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Six-Year-Old Boy Uses Nintendo DS to Regain Eyesight
Ever since the age of four, Ben Michaels has suffered from amblyopia, or severe lazy eye syndrome, in his right eye. The condition gradually weakened the eye's vision, and when Ben was at the tender age of six, was at risk of permanent blindness. Desperate, Ben's mother Maxine sought the advice of Ken Nischal, a consultant at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Nischal's professional recommendation? A steady diet of Nintendo DS.Following the consultant's strange advice, Ben's mom "forced" her son to spend two hours a day playing 'Mario Kart,' and made sure that he did so while wearing an eyepatch over his left (and healthy) eye, in order to better train his right. Traditional medicine it's not, but, according to Maxine, her son's vision "improved 250-percent" in just the first week of heavy gaming. "When he started, he could not identify our faces with his weak eye," she told the Daily Mail. "Now he can read with it although he is still a way off where he ought to be."
So what's the scientific explanation for Nintendo's healing ability? Nischal claims that video games may improve eyesight by forcing a player's eyes to engage in more rapid eye movement, although he admits that isolating a pure video game effect remains difficult. "What we don't know is whether improvement is solely because of improved compliance, i.e. the child sticks with the patch more, or whether there is a physiological improvement from perceptual visual learning," Nischal explained. So, Nintendo may not be the miracle worker fanboys think it is -- but at least we know what to do the next time our vision goes blurry after reading Switched posts for 12 straight hours. [From: DailyMail, via: Neatorama]
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Comments
16
Subscribe to commentsDraconianJun 28th 2010 9:57PM
I thought video games were damaging the eyesight. Whenever I play, (which is not that often), I realised I 'strain' my eyes 'way too much.'
wowshamJun 29th 2010 4:52AM
Do you play video games in a dark room every time? because usually, that's what will strain your eyes. If you play in a more naturally lit room, then your eyes won't strain as much.
Notice how I'm using the word "strain" a lot. Looking at a screen, either a computer screen or television screen, is not damaging at all. Your eyes may hurt after a good 6+ hours of staring at one but not if you take breaks and play in a well lit room. You will not go blind or damage your eyes.
GuidoJun 28th 2010 10:30PM
It's retraining the brain to control the eye. The condition runs in my family yet when most had the condition before going blind in the affected eye, there were no computers. The only alleged cure if the family could afford it was to undergo surgery on the eye muscles and even then it didn't always work. At this late stage in my life, looking at both the previous and coming generations, it appears amblyopia is no longer the family curse it once was..
tomnd66Jun 29th 2010 1:45PM
My son suffered from the same condition and he improved dramatically by also playing video games. Now, being much older, his sight has deteriorated because he no longer plays as much. Believe me this works.
quadrajet4daisyJun 28th 2010 11:40PM
"Amblyopia" and "Lazy Eye" are two very,very different afflictions. "Lazy Eye" afflicts the eye muscles,whereas "Amblyopia" is the actual eye vision. I know so-my daughter had true Amlblyopia,diganosed at 7 yrs. My friends girl had "True" lazy eye. If anyone cares to know more,let me know...:)
scfranzblauJun 29th 2010 8:37AM
Amblyopia is the medical term, " lazy eye " is a term used by lay people, but they are one and the same. The condition affecting the eye muscles is called strabismus and there are many types. The most common are esotropia ( eye/s turning in ) and exotropia ( eye/s turning out ). Most people are confused by the term " lazy eye " because it sounds like it should be describing a turned eye, but in reality it refers to amblyopia.
S.C. Franzblau, O.D., F.C.O.V.D.
scfranzblauJun 29th 2010 9:22AM
Amblyopia is the medical term for the condition. The laymans term is " lazy eye ", but they are one and the same. The term for a muscle problem is strabismus. There are many types but the most common are esotropia ( eye/s turning in ) and exotropia ( eye/s turning out ).
