers to suggest that further studies should be conducted.

The researchers admit that the results have turned the ancient wisdom of Persian and Arab scientists, who suggested that cannabis made vision fuzzier, on its head.

But their results backed up claims by the Observer columnist Sue Arnold, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa and is officially registered blind. She noticed several years ago that drawing on strong Jamaican skunk suddenly and temporarily enabled her to see things clearly.

But Ms Arnold has since warned of side-effects that could impede night-time navigation.

"Only trouble was," she said, "I couldn't stand up."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1255438,00.html

The paper:

E. B. Russo, A. Merzouki, J. Molero Mesa, K. A. Frey and P. J. Bach (2004) Cannabis improves night vision: a case study of dark adaptometry and scotopic sensitivity in kif smokers of the Rif mountains of northern Morocco. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 93 (1). 99-104.

Abstract

Previous reports have documented an improvement in night vision among Jamaican fishermen after ingestion of a crude tincture of herbal cannabis, while two members of this group noted that Moroccan fishermen and mountain dwellers observe an analogous improvement after smoking kif, sifted Cannabis sativa mixed with tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). Field-testing of night vision has become possible with a portable device, the LKC Technologies Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1 (SST-1). This study examines the results of double-blinded graduated THC administration 0–20 mg (as Marinol®) versus placebo in one subject on measures of dark adaptometry and scotopic sensitivity. Analogous field studies were performed in Morocco with the SST-1 in three subjects before and after smoking kif. In both test situations, improvements in night vision measures were noted after THC or cannabis. It is believed that this effect is dose-dependent and cannabinoid-mediated at the retinal level. Further testing may assess possible clinical application of these results in retinitis pigmentosa or other conditions.

Author Keywords: Cannabis; Medical marijuana; Ethnobotany; Night vision; Ophthalmology; Visual testing

Emps
 
They've finally figured out how photodynamic therapy (a form of cancer treatment) causes improved night vision acuity.
There's a Cancer Treatment That Gives People 'Night Vision', And We Finally Know Why

Amongst all the different types of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy - where light in is used to destroy malignant cells - might have one of the strangest side effects: patients are often better able to see in the dark.

Now researchers have figured out why this happens: rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein in the retinas in our eyes, interacts with a photosensitive compound called chlorin e6, a crucial component of this type of cancer treatment.

The work builds on what scientists already know about the organic compound retinal, which is found in the eye and usually isn't sensitive to infrared light.

Visible light triggers retinal to separate from rhodopsin - this is converted into the electrical signal our brains interpret to see. While we don't get much visible light at night, it turns out this mechanism can also be triggered with another combination of light and chemistry.

Under infrared light and with a chlorin injection, retinal changes in the same way as it does under visible light.

"This explains the increase in night-time visual acuity," chemist Antonio Monari, from the University of Lorraine in France, told Laure Cailloce at CNRS.

"However, we did not know precisely how rhodopsin and its active retinal group interacted with chlorin. It is this mechanism that we have now succeeded in elucidating via molecular simulation." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/scient...-cancer-treatment-gives-patients-night-vision
 
Staring at a red light for three minutes a day can 'significantly improve your eyesight'

A study by University College London, involving a small sample size of 24 people, has shown that staring at long wavelength light for three minutes every day can "significantly improve vision" in those aged 40 and above.

Scientists believe the discovery, published in the Journals of Gerontology, could pave the way for new eye therapies that are affordable and can be done by the patient at home.

Cells in the eye's retina begin to deteriorate at around 40 years of age.

According to the researchers, the pace of this ageing is caused partly by a decline in the cell's mitochondria, whose role is to produce energy and boost cell function.

"Your retinal sensitivity and your colour vision are both gradually undermined, and with an ageing population, this is an increasingly important issue.

"To try to stem or reverse this decline, we sought to reboot the retina's ageing cells with short bursts of longwave light."

The researchers recruited 24 people, aged between 28 and 72, who had no ocular disease to take part in their study.

The participants were given special LED torches to take home and were asked to gaze into its deep red 670nm light beam for three minutes a day for two weeks.

They were then retested for colour vision as well as for vision at low light levels.

The ability to detect colours improved by up to 20% in some people aged around 40 and over, the researchers said.

The ability to see in low light also improved significantly within the same age group, they added, although the improvements were not as dramatic as the gains seen in colour vision.

The effect was not seen in younger individuals who were aged below 40.

Prof Jeffery said: "Our study shows that it is possible to significantly improve vision that has declined in aged individuals using simple brief exposures to light wavelengths that recharge the energy system that has declined in the retina cells, rather like recharging a battery

"The technology is simple and very safe, using a deep red light of a specific wavelength, that is absorbed by mitochondria in the retina that supply energy for cellular function.

"Our devices cost about £12 to make, so the technology is highly accessible to members of the public."
 
Staring at a red light for three minutes a day can 'significantly improve your eyesight'

A study by University College London, involving a small sample size of 24 people, has shown that staring at long wavelength light for three minutes every day can "significantly improve vision" in those aged 40 and above.

Scientists believe the discovery, published in the Journals of Gerontology, could pave the way for new eye therapies that are affordable and can be done by the patient at home.

Cells in the eye's retina begin to deteriorate at around 40 years of age.

According to the researchers, the pace of this ageing is caused partly by a decline in the cell's mitochondria, whose role is to produce energy and boost cell function.

"Your retinal sensitivity and your colour vision are both gradually undermined, and with an ageing population, this is an increasingly important issue.

"To try to stem or reverse this decline, we sought to reboot the retina's ageing cells with short bursts of longwave light."
I may try that, seeing as how my eyesight is declining.
 
I have dry macular degeneration, if it becomes wet macular degeneration I could go blind So would like to think this has good prospects for people like myself. (Macular degeneration not short fat and balding)
 
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