A series of different eye problems affect the quality of our vision and eye health. Some of these problems include difficulty reading the fine print, eye strain, blurry eyesight, to the more serious issues that are age-related vision disorders such as Macular Degeneration and Cataracts. While we think of eye problems and conditions as annoyances that interfere with our normal day-to-day activities, do you know that neglecting this most important of our five senses can not only reduce the quality of your standard of living but also be harmful to your life? Therefore, if you are concerned about your vision, here are 5 reasons why you cannot afford to neglect taking care of your eye health.
1. Our Eyes Are Indicators Of Serious Health Issues: Vision problems are indicators of serious health problems and detect diseases such as Diabetes and health problems related to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease. For this essential reason, it is extremely important to get a regular eye exam. For risk-free patients from ages 18-60, the American Optometric Association highly recommends regular eye exams every 2 years. For people over age 61, these are recommended on an annual basis.
2. Glaucoma and Auto-Accident Link Identified: A study reveals that people with Glaucoma are at a higher risk for traffic accidents than individuals without this eye disease. The study revealed that such patients have a 6. 6 times greater risk for being involved in a motor vehicle collision and a 3. 6 greater risk for being injured in those crashes.
3. Link Identified Between Blindness And High Blood Sugar: The National Institutes of Health reveals that a pattern of consistently high blood sugar levels in patients can lead to an increased risk for blindness.
4. Vision Impairments Decrease the Quality of Life: People with vision loss have major difficulty performing basic daily tasks such as driving, reading, doing daily chores, work-related and academic activities, thereby contributing to a poorer quality of life.
5. Age-Related Vision Disorders: According to the National Eye Institute, Age-related Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. This is an eye condition that damages the Macula, the part of the eye responsible for fine details and sharper eyesight. Such an eye disease affects much quality of life activities besides those related to reading. However, you can improve Macular Degeneration with proper nutrition.
What is the solution to this problem? Well, the importance of getting a regular eye exam to detect health problems before they get progressively worse is essential. Also, some problems related to eye diseases even in cases whereby there is hereditary can be improved by paying closer attention to diet and proper nutrition. Increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables is helpful. You can also eliminate or significantly cut back on your consumption of refined sugars, processed foods and incorporate seafood into your diet like fish and salmon to improve eye health. Additionally, according to The National Eye Institute, about the AREDS, (The age-related eye disease study), consuming the antioxidants Zinc, Lutein and Zeaxanthin reduced the risk and development of Macular Degeneration by over 30%.
Finally, did you know that the eyes like any other part of the body consist of muscles? With years of stress and strain, these muscles weaken. However, you can re-train these eye muscles with a series of simple and easy to perform eye exercise techniques that improve your eyesight and rebuild the foundation of your visual system. Ultimately, with these techniques, you can increase the circulation in the eyes and improve the function of the eye muscles. Such techniques also improve the flexibility and focusing the power of the eyes for better vision and improved eye health.