People say about the most precious things in their life using the phrase: “to guard smb./ smth. like the apple of one`s eye”, but usually pay little attention to the health of this apple. As a rule, we start eye care only when we have obvious eye problems which interfere with the life quality.
Tension is growing
- According to the World Health Organization, about 30% of the planet’s inhabitants have eyesight problems. That’s about 180 million people, 40 million of them have lost their vision completely.
- According to the WHO prognosis, the number of blind people in the world can double.
In recent years, eye doctors have noted a steady deterioration of these statistics. The problem of ocular pathologies has generally become “younger”:
- 4% of children enter the school with visual impairments;
- 40% of school graduates wear glasses or contact lenses.
This may be explained by heavy loads on the eyes with the school starting.
Eye strain is one of the main causes of visual pathologies: it disrupts the mechanisms of refraction (refraction of light inside the eye) and accommodation (the ability to focus on an object, regardless of the distance). The technical progress in the form of television, computers, mobile phones, e-books only exacerbates the situation. Long, monotonous reading of information in close proximity, magnetic radiation, display flicker – all these things tire your eyes. They are forced to operate in a stressful regime, sometimes exceeding the allowable limit for a normal vision.
The eyes are the window of the soul
Eyes are not only a window of the soul, but also a mirror of our health. They – like a sensitive barometer – react to physical fatigue, lack of sleep, nerve overload, even on change of weather. In winter, the eyes are in particularly more difficult situation: the constant use of electric lighting and long twilight give them an additional load. In the time of sudden changes in temperature and pressure, the eyes are also affected – as a part of the circulatory system of the body.
- Smoking significantly increases the risk of cataracts and retinal degenerative eye diseases development. Statistically, smokers have three times higher chances of getting severe cataract, where the only treatment option is replacing the lens with a prosthesis. The danger remains even many years after quitting;
- Various diseases (diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, myopia, hereditary and age-related degenerative changes, and so on. D.) also lead to a significant reduction of a visual function.
Blurred vision in adulthood is a natural process. This happens due to deterioration of the elastic properties of the lens and weakening of the eye muscle system which is involved in the process of focusing. Progressive decreases of visual acuity is one of the most common problems among 40 years old people. Vision is also violated by other adverse factors, myopia development can proceed faster and get a more acute form.
Vitamin deficiency
An important role in the development of pathology is played by a poor diet which is characterized by a high content of fats and carbohydrates, reduction of plant substances and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
A dangerous imbalance in the diet is exacerbated by a lack of vitamins and minerals, which are extremely important for a normal sight.
According to eye doctors, even small blurred vision causes anxiety and uncertainty about the future among the patients. And, in general, such a dismay is not groundless: any sight impairment is a signal of danger, as they can turn into complications over time, treatment of which requires a surgical intervention.
Meanwhile, scientists claim that 70% of vision depends on a lifestyle of a person and, of course, on his willingness to take eye care. According to ophthalmologists, serious eye problems can be avoided with the help of competent preventive measures.
Distract from the display
Today, in the era of information technology it’s impossible to imagine our life without computers. But everyone can comply with the basic rules of work in front of a computer.
- We should remember that the distance between our eyes and the screen should always be at least 60-70 sm.
- You have to set the monitor in this way so that the top of the screen is approximately at the eye level.
- If you tilt the screen surface a bit down, it will help you avoid glare.
- One of the secrets of good vision is simple – change loads schedule for the eyes: the duration of continuous operation on the computer must not exceed two hours. You’d better do a 10-minute break after each 40 minutes of a work – during this break you may perform exercises, reducing the eye strain. They help to “train” the eye muscles, slow down the progression of myopia and relieve fatigue.
- Protective glasses with special lenses can increase their strength of eye, reducing visual stress and protect your eyes from the light radiation. But it’s necessary to take care of hygiene to avoid eye infections.
