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.
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