WE WATCH OUR salt and fat intake to protect our hearts. We exercise and take calcium to protect our bones. We slather on sunscreen to protect our skin. But what can we do to protect our eyes? Turns out, quite a lot. We asked experts what lifestyle steps people should be taking to protect their vision and eye health.
Spring for some quality shades...
"Protecting the eyes from ultraviolet light-sunlight is very important," says Esen Akpek, MD, an ophthalmology professor at Johns Hopkins University. "It's one of the biggest things in our environment to have an impact on the eyes. Ultraviolet light has been shown to have an effect on cataract development and macular degeneration."
To shield your eyes, wear sunglasses certified to block out 99% to 100% of UVA and UVB light. Surprisingly, dark lenses aren't necessarily the most protective. "In fact, if the lenses are dark but not UV-protected, that's worse for your eyes, because when you're looking through dark lenses your pupils dilate, which lets more UV light inside to do damage," says Dr. Akpek.
and some sports glasses
Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Do You Kiss Your Dog? - Find out how gross your questionable habits really are, according to health experts
I admit it, when it comes to food, I have some eeew-inducing practices, like skimming mold off old cheddar and feeding the rest to my unsuspecting family. We're still alive, so how bad can it be? Because our gross human habits fall somewhere along the spectrum from mildly cringeworthy to full-on repulsive, I reached out to experts to find out where some common behaviors land on the gross-o-meter.
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