Eating well....to help with eye disorders

Eating well continues the focus on health issues where food and nutrition have a critical role.

The role of antioxidant nutrients and bioflavonoids in vision loss and other degenerative problems associated with ageing is becoming better understood. With advancing age, the production of free radicals, those unstable molecules that form when the body uses oxygen, increases. Free radicals can cause eye damage similar to that resulting from exposure to radiation and can also contribute to such disorders as cataracts and macular degeneration.

More or Less...
Eat plenty of:

• Carrots and sweet potatoes for betacarotene
• Citrus fruit and broccoli for vitamin C
• Salmon, sardines, herring and full cream dairy products for vitamin A
• Nuts and sweeds for vitamin E
• Seafood, meat, poultry and beans for zinc
• Leafy greens, peas, corn, capsicums for lutein and zeaxanthin

LIMIT:

• Saturated and trans fats

Sun may save sight..

Sunshine may prevent children from becoming short-sighted. A comparison of children of Chinese origin living in Singapore and Sydney found the rate of myopia in the Singaporeans was ten times higher. The key difference was that the Sydney kids spent almost four times longer outdoors.

The researchers say sunlight is the key - it increases dopamine levels which inhibits excessive eye growth, a known myopia cause.

Study co-author Dr. Kathy Rose still recommends sunglasses, as they don't seem to stop the dopamine release: "Protecting children's eyes from UV is the appropriate thing to do."

Look smart to save your sight

Eyesight is a precious gift that is too important to neglect...

Eye care is an aspect of health that is often over-looked. But considering how important good vision is to daily
life, there are no excuses for not taking care of your peepers.

There are a number of serious eye conditions that, if left untreated, can permanently damage your vision.

There are four common eye problems that people should be aware of.
One of the commonest problems (is) Pterygium, which is a fleshy growth on the inside part of the white of the eye..related to sunlight exposure. It can be largely prevented by the use of hats and sunglasses and it's treatable with surgery.

Another serious condition is cataracts, a cloudy "lens" over the eyes that mainly affects middle-aged and elderly people.

Fortunately, cataract sufferers can have their vision restored with day surgery, and many will not even need glasses afterwards. It's the most common operation in our community.

Perhaps the most serious common eye disease is glaucoma, which can cause permanent blindness if left untreated. It's a disease of the optic nerve, which is partly due to raised pressure in the eye and partly due to poor blood supply at the back of the eye.

In its early stages, it is largely asymptomatic and can be only detected by routine testing.
People need to be tested from the age of 40. It's a very strongly genetically determined disease and people should ask their relatives if they have had it.

Glaucoma is a controllable with eye drops and sometimes curable by surgery, but once the damage has occurred, it is permanent. It can cause side vision loss and then later blindness if not detected.

The fourth disease of concern is macular degeneration. It affects mainly old people and is also genetically determined in many cases, and a few years ago caused people to lose their central vision (reading vision) permanently.

Fortunately, new treatments can halt this in some people. If detected early, injections into the eye can stop the abnormal blood vessels growing. Knowing how to detect an eye abnormally can save long term damage, as well as being aware of your family history.

The first thing people can do is have regular checks for glaucoma, which is the thief of sight that creeps up without you knowing.

Glaucoma has no symptoms, so if it's in your family history, you have to get checked. Being aware of conditions that can harm the eyes is the first step to preventing permanent damage. Exposure to UV rays can cause eye damage while smoking is strongly related to macular degeneration. Eating well can help maintain good vision.

Eat lots of green leafy vegetables, orange-colored vegetables and fish, as well as a handful of nuts a week.

Rocks, Paper, Scissors...preventing eye injuries in children

Scissors, knives, pens and glass continue to be the leading causes of preventable eye injuries in children according to the latest research.

Parents need to be particularly vigilant with children to avoid damaging eye injuries.

Kids are curious creatures and often don't understand the risks associated with certain items.

Often the most dangerous objects are everyday household items such as scissors, pens, knives and sticks which are hard to avoid. Boys are more likely to experience eye injuries during childhood.

Boys are three times more likely than girls to suffer injuries to their eyes, particularly between the ages of four and nine years old. However, this is a high risk age group for both girls and boys.

Boys also are at increased risk between the ages of 13 and 15 years old.

Whilst it's impossible to prevent all eye injuries occurring in children, increased parental supervision particularly during high risk age groups and increased awareness of implements that cause injuries is recommended.

It is not just parents that need to be aware of the risks. Family members and friends also need to be educated about items that could unintentionally cause harm to children.

Parents also need to start educating their children at an early age about the dangers associated with certain
items.

Fifty percent of children involved in the study have significant long-term impairment to their vision.