People should wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from potentially dangerous ultra violet rays that could ultimately lead to conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, HealthZone.ca reported recently.
While many use sunscreen lotion to avoid sunburns, dry skin and cancers, some of these same people don’t necessarily make the connection between safeguarding their eyes and possibly avoiding a life-altering condition such as age-related macular degeneration. The condition, a disease that usually impacts older persons, is one of the primary causes of blindness in Canada.
According to the online report, medical professionals are worried about the accumulative impact of UV exposure, particularly since UV exposure is widely considered to be a contributing factor in the development of age-related macular degeneration. Those who believe that their eyes can only be exposed if they stare up at the sun should rethink that position, because sunlight reflected off of surfaces such as water, sand or even snow can be just as damaging.
While telling people to hide indoors and stay away from the sun is not the solution, medical professionals want to see people adopt simple preventative measures that could be the difference between maintaining optimum eye heath throughout life or dealing with vision impairment issues down the road.
Dr. Ralph Chou, an associate professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science (University of Waterloo), said in the online report that UV rays can make eye tissues age faster than per usual. Such a development could accelerate the development of age-related macular degeneration in some people. Dr. Chou added in the online report that there is reason to believe that people can harm the macula – situated in the retina – if they expose it to blue light for too long. What people need to understand, he said, is that age-related macular degeneration is the end result of decades of accumulated harm. So people need to think long-term in the battle to avoid this vision impairment condition.
While age-related macular degeneration is typically the sort of ailment that adversely impacts the elderly, parents should teach their children that failing to use sunglasses when appropriate could make them susceptible to developing age-related macular degeneration later in life.
References: http://www.healthzone.ca/health/yourhealth/article/1152236–sunglasses-how-ultraviolet-light-harms-your-eyes