Some healthy advice for your eyes
To mark Healthy Vision Month, Dr. Peter Calder of Berks Eye Physicians & Surgeons offers advice on eye care.
It’s been said that the eyes are the window to the soul.
A less romantic but equally accurate saying might go something like this: “The eyes are the window to the body.”
Dr. Peter Calder, an ophthalmologist at Berks Eye Physicians & Surgeons, Wyomissing, since 1993, said he can learn a lot about a patient’s overall well-being during an eye exam.
“I think the eye is just a reflection of your general health,” he said, adding that a thorough exam can not only detect such ocular concerns such as glaucoma and cataracts, but it can also reveal other health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
And with May being Healthy Vision Month, as proclaimed by the National Eye Institute, the time is right for a friendly reminder about how important it is to schedule an eye exam.
When to go
Calder said it is important for parents to get their children’s eyes checked before they start school to make sure poor vision does not interfere with learning.
Once you hit age 40, he
should be scheduled every two years.
And at age 65, it is advisable to have exams annually.
Forty is an important age because patients can start developing different types of age-related issues such as glaucoma, which is an increase in pressure in the eye.
“It’s like blood pressure: You don’t know it’s an issue unless someone measures it,” Calder said. “We have to catch that early because if somebody has glaucoma, for the majority of people it’s a slow disease: They slowly lose vision and they don’t know it because they lose their peripheral vision first. They don’t lose their central vision till late.
“So it could go undetected for a long time, and once somebody has lost vision we can’t get it back, we just try to stop them from losing more vision.”
Cataracts, where the lens in your eye gets cloudy, is another concern that comes with aging. While cataracts may be inevitable for many people, there are things your eye doctor can suggest to slow its progression, including eating a healthy diet, not smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and wearing sunglasses outdoors. All of these things can help delay the need for cataract surgery, which involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with a clear artificial lens.
Another condition that comes with aging is macular degeneration. The macula is part of the retina at the back of the eye and is responsible for central vision. With macular degeneration, the blood vessels begin to leak, and if it’s not detected and treated early, it can affect vision.
Fear and avoidance
Calder said most people willingly go to the eye doctor because they realize how important their vision is.
“Of all the five sense, it’s been shown the eyes are the most important, because 90% of the information you get from the outside world comes through your eyes,” he said. “I think people realize it is very important to their general well-being.”
However, some people avoid going to the eye doctor if they are not having any noticeable problems. Calder advises against this because many eye issues can go unnoticed without an exam, and respond well to early detection and treatment.
Other people may fear the bright lights used for the exam, or for some the thought of someone working around their eyes makes them anxious.
In those instances, it may take a little bit of handholding by the doctor and reassurances that there is no pain or discomfort involved in an eye exam.
“We can talk them through it,” Calder said.
Wear sunglasses
With summer fast-approaching, Calder said people need to understand the importance of wearing sunglasses with UV protection.
Cataracts, for instance, are believed to be related to exposure to ultraviolet rays over time. So by wearing sunglasses, you could slow down the progression of the cataract formation.
Another condition called pterygium is believed to be related to prolonged exposure to UV rays. It occurs
when the clear skin that covers the white part of the eye starts growing onto the cornea (the clear covering at the front of the eye). It is cosmetic and it can distort vision by altering the shape of the front of the eye.
Pingueculum is another degenerative tissue change
caused by UV exposure that results in a small yellow spot next to colored part of eye.
“It is benign, but we don’t want it to get bigger because it can irritate the eye,” Calder said.
With beach vacations on the horizon, sunglasses take on added importance.
“At the shore you get twice as much UV exposure,” he said, “not just from the sky but you get it from sunlight bouncing off the sand and bouncing off the water.”
Stay eye-healthy
Calder said the best things people can do for their eyes, in addition to regularly scheduled checkups, involve diet and exercise.
He recommended eating plenty of brightly colored fruits and vegetables.
“We tell people (to eat) blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, green leafy vegetables,” he said. “They are full of antioxidants that are healthy for the eyes.” And stay active. Calder says he often uses the eye as a sign of someone’s general health.
“People who are active and exercise and eat right and take care of themselves, these degenerative conditions — the aging conditions of the eye — slow down,” he said. “They don’t happen as quickly.
“The phrase I tell everybody is ‘You can’t stop from getting old, but you can slow it down.’”