Shade Advantage
Cataracts are a major cause of blindness with an estimated 20 million people worldwide blinded by the disease. Cortical cataracts, a clouding of the outer layer of the lens, are known to be associated with sun damage in adulthood. But the more common form, nuclear cataracts - which account for about 80 per cent of all cases - affect the centre of the lens. They were thought to be a part of natural ageing but now researchers in Australia think they may be preventable. A study led by Professor Adele Green at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research compared the lifetime sun exposure of 195 nuclear cataract sufferers with a control group of 159 patients. The results, published in the journal Epidemiology, suggest that the risk of developing nuclear cataracts was greatest among patients who had high exposure to sun before the age of 30.
