I is for

Protecting your eyes

EYE

PROTECTING YOURSELF

Do you remember when you first saw your newborn child? Or do you remember the time when you travelled tiresomely, but felt refreshed by the amazing scenery in front of your very eyes?

Life has the ultimate camera installed within us, our eyes, to help us witness and capture those precious moments in life. Yet, many of us take better care of our cameras than do our eyes. Here in Singapore, by the time we finish secondary school,70% of us would become myopic.1 Myopia causes us to be unable to see distant objects clearly and therefore we require the use of spectacles to help us to see far objects clearly.2 Though seemingly a harmless "problem", myopia is detrimental to our eyes.

Myopia kills
Myopia leads to death, the death of our eyes. A study showed that about 10% of Singaporean adults have high myopia.3 High myopia is a consequence of myopia deteriorating due to the lack of care of your eyes. Research done on 323 high myopia patients affirmed the assumption that high myopia can lead to other complications like glaucoma, which will lead to blindness.4 Therefore, it is time to start taking good care of your eyes!

Keep an 'eye' out for your vitamins

If the number of vitamins and their purposes escape your mind, just remember these two essential vitamins for your eyes: A and D! Vitamin A promotes vision, especially in low

light.5 A study done on 50,000 subjects tracking their ingestion of vegetables over a period of 8 years showed that cataract formation was greatly reduced with the consumption of at least 5 servings of spinach a week.6 Listed below are some the foods rich in Vitamin A that you can consider for your next meal7:

1 medium carrot Gives 204% Daily Value of Vitamin A 25 calories

1/2 cup of peas Gives 134% Daily Value of Vitamin A 62 calories

1 medium tomato Gives 20% Daily Value of Vitamin A 22 calories

Look at those calorie counts! Why wait to put a sparkle in your eyes without fear of putting extra pounds onto your tummy? Research done shows that vitamin D can enhance the effects of vitamin A in the body.8 One way to get Vitamin D is going outdoors to get some sunlight. Sunlight triggers our skin to produce Vitamin D naturally. A study done on 1249 teenage children Taking a walk Looking at the sun revealed that staying after breakfast directly outdoors for a longer time indeed helps reduce the Walking instead Staying out in the sun proportion of children of taking a bus to for excessively long 9 getting myopia. It was the nearest times shopping mall found that 15 minutes of staying in the sunlight 3 times a week is sufficient for our body to make the Vitamin D it needs.10 However, we should also remember that excessive sunlight is detrimental to our eyes so we must always remember to moderate our intake of sunlight. Efficacy of vitamins As with other health supplements, the efficacy of vitamins in promoting eye health have been questioned. A research showed that an intake of >1,500mcg of Vitamin A, can lead to increased bone fractures. 11To get the best benefits of Vitamin A and D, always be sure to check the amount of the vitamins in the foods that you are eating. The table summarizes the recommended daily values of both vitamins for males and females ages 14 and above12: Vitamin A Vitamin D Take care of your eyes Males: 900mcg Females: 700mcg

Males: 15mcg Females: 15mcg

A picture speaks a thousand words, but a pair of eyes opens the door to a thousand worlds

References: 1. Ministry of Health Singapore. Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health at the Opening Ceremony of the 12th National Eye Care Week at the Pan Pacific Hotel Ballroom, 12 November 2011, 10am. Ministry of Health Singapore. http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/speeches_d/2011/speech_by_mr_gankim yongministerforhealthattheopeningceremonyofth.html Updated 12 November 2011. Accessed 12 September 2013 2. Health Promotion Board. What is Myopia? Health Promotion Board. http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/health-article/188 Updated 11 Apr 2012. Accessed 12 September 2013. 3. Benjamin Seet, Tien Yin Wong, Donald T H Tan, Seang Mei Saw, Vivian Balakrishnan, Lionel K H Lee, Arthur S M Lim. Myopia in Singapore: taking a public health approach. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2001;85(5):521-526. Doi: 10.1136 4. VJM Verhoeven. RWAM Kujipers, GPM Luyten, MCC Snabel, JR Vingerling, CCW Klaver. MYST Case-control strudy of high myopia: introduction and evaluation of ocular morbidity. Myopiestudie. http://www.myopiestudie.nl/poster_ARVO2011.pdf. Accessed 12 September 2013. 5. U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. Vitamin A. MedlinePlus: Trusted health information for you. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002400.htm Updated 22 March 2013. Accessed 12 September 2013. 6. Gary D. Kappel, OD, FCOVD. Myopia and Nutrition. Eastern States Congress Myopia and Nutrition http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/Garry%20Kappel.pdf Accessed 12 September 2013. 7. Bembu. 26 Foods High in Vitamin A for Healthy Eyes. Bembu. http://bembu.com/vitamin-a-foods Accessed 12 September 2013. 8. David L. Watts. The Nutritional Relationships of Vitamin A. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. 1991;6(1) http://www.traceelements.com/Docs/The%20Nutritional%20Relationships%20of%20Vitamin%20A.p df Accessed 12 September 2013. 9. M Dirani, L Tong, G Gazzard, et al. Outdoor activity and myopia in Singapore teenage children. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2009; 93: 997-1000. Doi: 10.1136. 10. U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. Vitamin D. MedlinePlus: Trusted health information for you. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002405.htm Updated 22/03/2013. Accessed 17/09/2013

11. University of Rochester Medical Center. Vitamins: Too Much of a Good Thing? University of Rochester Medical Center. http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=2 115 Updated 09/17/2013. Accessed 17/09/2013. 12. Office of Dietary Supplements National Institutes of Health. Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin A. Office of Dietary Supplements National Institutes of Health.
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/ Updated 05/06/2013. Accessed 17/09/2013. Image sources:

http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/5279/1/1/how-to-draw-hills.htm http://abstract.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/1087416/ http://imgur.com/gallery/ur2lcmQ http://74211.com/free-wallpaper-of-beautiful-natural-scenery-bright-red-flowers-in-dusk/ http://creemorefarmersmarket.ca/blog/2012/3/7/curried-carrot-soup-from-fiddlefoot-farm.html http://www.onceuponachef.com/2011/04/sauteed-asparagus-and-peas.html http://www.elkrun.com/event/tomato-bash-at-elk-run/