Most people are confused by the term " lazy eye ". It sounds like it should refer to an eye turn, but it doesn't. It's just the common name for amblyopia.
S.C. Franzblau, O.D.,F.C.O.V.D.
wILJun 29th 2010 12:43AM
So I see, said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.
elizshadow18Jun 29th 2010 1:35AM
wow....thats great, i guess, i have a "lazy eye" as well but not amblyopia, im happy he retrained hi eyesight lol
margJun 29th 2010 7:38AM
Our daughter,now 24 and getting a masters degree,was diagnosed with a visual tracking problem in first grade.She was just struggling to learn to read,although she had been reading flash cards and words on signs before she started kindergarden.They decided her eyes did not naturally go from left to right while scanning.We began to force her to play nintendo-before DS- Mario and the action of the play;from left to right on the screen,with the need to scan around the field of play,was the most helpful thing to improve her reading.
scfranzblauJun 29th 2010 7:42AM
As an optometrist who specializes in Vision Therapy, I can tell you that we have been using video " games " that are specifically designed to treat amblyopia for years. The success rate is very high and many of my colleagues, as well as myself, do not always patch the " good " eye. For years many medical and optometric colleges have taught that if amblyopia is not corrected by a certain age , that it is untreatable. That simply is not true. My colleagues and I have had success in treating it AT ANY AGE. Recent research has established that as fact. For more information, go to College of Optometrists in Vision Development at WWW.covd.org . There you will find more information on this as well as doctors in your area that treat amblyopia.
TheresaJun 29th 2010 8:22AM
My son suffered from Sixth Nerve Palsy, which appears the same as a lazy eye, when he was three years old. He is now 29 and his eye specialist suggested the same thing only he was to sit at different distances each time he played the Nintendo so that it would strengthen his eye at different distances. That was in 1984.
qtpie11215Jun 29th 2010 9:01AM
I have an amblyopia myself, diagnosed when I was about 4. I was supposed to wear patches over my good eye when I was little, but I never wanted to, and unfortunately never strengthened my bad eye. It is considered a lazy eye, just not what people normally associate with a lazy eye. It doesn't wander or stare off into space, it moves with my other eye, I just can't control it on its own, and everything is blurry. I have a strong chance of eventually losing vision in my good eye, from overworking it for all these years. I wish someone had told me to wear a patch and play video games for 2 hours a day when I was 6. I'm happy to read a story about a kid with an amblyopia - nobody has ever heard of it! Hopefully I'll read a story with a cure for it soon, I've been told to just wear my glasses and that's all that'll help.. and that I'm not eligible for laser eye surgery. I'd love to have this "fixed".
idocmaddenJun 29th 2010 9:16AM
Research has been ongoing regarding this by optometrists for several years. The reason is not new....children's amblyopia improves when doing active vision tasks while patching the non-amblopic eye. The visual tracking appears to stimulate the vision while passive activities such as watching tv does not.
Dr. Alan SikesJun 29th 2010 9:21AM
We Developmental -Behavioral Optometrist have been recommending this type of therapy ( known as Optometric Vision Training Therapy) for years! Ophthmologists are not trained in this therapy in their schooling, and many are so "myopic" with their views of it. The game increased the boys visual acuity, because it provided an opportunity for him to develope more accurate eyetracking, develope better fixation skills so he could hold his eye more steady so the fovea of the macula (only area of the retina capable of enabling one to see 20/20) could enable the brain to provide clearer sight, and helped him to develop other brain/mind interaction that improves VISION. For more information on amblyopia treatment and Vision Therapy, read my "Facts about VISION at www.dralansikes.com
jimbarry1946Jun 29th 2010 10:15AM
I was forced to wear a patch on my eye for years. The idiot doctors said it would help my "lazy" eye. The problem was that the eye was not lazy, but that the optic nerve had been terribly damaged by another doctor sticking a pair of forceps into the eye socket when I was born. To this day (50-60 years later) I feel sick to my stomach at the smell of that old adhesive.