Eyes and sunglasses

[Adios]

Your version of cheap and mine are very different.. I've never spent that amount on a pair of sunglasses , until recently always under £10

I've spent my life working in buildings with no windows, therefore I'm sensitive to light and when sailing have always worn Sunglasses, cheap plastic, (you don't want glass around your eyes on a boat) polariod, wrapround.
Glasses on in about an hour and a half when I leave work.

I always assumed we really want to be careful with cheap sunglasses that don't have UV protection. If the darkening causes the eye to open I assume more UV would be let in so would be better without them. Recently I bought a pair of these as sacrificial boat/sup/beach sunglasses FUMKEN Polarized Sports Sunglasses for Men Women Driving Cycling Climbing Anti-glare UV400 Protection TR90 Unbreakable Frame (Black Frame / Gray Lens) : Amazon.co.uk: Clothing I have a UV torch and tried to light up a £20 note through them. No UV seems to be getting through though its only one part of the spectrum. They are pretty tough seeming, good side protection, clear image and polarising enough to see through the reflection on water though not quite as much as my more expensive ones, perhaps not a bad thing though as those make some screens totally black unless i tilt my head 45 degrees.

 

[arcot]

I've just been told that I have cataract problems and that UV at sea probably exacerbated this. "Quite young", the optician said. As a sailor she said I should have been wearing good quality sunglasses over the past 40 years. Of course I never did.

So do all those who grew up in the tropics get cataracts?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

So do all those who grew up in the tropics get cataracts?

I daresay a lot more would, if their life expectancy was the same as in the 1st world nations.

 

[The Q]

I always assumed we really want to be careful with cheap sunglasses that don't have UV protection. If the darkening causes the eye to open I assume more UV would be let in so would be better without them. Recently I bought a pair of these as sacrificial boat/sup/beach sunglasses FUMKEN Polarized Sports Sunglasses for Men Women Driving Cycling Climbing Anti-glare UV400 Protection TR90 Unbreakable Frame (Black Frame / Gray Lens) : Amazon.co.uk: Clothing I have a UV torch and tried to light up a £20 note through them. No UV seems to be getting through though its only one part of the spectrum. They are pretty tough seeming, good side protection, clear image and polarising enough to see through the reflection on water though not quite as much as my more expensive ones, perhaps not a bad thing though as those make some screens totally black unless i tilt my head 45 degrees.

I assumed you would always be including UV protection... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyelevel-A...+round&qid=1658299901&sprefix=,aps,71&sr=8-36

 

[Adios]

I assumed you would always be including UV protection... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyelevel-Adventure-Polarised-Mens-Sunglasses/dp/B005BQVRRI/ref=sr_1_36?crid=9KG2VUU4JR1L&keywords=uv+sunglasses+men+polarised+wrap+round&qid=1658299901&sprefix=,aps,71&sr=8-36

Bargain if true. It could well be hardly an expense to make them with UV protection these days. Certainly used to be the case that cheap sunglasses often didn't have UV protection. Talking years ago but made me cautious about it ever since.

 

[Scomber]

So do all those who grew up in the tropics get cataracts?

Cataracts affect around 65 million people worldwide, causing over a third of global blindness and rendering around 13 million people totally blind. A further 52 million people experience some form of vision loss due to cataracts, and 99% of these people live in developing countries. Cataracts are treatable and treatment is usually accessible in developed countries, which is why it rarely causes blindness there. In fact, cataract surgery is performed 18 million times around the world each year. Developing countries have such high cataract-blindness rates because treatment isn’t as available or affordable. For instance, cataracts are responsible for 50-80% of blindness in India, and 65% in Africa.

Cataracts are nearly always age-related and, as global life expectancy increases, they become a more prevalent problem. Further to this, studies have shown that the highest risk groups for developing cataracts are those from African or Latino backgrounds. Several eye charities and even individual cataract surgeons travel to developing countries to set up cataract clinics, treating those in need free of charge. A large part of the problem is countries’ access to qualified professionals, so addressing this issue should begin to make cataract surgery more accessible in areas that need it most.

 

[colind3782]

I wore expensive Raybans for years and Bolle when skiing. It was costing me a fortune when I invariably lost or broke them. I now wear cheap, semi-wraparounds from Decathlon and they last ages before I lose them. My optician told me that price is no indication of UV protection.

Adults Category 3 Sunglasses - Black QUECHUA - Decathlon

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I wore expensive Raybans for years and Bolle when skiing. It was costing me a fortune when I invariably lost or broke them. I now wear cheap, semi-wraparounds from Decathlon and they last ages before I lose them. My optician told me that price is no indication of UV protection.

Adults Category 3 Sunglasses - Black QUECHUA - Decathlon

My Bolles are £70 a pop, so I’m quite careful with them! My wife is stuck with the more expensive brands, as she needs prescription lenses. As I said, the appeal of the brand I choose is in good part the coating choice available. I don’t think I’m getting better UV protection, I think I’m getting better clarity in difficult viewing conditions, and a frame that fits my face.

 

[dgadee]

So do all those who grew up in the tropics get cataracts?

No idea. There is a genetic component, it seems. My mother had her eyes done, but not till her late 70s/early 80s.

