Sunglasses are a first line of defense against the common cataracts caused by long-term exposure to the sun's radiation.
An industry marketing group, the Vision Council, in its 2015 UV protection report titled "Protection for the Naked Eye: Sunglasses as a Health Necessity" (thevisioncouncil.org), notes that short-term exposure to ultraviolet light "can leave eyes bloodshot, swollen or hyper-sensitive to light. But over a longer term, this exposure can accelerate serious eye health problems, including cataracts, macular degeneration, abnormal growths on the eye's surface and even cancer of the eye and surrounding skin."
The report also suggests that 65 percent of Americans are unaware there's a connection between UV radiation and eye diseases and 63 percent don't wear sunglasses on cloudy or rainy days, "although UV rays can be quite damaging in these conditions."
Robert Grow, chairman of the Vision Council's Sunglass and Reader Division writes, "Sunglasses are just as much a health necessity as they are a fashion accessory -- people look good and see great."
The report notes elsewhere that "the World Health Organization estimates that up to 20 percent of all cataract cases are attributable to UV radiation and are preventable. A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry found that chemical changes activated by years of cumulative sunlight exposure affect the proteins in the lens of the eye.
"UV radiation causes oxidation of vitamin C in the lens, and the products of that oxidation chemically react with lens proteins to cause cataracts."
The council recommends looking for sunglasses that carry a label stating they provide "total" UVA/UVB protection.
And it notes that the darkness of the lenses has nothing to do with UV protection. "Dark lenses without adequate UV protection can actually be worse than no sunglasses at all because they cause the eye's pupil to dilate, which then increases retinal exposure to the unfiltered UV."
ActiveStyle on 06/08/2015