So there’s an article released yesterday that basically says that if you have a pigmented lesion in your iris (the colored part of your eye), you have an increased likelihood of developing melanoma. I wanted to run to the mirror and stare at my irises but because I am at work, I figured I would avoid the awkward conversation in the bathroom and wait until I get home to check…
Anyway, this study showed that “the presence of ≥3 iris pigmented lesions increased the risk for melanoma 1.45-fold”. If you ever wanted to give yourself the willies, run a google image search for “iris pigmented lesions”. Actually, maybe that could be the sociopath test – if you don’t react to some of those images, you are either creepy as hell or an ophthalmologist.
(And totally random aside, but have you ever realized how hard it is to spell ophthalmologist correctly the first time? Is this a word in that national spelling bee? It sure as hell should be. And those doctors have my mad respect because eyeballs kinda creep me out…)
The authors of the study recommended that the presence of these lesions should serve as a predictive mechanism for people to get a skin check for cutaneous melanoma (or in basic terms, melanoma lesions on your skin). I wonder if any ophthalmologists or opticians get any training to tell patients with these pigmented iris lesions (which are supposedly benign in situ) that it does serve as a warning for their patients to really pay attention to skin changes since they seem to be at a higher risk for developing melanoma.
Your eyes might be more than windows to your soul. They could be the early warning sign for future melanoma…