Eyesight: One habit you should definitely stop if you want to protect your eyes
EYE and aye. One is an organ that allows a person to see, the other is another way to say yes. In Parliament the focus is on the latter, in health, the focus on the former. If one had to choose which to focus on more, however, then it would be the eyes who have it.
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As a result, this creates an upside down image on the retina that the brain flips the right way up.
Away from the science, it’s very important to look after the eyes.
There are a number of conditions that can affect them, but some of these can be avoided.
Risk factors for eye conditions include one particular habit.
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Smoking is a risk factor for most cancers and other conditions.
Eyesight is not exempt from its impact.
The NHS say that smoking can increase a person’s risk of developing age related macular degeneration that affects the middle part of sight.
Symptoms include blurred vision in one or both eyes.
Smoking can also increase the risk of cataracts that occur when the lens inside the eye develops cloudy patches.
More information on how to quit smoking is available on the NHS website.
Smoking isn’t the only factor that can affect and damage the health of the eyes.
Staring at the sun is one cause of damage, particularly staring at it directly.
Another source of potential eye damage can occur in the home, whilst working.
As winter started to place it’s arm around the UK, the College of Optometrists released some guidance on how to look after one’s eyesight whilst working from home.
This included advice on working from home.
The College said that people should position their monitor so that it was “roughly arms lengths away from your eyes”.
Furthermore, it recommends “looking at something 20ft away, for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes”.
Regular blinking was also stated as helping eye health as humans blink less when looking at a screen.
Other tips included sitting near a window during the day if a book or magazine was going to be read and wearing sunglasses if it was sunny as the low sun can be dazzling for some.
For more information on looking after your eyesight contact the NHS or consult with your GP with any concerns.