Computer games prescribed to treat eyesight

Boy of 6 told to improve his vision with 2 hours of Nintendo a day.

Saturday 24 July 2010
posted by Sophie Hines
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It's every boys dream - being told by your doctor that you must play computer games for at least 2 hours every day. That's exactly what 6 year old Ben Michaels was ordered to do on his visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where opthalmic surgeon Ken Nischal prescribed Nintendo DS and Gameboy as a cure for his lazy eye.

Ben, from Billericay in Essex, wore a patch over his stronger eye whilst playing the computer games, forcing his weak eye to improve. The results were impressive, with a 250% increase in vision for the weaker eye. According to his mother Maxine, Ben went from being unable to identify faces with his weak eye to being capable of reading with it, all as a result of his unusual treatment.

Ben is one of 60 children to take part in the pioneering scheme in London, which could see computer games used more widely to treat problems with eyesight. Sadly, however, we think it'll be a while before the NHS start handing out free Nintendos with their dodgy plastic specs.

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