Edit: I have an older brother who has no problem. But he looks 10 years younger than me (my late and my current wife always say, when they see him, "You look so much younger than xx". He loves it.) He still digs his allotment every year.

 

[Frogmogman]

I've just been told that I have cataract problems and that UV at sea probably exacerbated this. "Quite young", the optician said. As a sailor she said I should have been wearing good quality sunglasses over the past 40 years. Of course I never did.

Thanks for posting, its a good reminder to us all to wear sunnies, just as many of us are of a generation who went through our youth without slathering on suncream as much as we should have, and need reminding to slap some on.

I have a couple of pairs of prescription polarized sunglasses which only correct my myopia, unlike my day to day specs which are progressive lenses. This, combined with the polarization makes it difficult to read the MFDs, so I find myself having to whip off my sunnies to peer at the screens, so unless the sunlight is bright I tend to stick with my normal specs and a cap. Your post makes me think I should see about investing in some polarized glasses with progressive lenses; do they exist ?

 

[tudorsailor]

I don't think that Polarized is necessary to get 100%UV protection.. So just get non-polarised and you'll be able to see the displays
TS

 

[mjcoon]

I don't think that Polarized is necessary to get 100%UV protection.. So just get non-polarised and you'll be able to see the displays
TS

Correct; polarisation helps to cut down reflections from horizontal surfaces like water or wet roads. wikipedia Brewsters_angle (skip to "Applications"!)

 

[dutyhog]

Correct; polarisation helps to cut down reflections from horizontal surfaces like water or wet roads. wikipedia Brewsters_angle (skip to "Applications"!)

… and UV light reflects off the sea just as strongly as visible, and near enough the same angle as won’t be noticeable . Unfortunately most displays, phones etc are polarised and get rather dim with polarising sunglasses.

PS I wonder how many of us can detect polarisation in the sky etc with Haidinger fringes? I never saw them until working on strange visual effects when doing research on colour photography. It can help with navigating without instruments, especially if you’re a pigeon!

 

[mjcoon]

… and UV light reflects off the sea just as strongly as visible, and near enough the same angle as won’t be noticeable . Unfortunately most displays, phones etc are polarised and get rather dim with polarising sunglasses.

PS I wonder how many of us can detect polarisation in the sky etc with Haidinger fringes? I never saw them until working on strange visual effects when doing research on colour photography. It can help with navigating without instruments, especially if you’re a pigeon!

You don't need the polarisation to reduce reflection of UV if the shades block UV! Still, maybe every little helps...

There's nothing in the very brief Wikipedia article on Haidinger fringes about polarisation. But I see that the fringes are covered in my optics text book from college ("Students' Edition", price 37/6!), though I don't remember reading about them back then. The explanation is certainly more extensive than Wikipedia's...
PS However "the very brief Wikipedia article on Haidinger fringes" does have the advantage of a live link to the man and hence to "Haidinger's brushes" which are about perceived polarisation. So maybe that was what you meant...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

My glasses are polarised, and I can still see my instruments just fine. I do know of the effect, and have seen it from time to time, just not on my own boats, tacktik compasses seem to be immune on the XOD too.

 

[Frogmogman]

I don't think that Polarized is necessary to get 100%UV protection.. So just get non-polarised and you'll be able to see the displays
TS

Thanks Tudorsailor. I gave a second set of prescription sunnies that I have tried since writing my post, and they work just fine.

 

[dutyhog]

Sorry, I did mean brushes, not fringes. The research was 60 years ago, so my memory’s faded - but not the brushes which are still just as visible, especially in blue sky.

 

[Ingwe]

From a clinical perspective UV does definitely bring on Cataracts slightly younger - but not by a huge amount. The average age for a cataract operation in this country is about 75 (we pretty much all have some cataract by age 70) but you can get a normal ageing cataract from about 40 onwards. I work in a fairly rural area and see a lot of farmers who will obviously have much higher lifetime UV exposure than almost any other group and I would guess that farmers generally end up having cataract operations about 5 years early, so yes lifetime UV definitely does increase the speed of cataract formation, but I suspect genetics and the type of cataract that you go on to develop (there are about 9 different types of cataract) are bigger factors than UV.

Ignoring cataracts it is still a good idea to wear sunglasses as lower eyelids are quite a common place to develop melanoma's and people with high UV exposure tend to develop benign fleshy masses on the whites of their eyes as well.

 

[johnalison]

My glasses are polarised, and I can still see my instruments just fine. I do know of the effect, and have seen it from time to time, just not on my own boats, tacktik compasses seem to be immune on the XOD too.

My instruments are 20+ yrs old and their contrast is a bit less, but I noticed yesterday when sailing in bright sun that I could actually see them better with Polaroid glasses than without. Not when rotating my head, obviously.

 

[Lucy52]

A bit late, but it is not just cataracts that are caused by UV, but it also increases the risk of developing, AMD, age related macular degeneration. This destroys your central vision, and unlike cataracts there is no cure. You probably shouldn't drive if both eyes are affected, and reading the symbols on a chart even with a magnifier is difficult. So, wear sunglasses, your eyesight is priceless.