Cranberries – Healthy for the Eyes

 

Don’t give up those cranberry products just because Thanksgiving is over. For the past decade, the consumption of cranberries has increased due to the health-promoting effects. Maintaining urinary tract health is the most commonly known health benefit of cranberries and cranberry products. Even dried cranberries are healthy. What do these do for the eye?

Introducing cranberries into your meals is a tasty way to boost your health. Cranberries are a rich source of vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, beta-carotene, and fiber.

Another potential benefit is the natural anti-inflammatory, your Folic acid, carrot noise, such as Lutein which promotes eye health.

Vitamins and minerals do have health benefits, but too much can also cause harm.

• Vitamin C helps to protect the eye against UV light damage.
• Vitamin A to nourish other parts of your eye, including the cornea. Without vitamin A, your eyes cannot produce enough moisture.
• Calcium regulates how light-sensitive cells in the retina recover after being exposed to light. There is such a thing as too much calcium in the body so consults with your physician to watch your calcium levels.
• Beta carotene is a provitamin, a carotenoid, that the body converts to vitamin A. It supports our health and prevents eye disease.
• Fiber helps protect the retina and lowers the risk of developing cataracts.

Cranberry products have healthy benefits you should be indulging in throughout the year not just at Thanksgiving. Add dried cranberries to a salad, or an ice cold cranberry juice to drink. Try to find cranberry products with as few additives as possible to get the most from the cranberry products you choose.

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Thanksgiving Themed Movies

 

Some of these movies may be turkeys, give it a try see how many you can get.

Match the Title with the Star 

1. Home for the Holidays

2. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

3. Freebirds

4. Soul Food

5. Black Friday

6. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

1. B

2. D

3. E

4. C

5. A

6. F

Answers

A. Bruce Campbell

B. Holly Hunter

C. Vivica A. Fox

D. Steve Martin

E. Owen Wilson

F. Charlie Brown

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#HappyThanksgiving

It’s that time again

 

Yes, it is that time of the year, how many guests are coming to Thanksgiving dinner? What is Santa going to bring? What are we going to serve at our New Year's Eve party? Have you thought about those healthcare dollars that will disappear faster than the ball dropping in the Big Apple on December 31st?

Most companies have a policy of "use it or lose it" if you have a remaining balance in your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) on December 31 at 11:59 PM. You will give up that money if your healthcare expenses during the year are lower than what you have accumulated in your FSA over the year.

Some accounts will allow a short grace period and reimbursement until March 31. You should check with your employer or insurance company for details.

Some vision-related expenses are not covered by health insurance, so you can save money by using a tax-exempt FSA to cover some of those costs.

When it comes to vision care, FSA-eligible expenses include:

• The cost of an eye exam

• Prescription eyeglasses

• Prescription sunglasses

• over-the-counter reading glasses

• Contact lenses

• Eye care accessories

• Eye drops

• Eye surgery

Utilizing your FSA money to pay for vision-related expenses makes it easier to take care of your eyes and vision. Schedule an eye exam today and put your contributions to good use.

Sources:

www.CNBC.com

www.metlife.com

www.allaboutvision.com

www.healthequity.com

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Commonly prescribed medications that may have visual side effects.

People do not always connect vision changes to their medications. Medication people take specifically for other medical conditions can affect vision and eye health. There are some medications that can cause blurred vision, eye pain, redness, or double vision.

If you develop eye symptoms from medications, your healthcare provider may need to adjust the dose or recommend a new drug. Adverse reactions to prescriptions are rare, but they do occur, especially when these drugs are taken for extended periods.

It is sometimes a tough decision to change, especially if it is a life-saving drug and works well for the condition it is prescribed.

A sampling of medications that are often associated with having visual side effects.

• Alendronate (Fosamax)

• Topiramate (Topamax)

• Isotretinoin (Accutane)

• Amiodarone (Cordarone)

• Tamsulosin (Flomax)

• Sildenafil (Viagra)

• Tamoxifen

• Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)

• Ethambutol (Myambutol)

• Prednisone or other steroids

• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or other allergy medications

• Cidofovir (Vistide)

• Digoxin (Lanoxin)

• Fingolimod (Gilenya)

• Rifampin (Rifadin)

• Doxycycline, Tetracycline, and Minocycline

• NSAIDs like ibuprofen

• Plaquenil

Some of the side effects are minor, and others can be more problematic. Some of those side effects are experienced right away, while others may present with long-term use.

Sometimes it is not a single medication, but a combination of medications causing problems.

Side effects that are connected to certain medications that can affect eye health:

• inflammation in parts of the eye

• Blurred vision

• Light sensitivity

• eye pain

• eye redness

• Damage to the optic nerve

• dry eye

• Vortex keratopathy (A golden-brown swirl-like pattern to appear on the cornea)

• Halo effect

• Changes in color perception

• Retinal deposits

• Cornea clouding

• Swelling of the macula

• Pigment changes

• Retinal degeneration

• Decreasing peripheral vision

• Elevated eye pressure

• Headache

• Shadows in vision

• Blank spots in vision

If you develop vision changes, contact your prescribing physician and eye doctor at once. Prompt treatment can protect your vision from harm. In many cases the problem will reverse as soon as the drug clears the body with early recognition of the problem. 

