Caring for Your Eyes
Deirdra Wilson-Anderson wears sunglasses and a hat to help protect her eyes from harmful UV rays while gardening.
As we get about 80% of all the information around us through vision, the importance of looking after our eyes can not be overestimated.
Here are some tips on how to keep your eyes healthy:
- Check your eyes regularly, at least every two years. The majority of eye conditions that can lead to blindness develop slowly and very often people notice that they have lost their vision when it is already too late to do something. The earlier an eye disease is diagnosed, the earlier the treatment can be started and the more vision can be saved.
- Protect your eyes from damaging UV light. Overexposure to UV light increases the risk of development of such eye conditions as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, pterygium and even cancer. When outside wear a hat and wraparound style sunglasses that are 100% UV light protective.
- Monitor your blood pressure and exercise regularly. The retina vessels are affected significantly when a person has high blood pressure and this can cause vision loss.
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Green vegetables contain a lot of antioxidants that help protect the retina.
- If you have diabetes, monitor your sugar level. Diabetic retinopathy (a complication of diabetes) is a leading cause of blindness in New Zealand and around the world.
- Do not smoke! If smoking – quit. There are over 4000 chemicals in each cigarette (and that can't be good!). These chemicals can build up in your body and cause damage to your retina.