While UVR exposure poses a potential ocular health threat for everyone, certain individuals are more vulnerable to its effects.
Children: Because the crystalline lens of a child younger than 10 years of age is essentially clear, it does not serve as an effective filter for UVR, making the retina more susceptible to the adverse effects of UVR exposure. More than 75% of UVR passes through a child’s crystalline lens to reach the retina (versus 10% after age 30), so that wearing protective lenses that block 100% of both UVA and UVB radiation is particularly important for children.
This is especially true because children typically spend substantially more time outdoors than adults. In fact, it has been estimated that about 80% of the cumulative lifetime UVR exposure occurs before the age of 18. And although most prescription eyeglasses provide some degree of UVR protection, few young children wear corrective spectacles and even fewer have prescription sunglasses.
Older Adults: As individuals age, their exposure to harmful solar radiation increases. And with increased age, the concentration of some of the protective molecules that filter out harmful wavelengths decreases. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract formation may be associated with a combination of cumulative exposure and a decrease in these protective molecules over time.
Patients With Diabetes: Diabetic retinopathy may increase the vulnerability of ocular tissues to UVR-mediated damage. Conversely, retinal damage associated with chronic exposure to UVR may increase the vulnerability of retinal cells to various pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with diabetic retinopathy. Sunlight may play a role in the vision degrading effects of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic cataract by inducing photo-oxidative reactions. Although hyperglycemia is the primary pathophysiologic precipitator of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic cataract, oxidative processes induced by exposure to sunlight co-exist in patients with diabetes and may increase the risk of ocular tissue damage already heightened by diabetes. Cataract formation may be potentiated by hyperglycemia, UVR, or a combination of both of these risk factors in individuals with diabetes. Consequently, UVR protection for the eyes is an especially high priority in patients with diabetes and those at heightened risk for diabetes.