Protect Your Eyes From UV Radiation
How to Prevent Common Eye Maladies Caused by Ultra Violet Rays
Sep 13, 2009 Joe Poniatowski clipped from http://generalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/protect_your_eyes_from_uv_radiation 
Eye ailments from snow blindness to cataracts can result from too much UV radiation in the eyes. Know the symptoms and protect eyesight without spending a bundle.
It may be common knowledge that solar radiation is damaging to human skin, but the fact is, protecting one's eyes and vision is also important. Ultraviolet rays cause a number of eye afflictions, and has even been linked to cancer of the eyes. The good news is that protection is readily available and need not be overly costly.
Common Vision Problems From UV Radiation
Photokeratitis is an inflammation of the cornea caused by light. In its extreme form, it is known as "snow blindness," caused when extreme levels of UV radiation actually destroy the outer cells of the eyeball. The condition is painful and leads to blindness, however, new cells grow and it generally disappears within a few days. It occurs commonly among skiers and climbers, where higher altitudes and reflected light from snow result in more ambient light.
Fresh snow can reflect up to 80 per cent of incident UV radiation, but open water can reflect a lot of light, too. So although the condition became known as snow blindness, photokeratitis can also occur among boaters and water skiers. It is even possible to become afflicted during cloudy conditions.
A similar condition is photoconjunctivitis, which as the name implies, is the inflammation of the conjunctiva. These membranes of eyelids and eye sockets are skin-like in nature, and become in effect sunburned by UV radiation. Like photokeratitis, photoconjunctivitis is painful, but usually clears up in a few days.
UV radiation can also cause cataracts. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 16 million people a year go blind from cataracts, and that 20% of these cases result from excess UV radiation. That means that over 3 million people a year are going blind unnecessarily, when adequate protection is easily available.
Read more at Suite101: Protect Your Eyes From UV Radiation: How to Prevent Common Eye Maladies Caused by Ultra Violet Rays http://generalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/protect_your_eyes_from_uv_radiation#ixzz0hVlE4kL8