Eyes and Vision Healthcare

Eye Care For Adults

2007-12-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

Age comes along with all sorts of health concerns. Eye care for adults is not to be overlooked as it is important to ensure good vision when a person grow older.

The Importance of Regular Eye Check
Even people with perfect vision should engage in regular eye exams. Adults, especially who are over 40 should have their eyes checked at least once every year. This will detect eye diseases before it become serious and cause long-term damages.

Age-related Vision Health Issues
As age advances, eye tissue tends to lose its elasticity. Proper care should be taken to slow or prevent the gradual degradation of eye tissue that causes major malfunctions.

Presbyopia
Presbyopia - cause by stiffening of eye lens as age advance. Mostly affect people in their 40s. The treatments include, eyeglasses, contact lenses and LASIK surgery.

Cataracts
Cataracts - cause by breaking down of proteins in the eye lens or the oxidation of the lenses. People with cataracts will experience blurry vision. If untreated, may cause blindness. Cataracts removal is possible by artificial lenses. Regular checkup is important for early detection and treatments.

Macular Degeneration
Another age related vision problem. It produce a distinctive pattern of vision loss. The vision lose starts at the center of image and the shape around it distorted. Although the causes are vary, the disease can be treated by medication, surgery or other specially design treatments.

Glaucoma
Glaucoma - involve a blockage of the normal flow of fluid through the eye. It may cause pain and dizziness in some cases. The symptoms of glaucoma usually are not very noticeable at early stages. Regular checkups by specialist is therefore important.

Dry Eyes
Dry eyes could be due to a number of different root causes. The age related one include the tear ducts that became less active as age advances. The eyes become dry , itchy and red. Treatments are available for this syndrome.

Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic can affects eye. Macular edema is a type of diabetic retinopathy where blood from weaken vessels is released into the fluid of eye. The clotted blood obstruct vision as dark spots in patient's viewing field. With proper eye care, adults with this disease can have improve vision.

Eye Care - Children and Teenagers

2007-12-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

Generally, serious eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts rarely happen on young people. However, necessary eye care is still important young people. A simple refractive error of eye may give big impact to a child. If a child is unable to read properly due to vision problem, it may affects their performance in school.

Regular checkups are important to detect vision problems as children are often unable to recognise vision problem themselves or they are unable to describe the impairments to their parents.

When should children have their eye check?
Generally, vision screening for a child can start at the age of 3. If there is any problem detected at this stage, eye specialist should be consulted for more testing and treatments.

How often should children have their eye check?
Annual eye checkups should be carried out throughout the teen years. If there is an eye sight problem detected, prescriptions or treatment plans will need to be drawn out and updated regularly as the eyesight quality of a child often unstable until adulthood.

What are the vision problem often affect children?
Myopia (Short sighted) and hyperopia (Far sighted) are quite common nowadays amongst children. The problem may be due to error in eyeball shape. This causes blur vision.
Astigmatism - Due to irregular corneas shape. Usually corrected with glasses or contact lenses.
Amblyopia (Lazy eye) and strabismus (Crossed eyes) - usually reduce vision quality. It can also impair depth perception. If not treated, the brain may completely ignore image from one of the eye. Eye care specialist will be able to restore partly or fully the normal vision quality if the problems are addressed early.

What are the symptoms?
Children with red or irritated eyes should see an eye specialist as soon as possible. Children who read/watch at a distance closer or farther than normal could be suffering from eyesight problem and eye specialist should be consulted.

Myths About Your Eyes

2007-11-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

Fact and fiction, need to be separated especially when we are talking about eyesight. Our eye is such an important organ for us. We must not take issues concerning eye health lightly and we can't afford to make any serious mistake. Let's look at the truth of some common myths.

Sitting too close to TV
There is no evidence that sitting too close to TV will damage eyesight. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) says that kids actually focus up close without eyestrain better than adults. This may explain why kids tend to sit close to TV habitually. However, This may also indicate a child is having nearsighted if he tend to do so.

Glasses or contact lens will weaken eyesight
Totally not true. The eyesight may change over time due to aging or diseases, but not because of wearing glasses. Or you may feel your eyesight "weaken" after getting use to wear glasses for couple of months, and when you remove them, you feel your naked eyesight is not as good as before you start wearing glasses. This is merely the matter of get use to, rather than eyesight change.

Switch on nightlight causes nearsighted
No evidence in support of this claim.

Reading in the dark will weaken eyesight
This is not true. It may only cause eye fatigue which is not harmful and will not cause eyesight damage.

Some eye exercises can improve vision
Not true. Looking around at your world is all that necessary to keep the eye muscles "toned". exercise your eyes around our eye massage or focusing exercises have no effect on your eyesight.

Wearing poorly fit glasses damage eyesight
Not true. But you need a right prescription to see clearly.

Vision improve as people with glasses get older
There is a phenomenon where some people see better as age advances. Especially up-close. But this is not due to any vision improvement. The reason is that the lens power changes due to increase cataract.

No harm looking at sun with sun-glasses
The sun's ultra-violet will still get through and damage the cornea, lens and retina.It may also cause permanent eye damage. UV exposure has been linked to eye disorders such as macular degeneration, solar retinitis and corneal dystrophies.

Using artificial sweeteners will cause eyes more sensitive to light
True. artificial sweeteners like cyclamates, as well as other factors such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives, hypertension medications, diuretics and diabetic medications will make your eyes more sensitive to light.

Eating carrot will improve eyesight
True. Carrot is high in vitamin A which is essential for good vision. But the good sources for vitamin A is not limited to carrot alone. Milk, egg yolk, liver, asparagus, apricot are also rich in vitamin A. In fact only a small amount is good enough for good vision. Eating large amounts of vitamin A or other vitamins can be harmful.

Cataracts Effective Cure - Home Remedies

2007-11-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

Surgery for cataracts takes only a few minutes, it is painless, and effective. The clouded lens of the eye is removed, an artificial lens is inserted, in a few days, you can see clearly again. But, hold on to your surgery plan for your cataracts. You probably don't need it.

It is estimated that 90% of patients in the early stage of cataracts could reverse their cataracts with natural remedies. However, once the cataracts are too far advanced for nutritional intervention, surgery is a much.

Nutritional remedies work because most cataracts are caused by oxidation. Free radicals is the main cause where it oxidised the protein in the lens of the eye. The following antioxidant nutrients are recommended and it is said to be able to stop or even reverse the oxidation.

Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement
A high-p0tency supplement should supply a daily dose of at least 50 mg of most of the B vitamin, 15 mg of beta-carotene, 30 mg of zinc, and 200 microgram of selenium.

Vitamin C
The king of antioxidants. Can prevent and cure cataracts. Cataracts patients is advised to take 1500mg vitamin C daily.

Glutathione and NAC
Glutathione andother strong antioxidant. But our body needs the nutrients n-acetylcysteine (NAC) and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) to metabolize glutathione. The recommended dosage: 50 mg glutathione, 500 mg NAC and 100 mg ALA daily.

MSM
Sulphur (Sulfur) is one of the most important elements for good vision. You can get your sulphur from supplement MSM (methylsulfonylmethane). Dosage: half tea spoon of MSM powder per 100 pounds of body weight once a day.

Papain
Papain, an enzyme found in papaya can helps digest protein. If you take enzyme supplement papain, follow the recommended dosage on label.

Lifestyle Change
- Stop smoking. Smoking creates free radicals.
- Wear sunglasses outdoors. UV from the sun worsen cataracts.
- Eat more fresh vegetables. Rich in eye-protecting antioxidants.
- Reduce saturated fats and fried foods. These food increase production of free radicals.