Protect Your Eyes from Disease & Injury
Most people will readily admit that eyesight is very important to them. In fact, a recent survey shows that 50% of Americans say that eyesight is their single most valued attribute. However, a recent study has found that too many adults have poor eye-care habits and do not protect the health of their eyes.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) said that in a survey of 1,000 adults, eye care was lacking in two critical areas. It seems that many are not aware of common eye diseases and contact-lens hygiene.
Contact lenses are considered to be a safe form of vision correction. That’s provided that the wearer follows the care and wearing instructions provided by his or her eye-care doctor. Because lenses are reasonably comfortable to wear, it seems that people are getting careless about following proper contact-lens hygiene. The consequences of doing this could be quite serious, resulting in damage to the eyes.
Recommendations for Contacts
The survey discovered that 79% of contact-lens wearers admitted to practicing poor contact-lens hygiene on a regular basis. This included showering, swimming and sleeping in contacts that are not approved for overnight use. Another major infraction was wearing contacts longer than the suggested timeframe.
When it came to eye diseases, 67% of respondents said that they believed glaucoma was preventable with proper eye care, when, in fact, it is an eye disease that must be treated. Less than 50% knew that pregnant women may need to change their corrective-lens prescriptions.
Numbers were not much better when it came to understanding the link between eye health and diabetes. Sixty-four percent of respondents knew that diabetes can be detected through an eye exam, and 41% knew that people with diabetes need to have an eye exam at least once a year.
Fifty-one percent of respondents knew that hypertension can be detected through an eye exam, while 49% knew that similar eye exams can identify brain tumors. Fewer people were aware that some cancers and cardiovascular disease could be detected with an eye exam. Only 22% knew that multiple sclerosis could be diagnosed with a thorough an eye exam.1
If you haven’t had your eyes checked lately, it’s probably a good time to have an exam done. It’s better to know how everything is functioning now than to find out that there are problems later..
Reduce Levels of this Amino Acid
You’ve probably heard by now of an amino acid called “homocysteine.” It’s being blamed for a lot of health conditions these days. <a href=”http://www.doctorshealthpress.com”>Homocysteine </a>is thought to be responsible for an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia and osteoporosis. Well now you can add another to the list: high levels of homocysteine in your body can harm your eyes.
Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have discovered that homocysteine likely helps cause retinal damage and vision loss. Elevated homocysteine levels can damage the extensive blood vessel and neuronal network of the retina.2
Dr. Sylvia Smith and fellow researchers hope to learn more about how elevated homocysteine levels may affect the retina. In particular, they want to find out how the amino acid affects the retina’s structure, functioning and ability to withstand stress. Your retina is located at the back of your eye. It receives light, which it then changes into neural impulses that go to your brain.
Medical scientists are starting to learn why homocysteine levels might increase in the body. One thing that they know for sure is that there’s a jump in the amino acid’s levels when there’s a decline in folic acid (folate) levels. Smith noted that low folic-acid levels are a problem for many Americans, because they don’t eat enough folate-rich fruits, vegetables and grains.
Both folate and vitamin B12 play an important role in controlling homocysteine levels in your body. They convert homocysteine to “methionine,” an amino acid that plays a vital role in protein synthesis. When this conversion doesn’t occur, high homocysteine levels are the result. These high levels interfere with the folding and structure of collagen. Collagen is a part of bone, tissue and blood-vessel walls.
Eat Leafy Greens to Lower Levels
Knowing this relationship between homocysteine and collagen can help you understand why high levels of the amino acid can wreak so much havoc in your body. Is there a way that you can lower high homocysteine levels? By eating more fruits and vegetables (especially leafy green vegetables).
You can also increase the folate that you get in your diet by adding fortified breakfast cereals, lentils, asparagus, spinach and most beans.
You could also take a folate supplement and/or a vitamin-B6 and vitamin-B12 supplement. You can get a boost of B6 in your diet by eating foods like fortified breakfast cereals, potatoes, bananas, garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and chicken. Boost your B12 levels by adding dairy products, organ meats (such as liver), beef and fish.
Two Powerful Antioxidants
The second-most common cause of vision loss in people over 65 is “macular degeneration.” With this condition, the retina is injured. The condition affects close to two million people in the U.S., a number that is expected to rise as the population ages.
Macular degeneration happens when the “macula” has deteriorated to the point where your central vision is blurred or a very noticeable blind spot is always present in your vision when you’re looking straight ahead. Macular degeneration always impairs your central vision, not your peripheral vision.
The frightening thing about the condition is that it has the ability to progress quickly. So what can you do? One of the best preventative measures is to make sure that your diet contains carotenes.
Carotenes have been recognized for their ability to prevent the onset of macular degeneration. They can be found in yellow, orange or dark-green fruits and vegetables. And yes, that means carrots. When you eat carrots, you really do help your eyes. The most well-known carotene is beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A by your body — an important vitamin in eye health.
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