Eye health tip. If you have a pet, keep their hair off areas where you lie your head down.
If you love to cuddle your pet just be sure to keep the pillows on your couches and your bed clear of pet hair. Along with shedding dander, pets can also track in other irritants from outside that can cause inflammation in human eyes.
Having a retinal tear does not necessarily mean that your eye is generally unhealthy or compromised. However, people who are highly myopic have a higher risk of developing a retinal tear because their eye is elongated which puts a strain on the retina. Note that the risk of retinal tears remains even after laser vision correction because laser vision correction does not correct the elongation of the eye.
A retinal tear is usually treated by a surgeon who will use a laser to seal the tear. Sometimes the tear cannot be sealed completely which will result in a permanent loss of vision in a small part of the visual field of the affected eye. However, patients usually never notice this because the healthy eye will compensate for the eye with the small tear.
A common sign of a retinal tear is to have flashes or floaters in your vision. If this happens, see your optometrist right way. If a retinal tear is found, you will be immediately referred to an eye surgeon for treatment.
Lutein and zeaxanthin are important nutrients found in green leafy vegetables, as well as other foods, such as eggs. Many studies have shown that lutein and zeaxanthin reduce the risk of chronic eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables. Scientific evidence suggests vitamin C lowers the risk of developing cataracts, and when taken in combination with other essential nutrients, can slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration and visual acuity loss.
Vitamin E in its most biologically active form is a powerful antioxidant found in nuts, fortified cereals and sweet potatoes. It is thought to protect cells of the eyes from damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals which break down healthy tissue.
Fats are a necessary part of the human diet. They maintain the integrity of the nervous system, fuel cells and boost the immune system. Two omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be important for proper visual development and retinal function.
Zinc is an essential trace mineral or ‘helper molecule.’ It plays a vital role in bringing vitamin A from the liver to the retina in order to produce melanin, a protective pigment in the eyes. Zinc is highly concentrated in the eye, mostly in the retina and choroid, the vascular tissue layer lying under the retina.
Another point for the vegetarians! There is a new British study published in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (it's in the March 2011 issue, if you want to read it) that concludes that vegetarians and vegans have a much lower risk of cataracts than meat-eaters.
The researchers monitored the medical records of 27,670 non-diabetic people aged 40 or over to see if and when they developed cataracts. They found a strong correlation between a person's diet and cataract risk.
One remarkable thing about the correlation is that the risk was highest for high meat eaters (those that eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat a day). The next highest risk was for moderate meat eaters, then low meat eaters, followed by fish eaters (people who eat fish but no other meat). Vegetarians and vegans had the lowest risk. This means that reducing your meat consumption, even if you do not become fully vegetarian, will reduce cataract risk. There was a big difference in risk between vegans and meat eaters. The risk for vegans was about 40 percent lower than it was for the high meat eater category.
What are cataracts?
Cataracts are a clouding of the eye's crystalline lens that usually develops slowly over time. (In the case of post-traumatic cataracts, however, they can also occur very quickly.) It is the leading cause of poor vision in adults.
What if you have cataracts?
I routinely diagnose cataracts and if surgery is required to remove them, I refer patients to a good surgeon. With today's surgical techniques the surgery can be as quick as 15 minutes! However, all surgery has some risk and should not be undertaken lightly.
And with cataract surgery it will cost you several hundred dollars for a good quality replacement lens if you want the best vision (MSP pays for the most basic lens but it is definately far from the best). It is always better to prevent the condition for occurring.
Watch this video to learn how cataract surgery is done. The video makes it look simple but there is much more to it than the video suggests.