Eyes feeding, or how to improve your eyesight
As we already mentioned, a sharp vision is directly related to a proper nutrition, which implies adherence to three basic principles:
- moderation in eating;
- adequate diet and easily digestible products;
- sufficient content of vitamins, lutein, zinc and selenium.
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Of course, the most important vitamin for our sight is vitamin A. It plays a major role in the sight mechanism: vitamin A is a component of the protein (rhodopsin), which the eye retina consists of. The protein is cleaved under the action of light, the optic nerve sends an impulse to the visual center of the brain – and the person sees. When the organism lacks vitamin A, visual disturbances are inevitable. Their first symptoms: a violation of the eye’s ability to adapt to poor lighting, the difficulty in distinguishing between yellow and blue. In addition, vitamin A deficiency can lead to a gradual drying and hardening of the corneal cells, as a result, the eye is deprived of the protective tear film, there is a risk of a chronic dry eye. Beneficial effects of vitamin A on the vision are known to everyone: even the ancient eye doctors recommended a boiled liver (one of the main sources of the vitamin) as a treatment for “night blindness”. Vitamin A is formed from beta karotina. It’s important to know: beta-carotene is converted to the vitamin only when the organism has a need for it, thus, there is no risk of overdoses and side effects. It should also be mentioned that beta-carotene is consumed much more intense at high visual loads. - B-group vitamins are useful primarily for the nervous system and have a positive effect not only on the eye itself, but also on the brain centers responsible for the perception of visual sensations. But one of the vitamins of this group has a special significance for the sight – this is riboflavin (vitamin B2). The vitamin takes part in major redox processes, patricipates in processes of carbohydrate, protein and fat exchange. Vitamin B is a part of visual purple, which protects the retina from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays. Lack of vitamin B2 may cause frequent conjunctivitis. Large vitamin deficiency can cause inflammation of the cornea, cataracts development (the lens opacity). Medicinal properties of B2 were confirmed thirty years ago in a medical experiment involving patients suffering from the lens opacity. Once they started taking riboflabina, their condition improved within 48 hours, and the vast majority of patients got rid of this problem after 9 months.
- Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that is needed for tissue regeneration and protection of other fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A) from degradation by oxygen. It improves blood circulation, has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, rejuvenates the cells, stimulates the formation of new capillaries in the tissues, reduces the risk of cataracts, retinal pathologies, has an excellent preventive effect against diabetic retinopathy of the eye.
- The right diet for sight maintaining should pay attention to vitamin C – lack of this vitamin affects muscles that control the eye movement and change the state of the lens. It prevents eye fatigue and their bleeding. It has been experimentally proved that vitamin C protects the lens from free radicals, particularly those which appearance is caused by the action of ultraviolet rays. Other positive properties of vitamin C are the ability to heal tissues, increase resistance to stress, enhance general immunity.
- Especially popular eyes micro elements are potassium and zinc. Zinc, in particular, helps your eyes adjust to bright light, prevents the development of macular (related to the macular retina) degeneration of the retina, supports the body’s normal level of vitamin A. Zinc relates to antioxidants – compounds, the main function of which is protection of cell membranes and other structures from the damaging effects of free radicals. In addition to zinc, effective antioxidants for the eyes are selenium and lutein.
Conclusion
A balanced diet with a sufficient number of biologically active substances largely contributes to improvement of the eye and enhances the effectiveness of other preventive measures to preserve sight. However, statistics indicate that each Europeans consumes only one-seventh of the required amount of vitamins and minerals. After all, it’s impossible to complete the lack of nutrients with modern food. It is physically impossible to eat several kilos of carrots a day to get the necessary amount of vitamin A, or consume liters of sunflower oil to get vitamin E.
Therefore, the easiest and most accessible way is to take necessary vitamins in an optimal combination – a specially balanced dietary supplements. Canadian Family Pharmacy offers all the necessary supplements, which can help “feed” your sight for many years!