London: If smartphones have made our lives easier, there is a flip side too -- they cause vision impairment, says a leading laser eye surgeon.

Femalefirst.co.uk reports that Surgeon David Allambym has revealed that smartphones have caused cases of myopia (short-sightedness) among young Britons to surge.

Allamby, founder of Focus Clinics, has reported a 35 percent increase of patients with advancing myopia, since the launch of smartphones in 1997, and warns that worsening Myopia in young adults could increase by 50 percent within 10 years.

Half of Britons own smartphones and spend an average of two hours per day using them. Combined with the amount of hours spent in front of a computer screen, laptop, tablet and television, it means that particularly young people and children are at risk of permanently damaging their vision.

New research found that the average smartphone user holds the handset 30 cm from their face, with some people holding it just 18 cm away, compared to newspapers and books, which are held 40cm away from the eyes.

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