Healthy eyes and safe driving go hand in hand. In fact, it’s estimated that over 90% of information taken in while driving is visual. Considering this, and considering that over 20% of current drivers have some form of vision issue significant enough to affect driving ability, ensuring your eyes are ready for the road has never been more important!
According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes is the leading cause of vision loss in adults aged 18-64.
Contributing to a number of serious eye issues, including diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma, diabetes slowly causes damage to your vision and can ultimately lead to blindness.
Fortunately, research has shown that managing your diabetes and getting regular eye exams are very effective in preventing vision loss and protecting your eyesight.
“Don’t sit too close to the television. You’ll go blind!”… “Turn on the light when you read. If you don’t, you’ll go blind!”… “Don’t cross your eyes, they’ll stay that way and you’ll go blind!”
These classic bits of eye health wisdom from my dear mother still ring clearly in my ears.
Unfortunately, I sat way too close to the tube, I read in the dark more often than not, and my friends and I probably spent a collective week of our lives looking at each other through crossed eyes… and guess what? My eyes didn’t stay crossed and, believe it or not, I didn’t go blind!
Fortunately, none of these timeless words of eye health advice shared for years by millions of mothers around the world have turned out to be true.
So where did these crazy myths about vision—and the many others we’ve heard over the years—come from? And more importantly: are any of them true or are they all wise tales and myths?
Here are the 10 most common eye-related health myths and my attempt to use facts and research to effectively debunk each. I’ll start with the three mentioned above.
When eye doctors look into your eyes they are investigating more than just your eye color or glasses prescription.
A comprehensive eye examination can uncover many serious health conditions. In fact, your eye is one of the parts of the body that reveals a particularly large proportion of health issues.
Eye tissue is an extension of brain tissue and research is currently focused on the ability of the eye to uncover degeneration in the brain.
Your eye doctor may be the first one to recognize an issue with your general health. Check out some common diseases which might be detected at your routine eye examination.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
Or should it be, “A red wine a day keeps cataracts away?’
Yes, really. Research has established a link between low-to-moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of cataract formation. Since alcohol is far more often linked to negative health effects, you might want to celebrate this one!
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