Sources:

www.goodrx.com

www.focusclinics.com

www.Allaboutvision.com

www.webmd.com

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Are you joking? – Halloween Edition

 

1. Why didn't the mom let the little witch go trick or treating with her friends?

   She was ex-spelled from school.

2. What do vampires take to get around on Halloween night?

   A blood vessel.

3. Why did the skeleton run away?

   Because a dog was after his bones.

4. What kind of car does Frankenstein drive on Halloween night?

   A monster truck.

5. Who won the dance contest at the Halloween ball? 

   The boogie man.

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#HappyHalloween

Eye Anatomy-How the Parts of the Eye Work

 

The human eye is a highly specialized organ. The eye has the ability to receive visual images, which are then transmitted to the brain. How the eye works is fascinating. After the brain, the eye is the next most complex organ in the body.

1.The Cornea is the clear “window” found at the front of the eye. The cornea is made of a tough, transparent tissue. This tissue keeps dirt, germs, and other particles from getting into the eye. Some of the sun's damaging ultraviolet (UV) light is prevented from entering the eye by the cornea.

2.The pupil is the black dot at the center of the eye. It is an opening at the center of the iris through which light passes. 

3.The Macula is a small but critical area in the center of the retina. The macula manages translating light into images needed to clearly see the details of objects in central vision.

4.The Iris is the colored part of the eye. The primary job of the iris is to regulate the amount of light that reaches the retina. It does this by controlling the size of the eye's "window," or the pupil. 

5.The lens of the eye (or crystalline lens). This transparent structure is on the inside of your eye. It is a natural lens found behind the iris. The lens changes its thickness and curvature, allowing the eye to adjust focus on objects from varying distances. If the natural lenses in the eye are irregularly shaped, your eye doctor may prescribe glasses or contact lenses to correct vision.

6.The Optic Nerve is a bundle of about 1.2 million nerve fibers that send visual information to the central nervous system (brain).

7.The Retina is a key connection between the light that enters your eyes and the images you see. Special cells called photoreceptor cells in your retina react to light and pass signals to your brain that let you see what is around you. 

8.The Sclera is most times known as the "whites" of the eye, covering more than 80% of the eyeball's surface. It has grooves that help properly attach the eye to the tendons to supply stability and protection while staying flexible. This allows the eye to move and track objects as needed.

9.The Optic Disc is where the nerve fibers of retinal ganglion cells join and mark where the optic nerve begins. The optic disc also serves as the starting point for major blood vessels that feed the retina.

Path the light takes to create an image:

Step 1: Light enters the eye through the cornea.

Step 2: The light passes through the pupil, which is the opening in the center of the iris. The pupil adjusts in response to the intensity of the light by getting larger or smaller.

Step 3: The lens focuses the light onto the retina by adjusting its shape to bend and refocus the light a second time, ensuring the clearest image of what you are looking at.

Step 4: The light is then projected onto the retina Once the light is focused on the retina, the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye. The retina converts the light into electrical signals. The nerves in the retina collect all the electrical impulses.

Step 5: The optic nerve transmits visual information to the brain through the optic nerve at the very back of the eye up to the occipital lobe in the back of the brain. The brain then interprets these signals as an image.

This is just a condensed version of how the eye works. There are more micro components within the eye to aid the major parts of the eye listed above.

Watch this video from The American Academy of Ophthalmology https://youtu.be/Sqr6LKIR2b8

Sources:

www.britannica.com

www.aao.org

www.nei.nih.gov

www.optometrists.org

www.clevelandclinic.org

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What Do Eye Experts Wish Patients Knew About Their Eye Health

 

At the 2023 American Society of Retina Specialist meeting in Seattle, Washington, eye experts were asked "What do you wish your patients knew about eye health?"

A majority of the experts that were asked believe that most patients feel their vision is important, but they take it for granted. Many people assume that if their vision seems fine, they have no eye health issues. However, this is a misconception.

People with seemingly good vision can have hidden problems. Problems that may have no symptoms, until irreversible damage is done.

Experts strongly recommend regular dilated examinations with an eye healthcare, professional and a fundus photo to ensure overall ocular health. Dilating the pupil allows more light into the eye and allows your doctor to see inside the eye. The most widely accepted way to check for eye diseases is a dilated eye exam. Early detection of disease is important. Catch them when they are easy to treat. Treatment is more likely to be successful when detected early.

The doctor will evaluate these functions during a dilated eye exam:

• Visual acuity

• Visual field

• eye muscle function

• Pupil response

• Tonometry test

Another tool for early detection the doctor may recommend for patients to have is an optical coherence tomography (OCT). This test is used to generate a picture of the back of the eye.

Catching eye diseases early can: 

• Help prevent or delay vision loss. 

• Preserve your vision and quality of life.

• Allow for earlier and more effective treatment. 

That is why most eye experts recommend patients have regular eye exams and cannot stress it enough. Your risk for eye disease will determine how often you should get a dilated eye exam. Talk to your doctor about what is right for you.

If you are:

• Over age 60

• African American and over age 40

• Have a family history of glaucoma

• Have diabetes or high blood pressure

Ask your doctor how often you need an exam. Most of these people should get a dilated eye exam at least once a year.

Sources:

www.ophthalmologytimes.com

www.modernretina.com

www.techtimes.com

www.ama-assn.org

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