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New laser treatment turns brown eyes blue


drummer4now

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A new treatment has successfully changed the color of people's eyes in Latin America, but the procedure isn't approved in the U.S. yet.

For years, a California-based company called Stroma Medical has been publicizinga laser procedure that turns brown eyes blue. Theoretically, this would give brown-eyed individuals the choice to change the tint of their irises, not unlike the way many decide to use surgery to alter the noses or chests they were born with.

Now Stroma Medical claims that it has conducted 37 successful treatments on patients in Mexico and Costa Rica. It also says that it would likely charge about $5,000 for anyone wanting the procedure. That is, of course, only if and when American medical safety regulators give the surgery the green light in the United States.

Company chairman Gregg Homer says the procedure works by disturbing the thin layer of pigment that exists on the surfaces of all brown irises.

“The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye,” Homer told CNN. “If you take that pigment away, then the light can enter the stroma—the little fibers that look like bicycle spokes in a light eye—and when the light scatters it only reflects back the shortest wavelengths and that’s the blue end of the spectrum.”

Although the treatment lasts only 20 seconds, the patient’s eye color isn’t changed right away. Instead, it takes a few weeks for the human body to remove the pigmented tissue, resulting in blue eyes.

Given that light eyes are increasingly rare, with less than a fifth of Americans boasting blue peepers, it’s easy to see how there might be demand for this procedure. A preference for blue eyes in Western societies has been documented in many unscientific ways, though controlled studies suggest that the blue-eyes-are-more-attractive stereotype is more a product of culture than unconscious preference.

Whether or not you feel this procedure is a net good—or bad—thing for society, a bigger concern might be safety.

Though Stroma claims the surgery is safe, at least one ophthalmologist cautioned that the shedding of pigment could clog up drainage channels in the eye, increasing pressure and the risk for glaucoma.

Not sure if this has been posted in the past..

I wonder how many people would be interested in doing this...

Only 17% of the world population has naturally blue eyes.. I guess that might change soon.

http://time.com/money/3733372/surgery-turn-brown-eyes-blue/

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That's funny. I have blue eyes and have always wanted brown ones. I think they look way better. Never really thought there would be so many people on the flip side that they'd come up with a surgery for it.

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Seems like a needless risk for vanity. My eyes are Silver-blue already so maybe I don't get it...but I do get photosensitivity and have to wear sunglasses for even the smallest amount of glare. Who am I to say though, you should live your life the way you want to in my opinion...provided you are not a dick to the people around you.

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That's funny. I have blue eyes and have always wanted brown ones. I think they look way better. Never really thought there would be so many people on the flip side that they'd come up with a surgery for it.

Grass is always greener... or bluer I guess.

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I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought that the gene for blue eyes was dominant, so we just need more mixed-race couples to even it all out.

Mine are blue, and I concur with Chalky's photo-sensitivity comments. The flip side is that I think blue eyes see better in the dark

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I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought that the gene for blue eyes was dominant, so we just need more mixed-race couples to even it all out.

Mine are blue, and I concur with Chalky's photo-sensitivity comments. The flip side is that I think blue eyes see better in the dark

brown is dominant.

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I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought that the gene for blue eyes was dominant, so we just need more mixed-race couples to even it all out.

Mine are blue, and I concur with Chalky's photo-sensitivity comments. The flip side is that I think blue eyes see better in the dark

this seemed weird to me, because I have icy, cool, deep and blue like the sea eyes, and yet i have terrible night vision. just tried to google it, and found this. seems accurate at least for my experiences, because i have always hated driving at night. i hate driving always, but especially at night.

The darker the eyes, the more light is absorbed as light waves pass through the eye, and the less light is available to reflect within the eye. Light reflection (scatter) within the eye can cause susceptibility to glare (eg. sun or headlights) and to poor contrast discernment. Thus it seems that people with darker eyes may have better vision in high-glare situations – perhaps this makes them better night drivers, for example.

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I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought that the gene for blue eyes was dominant, so we just need more mixed-race couples to even it all out.

Mine are blue, and I concur with Chalky's photo-sensitivity comments. The flip side is that I think blue eyes see better in the dark

I also find that.

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this seemed weird to me, because I have icy, cool, deep and blue like the sea eyes, and yet i have terrible night vision. just tried to google it, and found this. seems accurate at least for my experiences, because i have always hated driving at night. i hate driving always, but especially at night.

The darker the eyes, the more light is absorbed as light waves pass through the eye, and the less light is available to reflect within the eye. Light reflection (scatter) within the eye can cause susceptibility to glare (eg. sun or headlights) and to poor contrast discernment. Thus it seems that people with darker eyes may have better vision in high-glare situations – perhaps this makes them better night drivers, for example.

better night drivers, but worse seeing where you are peeing while camping.

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