More sun - less eye problems
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The European team of specialists in one of the latest studies has established the relationship between problems with vision and the amount of ultraviolet radiation that a person receives in his life. Due to large-scale work, scientists managed to prove that the more a child spends time in the sun, the less often he faces problems with vision in adulthood.
Myopia or nearsightedness is increasingly found in the modern world, besides this disease can provoke eye-threatening complications. According to experts, myopia can develop due to a hereditary predisposition or an unfavorable ecological situation, but it is possible to prevent the disease in a rather simple way - more often to be outdoors.
Scientists have not yet succeeded in studying ultimately how the ultraviolet helps to prevent vision problems, but at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine specialists were able to understand the processes of this kind a little. During the research, they noticed that sunlight favorably affects eyesight, especially ultraviolet rays. Data was used about 3 thousand people who had no problems with vision and about 400 people diagnosed with myopia.
All volunteers were over 65 years old, almost half of them were men. To participate in the experiment, people were selected at random from different cities in Europe. Before the beginning of the work, the scientists checked all participants for visual acuity, the refraction processes of light rays in the optical system of the eye, and took blood samples. After that, the researchers interviewed volunteers and conducted a genetic analysis. During the survey, the scientists found out the education, the attitude to alcohol and nicotine, the diet and preferences in food, diseases in the course of life, the number of hours the participants spent in the sun at different stages of their lives (in childhood, adolescence, adulthood) .
Dr. Astrid Fletcher, who participated in the study, noted that it is possible to find out the amount of ultraviolet radiation that a person has received during all years of life. This will require an approximate amount of time that a person spent in the air and in which region he lives.
As a result, scientists having studied all the data of participants, came to the conclusion that neither the level of vitamin D, nor gene mutations are associated with the development of myopia. According to the data received, people who received high doses of ultraviolet, especially in adolescence, were less likely to have vision problems, in particular, less likely to suffer from nearsightedness. Based on the findings, scientists recommend that people more often go in the fresh air.
Not so long ago in Australia, scientists found that the long-term use of aspirin can cause eye problems, in particular, it causes macular degeneration - a retinal lesion that results in partial or complete loss of vision. The study was conducted for more than 10 years, during this period all participants passed a 4-time vision test. According to the results, people who took aspirin more than once a week, vision was much worse, in comparison with those who took this drug less often.
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