Coping with Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness (also known as myopia) is the inability to see distant objects clearly. This eye condition tends to develop in younger people, especially young children.

Nearsightedness in children may be due to the following:

Initial fascination with wearing eyeglasses

Boredom with learning (a blurry mind leading to blurry vision—an example of how the mind can affect vision)

Too many near-focusing tasks or activities (e.g. computer vision syndrome or video games)

Formation of bad vision habits

Nearsightedness may have many adverse complications. Once myopia (nearsightedness) worsens, more serious eye problems and disorders can potentially develop, including the following:

Cataracts (cloudy lenses)

Detached retina (loosening of the light receptive layer at the back of the eye)

Glaucoma (increased pressure stressing the optic nerve)

Macular degeneration (impaired central vision due to disease or aging)

Farsightedness

Farsightedness (also known as hyperopia) is the inability to see close objects clearly. This condition tends to develop in older people in their forties and fifties due to the following:

Mental stress (divorces, relationship problems, financial stress, retirement etc.)

Years of lifestyle abuse (e.g. drugs, drinking, and smoking)

Accumulation of bad vision habits over the years

Stephen Lau

Copyright©2018 by Stephen Lau

Vision in Your Golden Years

Vision in Your Golden Years

Human vision is more than just seeing. The human eye is more than a mechanical tool for vision; it is hardwired into your brain, and therefore is an extension of your brain, which affects your perception and vision of the outside world, as well as reflects what and how you think. As such, it is the most important human organ, and is your greatest asset in your golden years.

Unfortunately, as you get into your golden years (that is, age 65 and beyond)), you will have noticed the deterioration of your vision. As a matter of fact, vision loss begins as early as in the 30s, and its deterioration accelerates in the 40s and 50s. By now, in your golden years, you may have considerable vision loss that affects the quality of your everyday life. Getting older has taken its toll on your body in many ways and your eyesight deterioration is just one of them.

Your vision loss is indicated by your difficulty in focusing when you look at near of distant objects (nearsightedness or farsightedness) or your predisposition to focusing more slowly and less accurately (presbyopia). These debilitating eye conditions are caused by the hardening of the eyes’ lenses; resulting in inflexibility of eye muscles and hence difficulty in focusing.

Presbyopia makes it increasingly difficulty for you to read or do close-up work, while nearsightedness or farsightedness requires you to wear bifocals or different pairs of eyeglasses.

By now, in your golden years, is there anything you can do to retard your vision loss?

 Absolutely! It is never too late to do something to stop your aging process. Using medications, eye drops, prescription lenses, and even surgeries may not have long-term side effects on your overall vision health. There are other natural ways to promote natural healing of your eyes at any age.

In your golden years, take extra care of your vision health and eyesight issues to reduce the risk of eyesight deterioration or even blindness further down the road. Check your health, especially your eye health, on a regular basis. This may play a pivotal role in your vision self-healing. Prevention is always better than a cure. Make sure that you have eye tests done at least once a year and if you start to notice a steady decline in your ability to focus or see clearly.

To correct your vision problems, your eye doctors and opticians may be too ready to prescribe corrective lenses or even talk you into the possibility of having surgery to fix any vision problem. Remember, natural healing holds the key to reversal of any disorder, including your problematic eye conditions.

You can use of eye exercises to help you correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and presbyopia. Eye exercises are easy and simple to do and you can even do them in the comfort of your own home. A few eye exercises each day can really help you improve your vision significantly. But you must be consistent and persistent in pursuing your eye exercise regimen-- just like any type of physical exercise to have any benefit, you must be diligent; healing your vision loss is not an overnight endeavor.

Most vision problems, whether nearsightedness, farsightedness, or presbyopia, have to do with eye stress and strain affecting the shape of the eyes, and hence their capability to focus images correctly on the retina. But the eyes cannot be relaxed if the body and mind are not. Therefore, it is important to have a holistic approach to vision improvement. Self-healing is always holistic. 

Your Golden Years and Santa Claus: a 252-page book on how to live well in your golden years, including how to overcome your vision loss as well as other health issues and challenges encountered as you continue to age.

Stephen Lau

Copyright ©Stephen Lau

Healthy Liver Healthy Vision

The liver is called “liver” because it is a reflection of how well you have lived—essentially, your lifestyle. The liver is your main body organ responsible for distributing and maintaining your body’s “fuel” supply, which is the raw material for your overall health, especially your vision health.

According to Chinese medicine, the eyes are “the windows” of your internal health, especially that of your liver: constant redness in the white of the eyes (dysfunctional circulatory and respiratory system); yellowish skin under the eyes (overactive liver and gallbladder); water-containing bags under the lower eyelids (congested digestive and excretory systems); and lack of luster (congested liver).

Therefore, the liver plays a pivotal role in your healthy vision. The liver serves several important functions in your body that may directly or indirectly affect your vision health:

The liver turns glucose (blood sugar) into glycogen (energy) for storage in your liver. Your glycogen controls the amount of glucose released into your bloodstream, thereby maintaining your blood sugar level. A healthy blood sugar levels prevents the development of diabetes, which may ultimately impair vision.

Your liver regulates your carbohydrate metabolism, which plays an important role in weight control. The liver is a fat-burning organ: it not only burns fat but also pumps excess fat out of your body system. Your liver controls your body weight. Too much fat in the abdominal area may impair your fat metabolism, turning your liver into a “fatty liver” which then becomes a fat-storing organ. A “fatty liver” is an obstacle to any attempt at weight loss, which begins at the liver. If you are obese, you have a much higher risk of losing your eyesight, according to the Royal National Institute for the Blind. For example, too much body fat is one of the causes of diabetes; too much fat may cause oxidative damage to the eye 

The liver detoxifies your body by filtering out excessive waste and toxins in your body through the bile into the gut. For example, it deactivates alcohol, hormones, and medicinal drugs for better assimilation. Alcohol and certain pharmaceutical drugs have been implicated in vision loss

The liver stores glycogen, vitamins A and D, the B complex vitamins, iron and copper.

Apart from the brain, the liver is the most important body organ that affects your vision.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© 2018 by Stephen Lau