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.
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