Protect your peepers: July is Healthy Vision Month

As we get older, our vision changes. From mild blurriness to problems reading and driving at night to cataracts, we see this deterioration in our vision health as inevitable.

But what we may not realize is that our lifestyle choices play a major role in preserving or losing our vision, especially when it comes to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — a condition where an area of the retina called the macula becomes damaged.

With July being Healthy Vision Month, it is as good a time as ever to remind yourself to take care of your eyes.

AMD

According to the National Eye Institute, AMD is one of the leading causes of vision loss in people ages 50 and older. In advanced cases, AMD can lead to blindness.

Age and a family history of the disease are the two primary factors that come into play when determining whether someone will develop AMD. While you can’t stop yourself from aging or change your family’s health history, there are things you can control that may help you avoid vision loss caused by AMD.

No Smoking

Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to AMD, according to Dr. Szilard Kiss, associate professor of ophthalmology and director of retina services at Weill Cornell Medical College.

“Smokers can have up to 10 times the risk of developing advanced macular degeneration depending on their background,” Kiss says. “Quitting smoking is good for everything, including maintaining your eyesight.”

Eat In Color

Kiss touts the benefits of eating a low-fat, heart-healthy diet with a lot of green leafy vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids to help maintain healthy eyes.

“If it’s good for your heart, it’s good for the eyes,” Kiss says.

According to the Macular Degeneration Partnership (MDP), people who eat fish three times a week and eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables — especially of the dark, leafy green variety — have a lower incidence of AMD.

Kale is one of the best leafy greens you can eat, as one cup contains 26.5 milligrams of lutein, a nutrient that studies have shown can reduce the risk of chronic eye disease, according to the MDP. Spinach comes in second place at 20.4 milligrams per cup.

The MDP also recommends eating fruits and vegetables with bright colors, including red grapes, sweet and hot peppers, corn, oranges, cantaloupe and mango. Brightly colored vegetables and fruits contain high amounts of beta carotene, which is good for eye health.

Sun Screen

It may be eye-opening to many people that prolonged sun exposure without the proper UV protection may cause severe eye conditions that can lead to a variety of vision disorders.

We wear sunscreen to protect our skin from the sun, but shielding your eyes from UV rays is an oft-overlooked aspect of vision care. It is the most important factor when purchasing sunglasses.

If eyes are exposed to excessive amounts of UV radiation within a short timeframe, such as a day at the beach, a temporary “sunburn” of the cornea can occur. This painful condition, called photokeratitis, can be serious and includes symptoms such as red eyes, a foreign-body sensation or gritty feeling in the eyes, extreme sensitivity to light and excessive tearing.

Research has shown that long-term exposure to UV radiation increases the chance of developing cataracts, pterygium (an abnormal growth of the covering of the white of the eye onto the cornea) and eye cancer. It can also damage the retina, which may lead to macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults in the U.S.

To help reduce the risks of UV exposure on the eyes, it’s wise to start taking precautions as early as possible. Because the effects of solar radiation are cumulative, it’s important to develop good habits early and have infants and children wear proper sunglasses when outdoors.

For optimal eye safety in the sun, wear sunglasses or contact lenses that offer appropriate UV protection, apply UV-blocking sunscreen around the eye area, and wear a hat to keep direct sunlight off the face and eyes. In addition, the AOA recommends that sunglasses should:

• Block more than 95 percent of UVA and more than 99 percent of UVB radiation
• Screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light
• Be perfectly matched in color and free of distortion and imperfections
• Have lenses that are gray for proper color recognition of critical objects, such as traffic signals
• Have a frame that fits close to the eyes and is contoured to the shape of the head