Claim
Viral news reports claim a Ghanaian counselor had said women can go “blind” if they have too much sex with their partner.
Verdict
There is no scientific evidence to prove that ‘too much sex’ can lead to blindness. An Optometrist from the Permeff Eye Care, Dr. Emefa Titiati, and scientific studies, however, indicate an excessive use of drugs like viagra during sex can lead to blindness.
Full Text
A viral news report has claimed that too much sex can make women go blind.
The report with the headline “A woman can go “blind” if she has too much sex” published by Pulse Ghana cited one Counselor D.Y Donkor to have made that statement on an Accra-based radio station Angel FM.
Several news portals including adomonline.com, ghbase.com, and ghspalsh.com have published the article with the same headline.
On the Facebook page of Pulse Ghana, it has generated over 1,000 likes and over 500 comments at the time this report was filed.
However, the headline did not sit well with the public and this has generated a lot of public debate, leaving people in confusion about the truth or otherwise of the statement.
“Scientific explanation needed na I can’t think far…Ryde this be where we catch…Ah well, let me start frequenting the eye clinic,” a Facebook user Comfort Zhang Ya Yelipoie said.
Another user Nharhar Effirim also said, “Counselors are now taking the position of doctors; you will never hear such nonsense in the Western countries.”
Source: Facebook
Verification
The news reports cited Angel FM as their source of the claim. Dubawa searched and found the video of the counselor making the statement on YouTube.
“When sex takes the center stage of dating and courtship, it blinds the ladies and doesn’t help them to study the men to know whether they are good for them,” he said in the interview on Angel FM (8 minutes 25 seconds to 8 minutes 50 seconds of the video). “…for women, the more the sex, the more they go blind.”
After assessing the video it appears the word “blind” was used metaphorically in the context to help explain dating and courtship.
Dubawa has reached out to the counselor and will update this report with his comments.
Can frequent sex lead to blindness?
According to an Optometrist from the Permeff Eye Care, Dr. Emefa Titiati, there is no scientific evidence to prove that having sex constantly can lead to loss of sight. Excessive use of drugs like viagra during sex can however lead to blindness.
According to Doctor Emefa Titiati, the use of Viagra during sex can lead to a condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy which leads to blindness.
“With having sex and getting blind, there is no scientific justification to it. So, there is a condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. It is a condition that causes blindness. One of the effects of using viagra is that it can cause that condition and that condition can cause blindness. So, it is not direct sex that leads to the blindness but it is when the person uses viagra that put one at the risk of getting blind,” Dr. Titiati told Dubawa.
An academic medical centre of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, attributes non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) to the loss of blood flow to the optic nerve (which is the cable that connects the eye to the brain). This condition typically causes sudden vision loss in one eye, without any pain.
Moreover, a research study, Ocular Side Effects of Sildenafil That Persist Beyond 24 h—A Case Series, found that participants studied after using Viagra without prescription had issues with their sights which persisted for more than 24 hours.
“17 healthy men were monitored after they took sildenafil (Viagra) for the first time without prescriptions. And within 48 hours of taking the drug, diagnostic tests indicated that out of the 17 patients, nine had photophobia, 13 had disrupted color perception, nine had impaired visual acuity, three had deficiencies in stereopsis, six had disrupted contrast sensitivity, and eight had abnormally dilated pupils all about their sight.”
Another scientific research by Dr. Cüneyt Karaarslan, an Eye Disease Specialist, concludes that although frequent sex cannot lead to loss of sight, the constant use of high doses of , a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction, can lead to loss of sight.
Conclusion
There is no scientific evidence that frequent sex can lead to blindness. However, an Optometrist from the Permeff Eye Care, Emefa Titiati, says excessive use of drugs like Viagra during sex can lead to blindness.