Maintaining Healthy Vision
A Feast For The Eyes A healthy diet and regular eye examinations are important for visual development and maintaining healthy eyes. Children should be encouraged from a very early age to eat a healthy, balanced diet and visit an optometrist every six months. Foods which are rich in carotenoids, vitamin A and essential fatty acids are excellent choices.
Carotenoids - found in green and leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, broccolli and kale. Fruits and vegetables which are reddish coloured, such as strawberries, cherries, grapes, plums, and others like oranges and cantaloupe. Nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts.
Vitamin A - Carrots, sweet potato, liver and cod-liver oil.
Essential Fatty Acids - found in cold-water fish such as mackerel, trout and salmon.
Trying to include a range of green vegetables, fish, nuts and red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables into your diet is a key weapon in the war against avoidable sight loss.
Lighting Poor lighting does not cause poor vision, but it can cause eye-strain and fatigue. Always ensure you have a suitable light source aimed on what you are looking at, and try to avoid light shining directly into your eyes, as this can have a harmful affect. NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN.
Do not ignore symptoms - If you start to notice any changes in your vision, such as double vision, blurriness, pain or loss of partial vision, you need to inform your optometrist as soon as possible.
Quit smoking - Smoking increases the risk of developing Aged Related Macular Degeneration. Try speaking to your GP or pharmacist about nicotine replacement therapies.
Protecting your eyes - The majority of eye injuries could be avoided if the correct eye protection had been worn, or similar precautions taken. Always wear the appropriate protective eyewear, whether this be goggles when doing DIY, working with chemicals etc., or simply sunglasses when you are out in the sun.
Always wash your hands thoroughly before having contact with your eyes. Most infections are spread by direct contact.
Like the rest of our bodies, there are lots of things we can do to keep our eyes healthy. One thing everyone can do is undergo a comprehensive eye examination regularly to ensure that any problems are detected and treated early, maybe even before you experience any symptoms. Current guidelines for the frequency of eye examinations are as follows:
- Birth to 8 years: Every six months
- 8 to 15 years: Yearly
- 16 to 69 years: Every two years
- 70+ years: Yearly
- Diabetics: Yearly
- Family history of glaucoma: Yearly
Each patient’s eye care needs are different, so these guidelines are general. Your optometrist will advise you of your individual examination requirements.