Adopting measures for maintaining healthy eyes
Opticians observe that eyes are very important organs in the body which cares people must pay attention to. They observe that lack of care for the eyes has caused many people to lose their sight unconsciously to many eye diseases. According to them, apart from routine medical check-up on the eyes, people should encourage balanced diets for a sound vision.
“Intake of nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc and vitamins C and E can help ward off age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration and cataracts, Miss Yemisi Olowookere, a nutritionist with Garki Hospital, Abuja, said. She also recommended regular eating of green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, collards salmon as well as oily fish, eggs, nuts, beans; other non-meat protein sources and citrus fruits or juices to guarantee healthy eye.
“Good intake of okro, which is a good source of Vitamin A and beta carotene are essential nutrients for maintaining good eyesight. “Vitamin A promotes good eye health and protects against age related eye disorders,’’ Olowookere said. Ophthalmologists note that blindness is prevalent because the public lack adequate sensitisation to what the care for the eyes ought to be. They note that due to silent progression of an eye disease called glaucoma, most of those affected in the developed countries, are not aware of the disease.
Dr Martin Chukwukaodinaka, an ophthalmologist at the National Hospital, Abuja, described glaucoma as a group of eye diseases that cause progressive damage of the optic nerve. He said that most types of glaucoma progressed without warning or obvious symptoms to the patient, except the patient engaged in regular check-up. He advised Nigerians on the need for regular medical check-up on the eyes to ensure early detection and effective management of glaucoma and other eye defects. “Glaucoma is an eye condition that develops when too much fluid pressure builds up inside the eye and increased pressure which is also called Intraocular Pressure (IOP) could damage the optic nerve which transmits images to the brain.
“If the eye pressure continued due to the damage to the optic nerve, overtime, glaucoma could cause loss of vision which could not be reversed. “It is also established that some people with normal IOP may still have glaucoma, therefore, the diagnosis of glaucoma is not just based on IOP alone, other factors are considered,’’ he said. He said incidence of glaucoma was higher from the age of 40 years and above, observing that it usually occurred in both eyes. He said glaucoma had no early symptoms or pain from increased pressure, noting that prevention was very important through regular eye screening.
He said the diseases could be diagnosed and managed before long-term visual loss, adding that in some critical cases, medication could be administered to manage the condition. Chukwukaodinaka said the risk factors associated with glaucoma could be inherited in the family which posed a greater chance of contracting the diseases. He urged the public to take a preventive measure by engaging in regular eye screening as early diagnosis of glaucoma would help in managing the condition.
the condition. In the same vein, an optometrist with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Dr Iguodala Wilfred, advised people with eye defects to monitor the situation to ensure they did not mistake such defects for glaucoma. “One way of early detection of glaucoma is the narrowing of the side views of the eyes. In any normal sight; when you look straight; you will view things by the side of your eyes. “Any time the scope of your side-view starts narrowing gradually, something is wrong and the cause could be glaucoma; people with such experience are advised to go for eye check-up immediately.
“If the situation degenerates, the person affected will notice that he or she can only see things straight but not side views. “We call it tunnel vision. The next stage will be for the person to become blind, once it is a case of glaucoma. “Glaucoma is a gradual silent killer that can cause irreversible blindness because the nerves of the eyes are affected,’’ he said. According to him, regular eye check-up, even by those who do not feel any sign of ailment, is important. He also recommended the use of dark spectacles or sunshade at the appropriate time to protect the eye. “If the sun is too high, the rays affect the eyes.
Under this circumstance, the wearing of dark spectacles will give cover to the eyes,’’ he said. Expressing concern for children, a consultant ophthalmologist, Dr Tarela Sarimiye, Medical Director, Ancilla Hospital Eye Centre, Lagos, said that early diagnosis and treatment were critical to maintaining a child’s vision. He observed that the commonest eye conditions among Nigerian children were poor vision, conjunctivitis, cornea, scarring and eye injuries. “These are few of the common eye conditions in childhood and for which care is needed; a child with poor vision can be suspected of such when he or she seats close to the television screen to watch programmes.
“Other signs of poor vision in children include complaints that the child is not seeing the chalk board or he likes copying notes from friends and not the board. “If this poor vision is not addressed on time, it may result in a less functionally developed eye due to reduced stimulus for the eye development; and which is much difficult to treat,’’ he said. Sarimiye urged parents to ensure that their children did not play with harmful objects that could lead to eye injuries which were commonly seen in some children visiting ophthalmologists.
He urged parents and teachers to educate children on the importance of the eyes in order for them to be more careful when they played at home or school. “Children are very vulnerable when it comes to play at home or in school and as such, they need to be taught what they should not play with to prevent eye injuries,’’ he warned. He advised the public to see eye doctor regularly, get enough sleep and give eyes regular breaks while using a computer. However, ophthalmologists insist that it is important to take care of the eyes appropriately because they are the windows to the world.
