24
(visual acuity, arcus senilis, accommodation,ret-
has been found by others to be characteristic of
people living on low coralatolls in the Pacific and
1. General Findings
coral dust, salt water, and bright sunlight. The
other majorfindings listed were related to general
aging effects (loss of visual acuity, cataract forma-
inal arteriosclerosis) have been recorded.3.15.32
Somegeneral observations on the eyes of the
Marshallese have indicated differences from the
eyes of U.S. Caucasians which may berelated to
ethnic background andpossibly to environmental
factors. The major eye findings for the past 5 years
are listed in Table 14.
The high incidence of pingueculae and pterygia
is the most notable findinglisted in the table. This
is thoughtto berelated to irritation of the eyes bv
tion, loss of accommodation,loss of ocular muscle
balance, etc.) and these appeared to occur to a
lesser degree in the Marshallese than in Americans, althoughthe incidenceof arcus senilis and
cataracts seemed higher. The Marshailese had less
myopia, aberrations of color vision, and ambly-
Table 14
Ophthalmological Findings, 1970-1974
Rongelap and
Ailingnae exposed
(70°)
Ocular condition
No.
Anisocoria
1
Arcus senilis
Argyll-Robertson pupil
Chalazion
L.4
22
1
3
31.5
1.4
4.3
Conjunctivitis
0
0
Driisen
0
0
Choroiditis
Congenital defects
2
2
Corneal pigment
Corneal scar
0
2
Enophthalmos
Enucleation
Glaucoma, primary
Glaucoma, secondary
Lens:
Cataracts
Lenticular opacities
Polychromatic sheen
Macular degeneration
Nightvision impairment
Nystagmus
Phrhisis bulbi
Pinguecuila
°
Proptosis
Pterygium
Ptosis
Retinal arteriosclerosis
Retinal hemorrhages
Retinal scars
Retinopathy, diabetic
Strabismus
Uveids
Vitreous opacities
Xanthoma
*Number of people examined .
3.0
3.0
(133*)
No.
0
%
0
Uurik exposed
(100*)
No.
0
%
0
34
0
1
25.5
0
0.75
2!
0
0
21
0
0
2
* 1.50
0
0
2
0
1.50
0.
0
l
0
0
0
1.4
0
0
0
0
0
1
12
17.0
26
19.5
20
20
0
0
0
0
1
0:
0
0
13.0
10.0
3.0
1
l
1.4
1.4
2
0
1.5
0
0
0
1.4
0
0
0
10.0
l
17
2
11
1.4
24.0
3.0
15.7
1
41
0
19
0.75
31.0
0
14.0
0
29
0)
1
2
3.0
2
1.5
3
2
3.0
0
0
1
2
1
1.4
3.0
1.4
2
3.0
0
4.5
17
17
l
7
1
6
10.5
10.0
0.75
0
9
7
2
0
14
13
!
1.50
0
0
0
0.75
0
1
1
0
0
bs)
2
0
3.75
1
0.
0
3.0
0
Positive Romberg
500b121
%
Rongelap unexposed
0
7
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
7
17
1
0
0
7
0
0
29
0
1
0
3
0
0
2
2
0
1
0
0
0.75
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
15
3
3