Pilots prone to cataracts
AIRLINE pilots are at higher risk of developing cataracts
because of exposure to cosmic rays while aloft. Researchers at
the University of Iceland in Reykjavik studied 445 men aged 50
or older of whom 79 were pilots and 71 had cataracts, concluding
the pilots had triple the risk of developing cataracts.
"The association between the cosmic radiation exposure of pilots
and the risk of nuclear cataracts, adjusted for age, smoking
status and sunbathing habits, indicates that cosmic radiation
may be a causative factor in nuclear cataracts among commercial
airline pilots," wrote study author Vilhjalmur Rafnsson in the
journal Archives of Ophthalmology.
Smoking has been found to raise the risk of cataracts.
Astronauts have also been shown to have a higher risk of
cataracts, the report said.