Exposure to air pollution can cause a person to be 2.16 times more likely to experience eye strokes, which can cause vision loss, researchers in Taipei said yesterday.
Analyzing National Health Insurance Administration data and data from air-quality and weather sensors nationwide, a team of researchers from Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang-Ming University, and Yuan Ze University found a correlation between air pollution and the occurrence of eye strokes.
An increase of air pollution over a one-week period by just one part per billion can cause those exposed to be 1.1 times more likely to experience an eye stroke, the team said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Diabetics, people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other pre-existing conditions face an even higher risk: They are 1.4 to 2.16 times as likely to have an eye stroke, the team said.
Neuro-ophthalmologist Cheng Hui-chen (鄭惠禎) said that eye strokes occur when there is insufficient blood flow to the tissues in the front part of the optic nerve, and while such strokes are sudden and painless, they can result in serious vision loss.
One patient she treated, a 67-year-old man, had lost the sight in his right eye, due to a lack of blood flow to the eye, she said.
Fortunately, using angiography, injections to dissolve blood clots in the optical arteries and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, doctors were able to largely restore the man’s vision, Cheng said.
Doctors already know about the link between air pollution and an increased risk of conjunctivitis, xerophthalmia (abnormal drying of the eye), retinal-vein occlusion and other conditions, but the research team hoped to expand upon those findings with their project, she said.
In the study, the team looked at 93 patients who had experienced eye strokes between 2001 and 2013, and compared their details with the data from 603 weather sensors and 78 air-quality sensors near the patients’ homes, she said.
The team found that an increase in air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) or PM10 correlated with a significant increase in the rate of eye strokes, she said.
Air pollutants can enter the optical veins through the respiratory tract, passing from the veins in the lungs to those in the eyes through the circulatory system, and causing blockages when they reach the eyes, she said.
One way to reduce the risk of eye strokes is to reduce exposure to air pollution by using public transportation instead of riding scooters, she said.
The elderly and those with preexisting conditions should also wear masks on days when pollution levels are high, she said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS