Experts warned that people working outdoors could be at risk of coming down with cataracts and ailing vision from solar retinal damage due to prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
Ophthalmologist Tsao Wei-san (曹維珊), director of the Department of Ophthalmology at Yuan’s General Hospital in Kaohsiung, said a patient surnamed Kao (高), 47, who works in the construction industry, had a check-up for blurred vision and photophobia in his right eye, and found out that both eyes had cataracts.
Another case was a high-school physical education teacher surnamed Pan (潘), 38, who conducts sports classes outdoors for at least five hours on working days. In the past year, he began to see straight lines as distorted, and had problems in receiving and hitting balls when playing tennis and ping-pong. Examiners found he has solar retinal damage in his right eye.
Photo courtesy of Yuan’s General Hospital
Doctors are seeing more cataract cases in adults under 50 years of age, Tsao said.
The cases can have various underlying reasons, but in general they are associated with ultraviolet radiation, she said.
Under prolonged exposure to sunlight, the eye lens gradually becomes opaque with the onset of cataracts, Tsao said.
She added that people should seek treatment when they experience symptoms such as blurred vision, photophobia, diminished brightness, reduced sensitivity of colors, double vision, dark shadows around objects and sudden presbyopia (loss of the ability to focus on nearby objects).
“Currently, no medicine can work to treat cataracts and use of eye drops can only slow down the deterioration, therefore it is best to undergo eye surgery,” she said.
“If the treatment is delayed for a long time, then the cataract might become fully grown, the lens becoming hardened, and can cause glaucoma or iritis, which can pose additional risks when undergoing surgery,” she added.
In the case of construction worker Kao, after undergoing cataract surgery and treatment afterward, the patient’s vision was restrored back to normal, Tsao said.
In cases of solar retinal damage, patients see objects with unnatural distortion, which is due to the damage to photochemistry of eye’s light receptors, she said, adding that the degree of damage and recovery rate are determined by exposure duration and intensity of the ultraviolet radiation.
There is no current treatment for restoring the damaged vision of cases due to looking directly into the sun, gazing at the solar eclipse for a long time or vision damage caused by direct hit from high-power laser pointers, Tsao said.
It is very important to safeguard eye health, she added.
In the summertime, people must take protective measures to reduce harm from ultraviolet rays and avoid going outdoors when there is strong sunlight, especially from noon to 3pm on sunny days, Tsao said.
When going outdoors, it is best to wear sunglasses with ultraviolet protection and to put on a wide-brimmed hat, she added.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS