Achi news desk-
WASHINGTON – Just one unprotected glance at a solar eclipse can lead to a lifetime of vision loss, eye health experts warn. Today (Monday), tens of millions of viewers across Mexico, the United States and Canada will witness the Moon completely block the light of the Sun, a rare celestial sight that will not be visible for most of North America again until 2044. Medical literature is replete with examples of people who have suffered damage to their retinas — the layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye and health professionals offer advice on how to avoid becoming is the next cautionary tale. Aaron Zimmerman, clinical professor of optometry at Ohio State University, told AFP that the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates discussed the dangers of staring at the sun during eclipses, but it wasn’t until recently that science really caught up with how injury to the eye When it comes to eclipses, he explained, the main damage comes from “photochemical toxicity,” where short, high-energy light wavelengths — invisible blues, violets and ultraviolets — trigger chemical reactions that damage the rods and cones of the retina. Suggest visits to the emergency department by people with complaints of blurred vision, changes in color perception, and blind spots, with the prospects for recovery far from certain. Humans innately look away from the Sun because of the discomfort it causes, but during eclipses “you can psychologically override that instinct”, explained Zimmerman. A famous journal report about the 2017 US solar eclipse involved a woman in her twenties who presented to the New York Eye and Ear Hospital after looking at the edge of the sun “several times for about 6 seconds without protective glasses” and then later with eclipse glasses. Hours later, objects began to look blurry and out of shape, colors became distorted, and a central black spot developed in her left eye. An advanced imaging technique was able to show the damage at the cellular level which persisted at her follow-up six weeks later. Young adults could be more vulnerable, say the paper’s authors, because of larger pupils, clearer eye structure, or “poor recognition of the dangers” of viewing eclipses with inappropriate glasses. “In some cases, it’s partially damaged and it might resolve so that you don’t notice it anymore,” Neil Bressler, professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University and editor-in-chief of JAMA Ophthalmology told AFP. If recovery occurs, it is usually within the first six months. “But in other cases, it can leave a permanent void… and we have no treatment to reverse that. It’s like brain tissue, once you lose it, it won’t grow back,” Bressler added. The best way to see the eclipse is with eclipse sunglasses, which block 99.999 percent of light. Always go for authentic products. To test if your glasses meet the standard, “find the brightest light bulb in your home—and then look at that from the end and you should barely be able to see the light,” Zimmerman says. If it is too late to acquire specialist glasses, then there are indirect methods, such as punching a pinhole into cardboard and letting the light shine onto another surface, or even using a humble kitchen colander to the same effect.
