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Protect and Improve Your Vision

August 18, 2012


Do This to Protect Your Vision

Our eyes are delicate and vulnerable to all sorts of assaults on them. It is really amazing that just a little maintenance will keep them safe, healthy and working great for you for years to come.

Here is a list of things you can do, starting now, to keep your peepers in top shape:

• Regular visits with an eye professional
• Wear Sunglasses
• Use eye protection when working with tools
• Foods and supplements high in vitamin A
• Keep eyes moist especially in dry climate or conditions
• Quit smoking
• Avoid straining your eyes
• Stay healthy

There are other things, but this would be baseline. These are simple, easy and effective.

Often it is difficult to find the motivation to eat better, lose weight, quit smoking and straining our eyes. We know we should do these things, but sometimes we don't see a benefit that makes the reward worth the effort.

Here is something to consider:

We all either have, or will experience vision problems at some point in our life. We tend to be more re-active rather than pro-active when it comes to eye care. Not smoking, watching our weight, eating more of certain foods along with some other activities can protect the eyes from disease and our vision from deterioration.

VISIT AN EYE PROFESSIONAL
The working word here is "professional." This professional will test your vision and look at the eye, internally and externally, for signs of disease or other problems.

He/she can also see signs of disease in other areas of the body, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

SHIELD YOUR EYES
This is an easy one and maybe obvious. Many people like the "look" of sunglasses. Others know they need to use sunglasses because of the bright sun.

The primary safety reason for sunglasses is to protect the eyes from the sun's damaging ultra violet rays. These (UV) rays can be very harmful to the eyes and skin.

Sunglasses with proper UV protection can reduce exposure to UV rays up to 18 fold.

UV rays can speed up the development of cataracts which is a clouding of the eye lens that is related to aging.

Choose sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV protection.

Finally, always use eye protective lenses when working with tools or anything that could accidentally cause injury to the eyes.

KEEP THE EYES MOIST
Tears are the eyes natural lubricant. But sometimes tears are insufficient to keep the eyes sufficiently lubricated. Dry climate or conditions can dry the eyes. Consult with your eye professional and ask him/her about artificial tears or some lubricant for dry eyes.

QUIT SMOKING
A reason to quit smoking we often hear is because of the increased risk of lung and throat cancer. Perhaps a less obvious, but very serious issue is the negative effect smoking potentially has on the eyes. One such issue is macular degeneration.

According to Dr. Sheri Rowen, MD and Director of ophthalmology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, toxins in cigarette smoke can enter your bloodstream and damage the vessels in the eye. This can lead to macular degeneration. The macula is the center of the retina. Macular degeneration causes vision loss in the center of your field of vision.

STAY HEALTHY AND WATCH YOUR WEIGHT
This can be a tough one, but how is losing weight linked with our eye vision, you ask?

Excess weight is linked to hypertension, high cholesterol and inflammation. All three slow blood flow to the eyes.

Working back the other way, an ophthalmologist can detect those three conditions by examining the blood vessels in the eye.

EAT MORE PRODUCE
Okay, here it is again: Eat more green stuff. We hear this everywhere we turn from many fronts. "Eat this not that."

We don't often think that consumption of more produce can help protect the eyes. Maybe you have not thought of that. Yet, it is true.

According to an "Archives of Ophthalmology" study, women who ate 3 or more servings of fruit daily reduced the risk of macular degeneration by 36%. The study reported that antioxidants in fruits and vegetables absorb harmful UV rays in the eyes and plays a regular role in optimal function of the eyes.

Leafy greens such as spinach and kale, yellow corn, persimmons and orange bell peppers are especially helpful.

Take that little extra effort and do what you can and what is necessary to maintain your eyes in top shape. They will reward you for it.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7222215


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