Do you know your diet matters a lot in taking care of your eyes? What should your eye-healthy plate look like? Pretty much like any good, healthy meal.
Dr Taylor starts with big spinach or kale salad topped with brightly-coloured vegetables. Green leafy vegetables provide the nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin, shown to help reduce the risk for eye diseases, notes the AAO. And vitamin A found in bright yellow and orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes boost eye health, according to the National Institutes of Health. Adding fruits like strawberries, oranges, and mangoes provides vitamin C and other antioxidants, which Taylor says also help fight eye disease. She also includes salmon or other cold-water fish in her ideal meal, since omega 3s are good for tear production, which relieves dry eyes.
Comprehensive eye exams pick up vision problems early. Getting a regular eye exam is the only way to catch a variety of problems, such as glaucoma or diabetic eye disease, ensuring you’ll get timely treatment. Most people with vision problems should see their eye doctor once a year to make sure the problem isn’t increasing and for a better understanding of your eyes.
We’re all aware now that smoking is a big problem for the eyes. When you smoke, cyanide from the smoke gets into your bloodstream and can destroy the eye’s cells. Smoking puts you at a higher risk of developing cataracts and increases problems with dry eyes. It also raises your risk of macular degeneration, an incurable condition that destroys vision in the centre of the eye, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The most important factor of protecting our eyes is protecting them away from the sun. As the sun causes a very big problem to the eyes.
The skin around your eyes is some of the thinnest on the body and is susceptible to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Various kinds of skin cancer, like carcinoma and melanoma, can form in the eyelids and around the eyes, causing major damage to the eye structure.
We should make sunglasses a must-have. Sunglasses should have complete, 100 per cent protection from UVA and UVB (long and short wave) rays. Ultraviolet radiation stimulates the issues that cause both cataracts and macular degeneration — common causes of blindness.
Looking at the screen all day can give you dry eyes. This is in part because when we do things up close, we don’t blink as much, Taylor says. Paradoxically, one of the most common symptoms of dry eyes is an eye that waters, says Steven Loomis, OD, of Roxborough Park, Colorado, president of the American Optometric Association. The breakdown of the oily and mucous layers of the eyes keeps tears from evaporating, and the eye compensates by producing more water, he says. Having “tired eyes” at the end of the day is another problem
Diabetes is the top cause of blindness in America. The best way to avoid diabetic retinopathy — the most common cause of blindness in the United States — is to prevent diabetes, if possible. Nearly all patients with type 1 diabetes develop this eye condition, as do about 60 percent of those with type 2 diabetes
In diabetic retinopathy, the tiny blood vessels of the retina are damaged. While no symptoms appear during the early stages of the condition, it is critically important to catch retinopathy as soon as possible via regular eye exams. Over time, your vision can blur and lead to blindness. Controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol can prevent the disease from getting worse, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Diabetic retinopathy may be treated by laser surgery, which can reduce the risk of further blindness. However, treatment cannot repair vision that is already lost.
For most people after age 60, macular degeneration is a leading cause of blindness. Macular degeneration occurs when eye tissue degenerates, causing blurriness or loss of vision in the central part of the eye. There are two forms of macular degeneration: wet and dry. If vision los
