Doctors in Birmingham have discovered what many people have long suspected—that anoraks can be unhealthy.
Wearing the ubiquitous garment can be dangerous both to the wearer and other road users because many anorak wearers are, it seems, in the habit of pulling the hoods over their heads so that they are unable to see as well as other people.
Wearing the hood up can be hazardous, say doctors at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre at Birmingham City Hospital, who have carried out what is thought to be one of the first in-depth pieces of research on the health risks of anorak wearing.
The biggest danger comes when the anorak wearer tries to cross the road and finds that his or her field of vision is more than halved, according to the results of tests carried out by ophthalmologists.
“Campaigns to reduce road traffic accidents have paid little attention to the way headgear could interfere with vision,” says a report of the research in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2002;95:192-3).
The researchers measured the binocular visual field of healthy volunteers while they were wearing four different styles of anorak.
Professor Philip Murray, who led the research, said, “When the volunteers had the hoods up, their vision was severely reduced. People do need to be more careful.”
Figure.
TRYGVE BOLSTAD/PANOS PICTURES
Anoraks: better in Alaska than Albert Square