I have been wearing glasses since I was six
years old so it isn’t surprising that the thought of vision loss weighs heavily
on my mind. I was relieved when my last
eye exam was favorable and the words cataract, macular degeneration or glaucoma
were not even mentioned.
I have worked with seniors
with varying degrees of vision loss for some time so I know the likelihood of
developing at least one of these conditions is a definite maybe. I would do
just about anything if I thought I might prevent this from happening.
I like to read (a lot) and I
actually enjoy exercising so naturally my eye was drawn to an article in
Fitness magazine (July/August 2009) that suggested that jogging 1.25 miles
every day or walking for 30 minutes five days a week could reduce the risk of
developing macular degeneration by 36%.
It appears that exercise lowers the levels of inflammatory proteins that
can lead to that disease.
This sounds too good to be
true, but as I already walk every day as well as jog three times a week, I am
pretty excited about this. I pulled up a
couple of more articles with similar revelations. Better Nutrition (April 2009) also mentions
that vigorous exercise can help ward of eye disease and cites studies published
by Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.
New technologies improve the
quality of life for people living with low vision, but the best technology in
the world can’t beat prevention. 314
million people world-wide live with visual impairments, which is pretty scary.
A regular yearly eye exam as
well and a concentrated effort to take care of your eyes is an important part
of a wellness program. Recommendations
include a healthy diet and exercise, protection from the sun, preventing
eyestrain and not smoking. Too many
rules you say? What is your eyesight
worth to you?
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