Extremely Low Frequency Waves Do Not Cause Damage to the Crystalline Lens in Rats

Abstract

Numerous medical reports have clearly shown the sensitivity of the eye lens to some non-ionizing magnetic radiations.⁸ The first scientific data about infrared radiation were reported 200 years ago by Wenzel¹⁴ in 1786. He described unusual opacities of the crystalline lens of furnace workers and glassblowers. The role of the crystalline lens in the ocular apparatus is based on its high transparency, necessary to have clear vision without light ray diffraction. From a histological point of view, the lens is made up of a harmonious system of closely knitted epithelial fibres. The epithelial fibres are connected to each other by thin junctions: the “ball and socket” interdigitations. At the top of the extruding processes a gap junction can be observed, which is important for the passage of water and ions throughout the fibres (fig. I). These interdigitations create a sort of microcanicular system, for lens metabolism (fig. II). In fact, unlike in most other tissues, in the crystalline lens there are no blood vessels, which would impair its transparency. The alteration of the “ball and socket” interdigitations and the formation of cytoplasmatic vacuoles causes loss of fibre adhesion (fig. III); these alterations determine a metabolic upset of the lens, with a loss of its transparency. Macroscopically, opacity appears in various shapes and sizes, impairing the individuals field of vision. This disease is clinically defined as “cataract”.