Adding powerful antioxidants to your diet can improve your eye health.

Did you know that small dietary changes can have a big impact on your eyes? Adding certain nutrients to your daily diet—either through foods or supplements—can help preserve your vision. Researchers have linked eye-friendly nutrients, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc, to reducing the risk of certain eye diseases.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin
Lutein and zeaxanthin are important nutrients found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach or kale, as well as other foods, such as eggs. Many studies show that lutein and zeaxanthin reduce the risk of chronic eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables. Scientific evidence suggests vitamin C lowers the risk of developing cataracts. Also, when taken in combination with other essential nutrients, it can slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration and visual acuity loss.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant found in nuts, fortified cereals and sweet potatoes. Research indicates it protects cells in the eyes from unstable molecules called free radicals, which break down healthy tissue.

Essential Fatty Acids
Fats are a necessary part of the human diet. They maintain the integrity of the nervous system, fuel cells and boost the immune system. Research shows omega-3 fatty acids are important for proper visual development and retinal function.

Zinc
Zinc is an essential trace mineral or “helper molecule.” It plays a vital role in bringing vitamin A from the liver to the retina in order to produce melanin, a protective pigment in the eyes. Zinc is highly concentrated in the eye, mostly in the retina and choroid, the vascular tissue layer lying under the retina.

Vision doesn’t just happen. A child’s brain learns how to use eyes to see just like it learns how to use legs to walk or a mouth to learn how to speak. Children with uncorrected vision conditions face many barriers in life. The longer a vision problem goes undiagnosed and untreated the more difficult it becomes to overcome these barriers.

As children progress through school they face increasing demands on their visual abilities. Every child needs to have the vision skills for effective reading and learning. Vision is more than visual acuity, the ability to see clearly and eye focusing, ability to quickly and accurately maintain clear vision as the distance from objects change. Other visual perceptual skills include recognition, comprehension, retention, eye tracking, eye teaming and hand eye coordination.

A child may not tell you that he or she has a vision problem because they may think the way they see in normal. Signs that may indicate a vision problem may include frequent eye rubbing or blinking, avoiding reading and other near activities, frequent headaches, covering one eye, seeing double, holding materials close to the face and tilting the head to one side.

Some children with learning difficulties exhibit specific behaviors of hyperactivity and distractibility and are often labeled as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). If a child’s visual skills are lacking they can experience short attention span, letters or words jumble together, loss of place when reading and difficulty remembering what he or she read.

Vision changes can occur without your child or you noticing them. Therefore, your child should receive an eye examination every year as recommended by your eye doctor. Early detection and treatment provide the very best opportunity to correct vision problems to make sure your child has the best possible tools to learn successfully.

Glaucoma is a group of eye disorders that lead to progressive damage to the optic nerve. People with glaucoma can lose nerve tissue, resulting in vision loss. The optic nerve is a bundle of about 1 million individual nerve fibers that transmits the visual signals from the eye to the brain. In the most common form of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, the fluid pressure inside the eye increases. This increase in pressure may cause progressive damage to the optic nerve and loss of nerve fibers. Vision loss may result. Advanced glaucoma may even cause blindness.

Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the U.S. It most often occurs in people over age 40,although an infant (congenital) form of glaucoma exists. People with a family history of glaucoma, African Americans over the age of 40 and Hispanics over the age of 60 have an increased risk of developing glaucoma. Other risk factors include thinner corneas, chronic eye inflammation and taking medications that increase the pressure in the eyes.

The most common form of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, develops slowly and usually without any symptoms. Many people are not aware they have the condition until they have significant vision loss. Initially, glaucoma affects peripheral or side vision, but it can advance to central vision loss. If left untreated, glaucoma can lead to significant vision loss in both eyes, and may even lead to blindness.

A less common type of glaucoma, acute angle-closure glaucoma, usually occurs abruptly due to a rapid increase of pressure in the eye. Its symptoms may include severe eye pain, nausea, redness in the eye, seeing halos or colored rings around lights and blurred vision. This is an emergency condition in which severe vision loss can occur quickly; see your optometrist immediately.

Glaucoma cannot currently be prevented. But if it is diagnosed and treated early, it can usually be controlled. Medication or surgery can slow or prevent further vision loss. However, vision already lost to glaucoma cannot be restored. That is why the American Optometric Association recommends an annual dilated eye examination for people at risk for glaucoma. Depending on your specific condition, your doctor may recommend more frequent examinations.