Our vision is an extremely important sense that helps us interface with the world. It’s a sense that can be directly affected by our lifestyle habits, hence why it’s a good idea to start taking a good look at how you can improve your vision or even maintain it so that you’re not slowly ruining it. So to help you out, we’ve put together this helpful checklist to give you a better understanding of how you can take care of your vision.
Have you noticed changes with your eyes?
Perhaps one of the fastest ways to tell if your vision is being negatively impacted is to consider any tangible changes you’ve noticed. For instance, inflammation can affect our eyes and it usually causes both pain and a change to your vision. You may have a condition such as uveitis which is often caused by a problem in our immune system. Thankfully, you can get chronic uveitis treatment which will help you deal with the condition while also giving you a chance to improve your overall health to prevent it from coming back. However, not all cases of uveitis or inflammation are caused by internal health problems.
Since there are so many different possibilities, it’s important to take note of changes to your eyes and also look at how you can better improve your health to avoid them in the first place. If there are painful or annoying changes to your eyes, then it’s best to seek a doctor or optometrist to help you diagnose the problem in full detail before the problem gets worse. If you just wait, then it could lead to a much more serious issue in the future.
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Do you smoke?
Research shows that smoking leads to macular degeneration and also increases your chance of developing cataracts. Macular degeneration is a condition that affects the quality of your vision and is usually caused by aging. It’s a very common condition that affects people above the age of 50, but its development can be accelerated through habits like smoking. While it doesn’t cause or lead to total blindness, it does involve vision loss that can be inconvenient and often worrying. Thankfully, treatments are available to ensure that your vision doesn’t get worse, but identifying the problem is important so that you can stop it from progressing as soon as possible. While the exact cause of macular degeneration is unknown, it’s been closely linked to smoking, high blood pressure, and also being overweight. As such, if you take care of yourself and have a holistic approach to healthcare, you can increase your chances of avoiding the condition in the first place.
Cataracts are a different kind of condition. They typically occur when the eye’s clear lens becomes cloudy over time. This is usually an age-related condition that is, much like macular degeneration, accelerated by habits such as smoking. Some people describe having cataracts as trying to see through a waterfall. It’s believed that smoking leads to cataracts due to alterations that the cells go through as a result of smoking.
Do you find it difficult to read or see things?
Our vision can gradually change over time as a result of many different factors. While there are too many to list and try to avoid, there is one thing that you can rely on; your own experiences.
For example, if you could previously read something in the distance but now find it difficult to do so, then you may need glasses due to a change in your vision. Similarly, if you find that other people can read things closer or further away from their eyes than you, then it could mean that your vision is gradually changing. Your personal experiences are a powerful thing to consider when it comes to eye health, so don’t ignore them.
Are you watching your diet?
Your diet is also an important component of your health to consider when it comes to taking care of your vision. Studies have shown that diets that are high in sugars and fat can lead to early macular degeneration. By eating foods that have lots of antioxidants, you can reduce the rate at which this condition develops. This usually means eating lots of dark green vegetables, but it can also help by watching your vitamin B intake and ensuring you get enough.
In short, make sure you’re trying to improve your diet on a regular basis to ensure that it’s not a risk factor for developing eye-related conditions.
Photo by Marina Vitale
