Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION April 2016 29 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer mechanisms," said Dr. West, who spoke at a symposium in October 2015 hosted by the National Insti- tutes of Health and the National Eye Institute (NEI) on the topic of Increased cataract cases, exacerbated dry eye symptoms among the possible challenges for ophthalmologists of the future C limate change may not be something ophthalmol- ogists think about on a daily basis as it pertains to their practice, but ocular experts speculate that physicians in the future might have to address conditions that could result more frequently due to the effects of glob- al warming. Sheila West, PhD, professor, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hop- kins University, Baltimore, said that while there hasn't been much research in terms of linkages of eye diseases and climate change, "based on several lines of evidence, there is reason to be concerned." Jodi Luchs, MD, associate clinical professor of ophthalmology, Hofstra Northwell School of Medi- cine, New York, agreed. "I can cer- tainly envision a number of differ- ent aspects of eye health that could be affected by climate change," he said. "The first thing that comes to mind when we think of global warming and climate change is loss of the ozone layer." According to a 2003 report by the World Health Organization (WHO)—"Climate change and human health: Risks and responses" —ozone depletion that has already occurred and is expected to continue for several decades is "likely to affect the incidence of several ocular disor- ders, including cataract." The orga- nization estimates that up to 20% of cataracts are caused by overexposure to UV radiation. Intense ultraviolet radiation could also result in photokeratitis, photoconjunctivitis, pterygium, cancer of the cornea and conjuncti- va, macular degeneration, and other conditions, WHO stated. "Cataract and macular degen- eration are huge burdens right now on the health care system, and they have an enormous toll on human functioning as we get older," Dr. Luchs said, explaining that with cli- mate change, he would expect this burden to increase exponentially. WHO's report also stated that climate change models predict in- creased forest fire risk, which could send more ocular irritants into the atmosphere. Some of Dr. West's research on women in rural Africa found more moderate to severe eyelid scarring associated with tra- choma infection if they spent their days exposed to wood or charcoal cooking fires and this smoky envi- ronment. "There are still a lot of places in the world where trachoma is a huge problem, and they are in subsistence farmer environments where they use fires as crop and ground clearing What climate change could mean for ocular health climate change and ocular health. "The data suggests [this] may be a driving factor in increasing severity of the disease." continued on page 30 Visit Us at ASCRS in booth 1903

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