Pilot Eye

Pilot Eye

Are Pilots Aging Prematurely?

There has been a lot of media coverage recently regarding the air quality in aircraft. There are the usual complaints and issues regarding recycled air and the jury is out as to whether this is or isn't harmful to health. Very recently there has even been a court case which has compensated an air stewardess who was exposed to a 20 minute smoky air ‘bleed' (which is the term for air contamination within the aircraft) and consequently she has been with ill health ever since.

The topic of air quality is quite controversial as there seems to be a groundswell of opinion and examples against the airlines for their lack of duty of care to their employees and customers by allowing regular toxic bleeds and general poor air quality and pollution within their aircraft. Stuck in between the fighting groups are the professionals at the helm of the aircraft – the pilots.

Whether or not the toxic air situation is proven to be harmful to all those exposed, pilots still face various health hazards. I think most would agree that recycled air isn't the best quality air one could inhale and it could be compared to air conditioned air. These ‘types' of air definitely dry out your skin, nose and throat and could be classified as an environmental disaster for your eyes. Regular exposure to either ‘type' is a recipe for Dry Eye. If you know a pilot or a member of cabin crew there is a likelihood that they are already regularly grabbing for their (ineffective) artificial tears. (Author -See my other articles on Dry Eye).

Another health hazard for pilots is sun exposure on the flight deck which increases the risk of developing cataracts due to cosmic and UV radiation. A research team at the University of Iceland studied a group of men over the age of 50, 79 of which were pilots. 20% of the pilots were found to have cataracts. The results demonstrated that pilots were three times more likely to get cataracts compared to the rest of the group.

The kind of cataracts found in the pilots were 'nuclear cataracts' a type of cataract characterized by the opacity (clouding) being in the central nucleus of the eye. The most common reason for nuclear cataracts to form is aging. This type of cataract could be seen as a natural eye aging disorder. Certainly in the study mentioned above the pilots seemed to be getting the cataracts younger than the non-pilots, so does this imply that the exposure to the sun and the environmental conditions faced by pilots is aging them prematurely? That is not for this author to conclude.

To keep your eyes in a condition of optimal health, perhaps the use a super-antioxidant eye drop would be the best course of action. N-acetyl-carnosine (NAC) is the all important antioxidant found in the clinically proven Can-C eye drops. These NAC eye drops were formulated to specifically reach the part of the eye most susceptible to age related damage. The antioxidant properties help to clear away the age related debris leaving the eye in a healthy, younger condition ready to begin the process of self-healing. It's no wonder that those who are most concerned about eye health and eye age prevention use Can-C.

About the Author

Stephen Patrick heads up the customer care team of Can-c.biz the leaders in the supply of IVP approved n-acetyl-carnosine (NAC) eye drops. He has been involved with the field of anti-aging medicine and age prevention for 14 years and lives in both Florida and London. 
Stephen recently assisted in the launch of a new anti-aging website www.antiagingcentral.com

can someone with one bad eye become a fighter pilot?

basically, my situation is I had a lazy eye as a child, causing my left eye to permanently (glasses and contacts do not help) become 20/40, while my right eye remains in the 20/20 range. I'm considering careers right now and need to know if I can even pursue piloting/combat piloting in general.

Sorry nope, you gotta have 20/20 vision with out glasses/contacts.

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