In my home in Ophthalmology, it had been widely accepted that UV lighting is a cause of cataracts and macular degeneration.
The above beleive was concluded according to a study that was published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology 1982 Mar; 93(3): 299-306, called the “Action spectrum for retinal injury from near-ultraviolet radiation from the aphakic monkey” The end result of this study was that near-ultraviolet generated harm to cone and rod photoreceptors in human eyes.
However, one needs to look closely at the design of this research. Here’s a list of few significant ones:
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The monkeys involved in the study had cataract surgery and they didn’t have any type of protection over their lens.
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Their eyes were later dilated. This would prevent the standard constriction and safety to glowing lighting
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A lid speculum was put in the eyes hold the eyes open. This prevented the typical physiological reaction of blinking.
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A 2500 watt xenon lamp was used for 16 minutes (xenon lamps are extremely powerful sources of ultraviolet radiation)
Dr. Ott describes this study similar to someone putting their hand in a blast furnace and saying that warmth is poor for our homes!
Won’t you agree with him?
Excess of anything could be hazardous to our health. Elevated levels of oxygen in premature infants cause damage to the our eyee. So, should this oxygen intake be avoided?
Another thing that has been indoctrinated in our society is sun exposure causes cancerous melanoma. We gather ourselves using suntan cream and cover our own bodies from sunlight. Is this accurate?
At a study of 274 girls with malignant melanoma, aged 18-54 years, and 549 matched controls in New South Wales, Australia; reported exposure to fluorescent lighting in the office has been associated with a doubling of melanoma risk. In reality, Dr. Shaw discovered the lowest risk of cancer had been in those folks whose activity was sunbathing!
(You can refer a journal from the esteemed journal –The Lancet, Volume 320, Issue 8293, Pages 290 – 293, 7 August 1982. Malignant Melanoma and exposure.)
Dr. Jacob Liberman in his novel Light: Medicine of the Future reports the subsequent benefits of UV light.
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Activates the synthesis of vitamin D
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Reduces cholesterol
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Lowers blood pressure
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Will Help in weight reduction!
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Increases the efficiency of the heart
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Increases the level of sex hormones
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Helpful in the treatment of psoriasis
At the early ’60s, Dr. John Ott was approached by Dr. Thomas Dickinson, who had been researching the effects of various drugs on the eye Much to their surprise retinal cells reacted the same way to light since chloroplasts in plants! They detected granules moving at a similar pattern in reaction to blue, blue, red and organic light. The granules tending to clump in blue lighting, havoc under red light but normal flow under natural light! This amazed Dr. Dickinson since powerful drugs didn’t influence the cells as much as light.
In 1964 John Ott alongside Dr. Irving Leopold analyzed the effects of light on rabbit retinal pigment epithelial cells. They documented that retinal pigment epithelial would not split unless they were exposed to low levels of ultraviolet lighting. What this signifies is that UV light is necessary for your own health! Severe lack of UV light may be a cause of macular degeneration!!
Final Thoughts of Dr. Kondrot
“I am not suggesting sun looking as a remedy of macular degeneration however that I also think moderate exposure to the sun may be the best medicine for your own eyes.”
Do not be like the monkeys with dilated pupils and straps holding their eyes wide open!
Here are few suggestions that Dr. Kondrot insists upon:
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My suggestion for you would be to at least spend one hour outdoors each day to get proper exposure to sunlight.
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Make sure you remove eye or sun glasses and contact lenses.
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Do not look directly at the sun nevertheless you may absorb the reflected light from the sun. On a cloudy day, there will be advantages.
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Caution! If you had cataract operation you have lost the protective advantage of the human lens and you need to decrease the exposure to UV light and potential to shield your eyes with sunglasses.