UV rays can damage your eyes

Most people know the sun's ultraviolet rays can harm their skin, but many are blind to another kind of risk.
Research shows that in many countries, 80 per cent of people know about the potential risk of skin cancer, but only 4 to 12per cent are aware of fhe damage their eyes can suffer. And an umbrella or sunglasses are not enouh of a shield. . ,

Accordingto the World Healfh Organisations Global UV Project report, countries in the equatorial belt are exposed to greater levels of UV radiation. Even with cloud cover, there is no protection — up to 80 per cent can pass through clouds.

The two types of ultraviolet rays, UVB and UVA, are both invisible, high-energy rays that lie beyond the violet/blue end of the visible spectrum of llght.

On a sunny day, skin cancer is a known risk if you sunbathe or let yourself bake, but less well known is the fact that more than 90 percent of all UV-related skin cancers occur above the neckline — so also an estimated 10 per cent of all non-melanoma skin cancers. Tumours of the eyelid are divided into melanoma and non-melanoma cancers. The former tend to spread to surrounding tissues and can be
deadly. The latter are more common and tend to grow locally, occurring on the eyelids.

The area around the eyes requires special attention to limit UV exposure. Long-term exposure can also result in damage to the eye's surface, resulting in pingueculae, benign yellowish growths, and pterygia, which are triangular, fleshy red growths on the eyes. Shorter-term effects include sunburn on the eye's surface, a painful condition known as photokeratitis,which can cause temporary vision loss.

Then there are cataracts, which are a clouding of the eye's natural lens. The World Health Organisation says that of the 16 million cases of cataract-related blindness each year, over three million are the result of UV exposure. And people with brown eyes are 80 per cent more likely than blue-eyed individuals to develop cataracts, according to a 2002 study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

If you start protecting your eyes now, you will reduce the risk of damage, says Ms Bette Zaret, vice-president of global strategic marketing at Transitions Optical, the company producing variable tint or photochromic lenses. These look like regular spectacle lenses indoors but turn dark in sunlight and block all UVA andUVB rays. Whether your vision needs corrective treatment or not,she says, you still need protective eye wear "against light you can see and light you can't.

This is even more important with children. Studies have showed that UV damage is cumulative, and 80 per cent occurs before age 18 - no surprise, given how much time children spend outdoors.

If you wear contact lenses, always wear good quality sunglasses. For children
short -term damage may be signalled by a burning sensation in the eyes that will subside. Long-term damage may not show up for many years. Just as not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer not everyone exposed to UV rays will go blind - but, why take chances?