Northwest Health | FALL 2008 By Julia Vouri

Imagine that you could no longer see the beauty of the world or your vision was blurred — forever. Our eyes are delicate, intricate, fragile organs that shouldn't be taken for granted. Protecting them requires a lifetime of preventive self-care aided by eye care professionals with access to the latest treatments.

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"How our eyesight will be doing 10 years from today depends on how well we take care of our eyes now," says Lance Matsuda, OD, chief of Group Health Eye Care at Northgate Medical Center. "Prevention is the key at any age."

Dr. Matsuda and Group Health's Mike Lee, MD, service line chief of Ophthalmology, offer these suggestions for lifelong eye health.

Choose healthy habits. Get regular exercise to increase the oxygen levels in your eyes. Eat a healthy diet, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. And don't smoke, says Dr. Lee. "There's a proven correlation between smoking and developing cataracts and macular degeneration."

Keep your blood pressure under control to prevent damage to blood vessels, and manage your blood sugar levels to help prevent diabetic eye problems.

Wear protective eye gear. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 100,000 people experience eye injuries each year, and half of them are children. Protect your children's eyes by choosing toys without hard or sharp edges and encouraging them to wear helmets and goggles such as "Rec-Specs" while playing sports and riding bikes. Polycarbonate lenses in prescription glasses are the safest and most durable.

When using chemicals, operating power tools, or working in the garden, wear goggles or safety glasses. "I see a lot of eye injuries related to yard work," says Dr. Matsuda. "Dirt, pollen, and debris can fly into your eye and become lodged there, or a branch can poke you in the eye while you're pruning. Even using a hammer can be dangerous."

Don't forget your sunglasses. Studies show that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light can damage the eyes over time, and that wearing sunglasses may help delay the development of cataracts. "Kids are especially susceptible to damage because their eyes are more sensitive to ultraviolet light," says Dr. Matsuda.

Get your eyes examined. Regular eye examinations are important at all ages, but more so as we get older. Many diseases, such as macular degeneration and glaucoma, have no early symptoms. "By the time most people come in, their vision is affected and damage has already been done," says Dr. Matsuda.

One of the most significant breakthroughs in eye care is medication for the wet form of macular degeneration. "Until three years ago, there was no effective treatment," says Dr. Lee. "Now people who were previously destined to be legally blind can read and drive. It's an amazing turnaround."

New technology makes earlier diagnosis possible for diabetic retinopathy — which damages blood vessels in the eye. It involves photographing the back of the eye without dilating the pupils, and images can be sent electronically to any Group Health doctor for review.

"This will eventually allow any Group Health medical center to offer the best diagnostics available," says Dr. Matsuda.

Schedule an eye exam every two years. If you have diabetes or a family history of eye disorders, ask your doctor about more frequent exams.

Avoid computer eye strain. It's a myth that your eyes can be harmed by long hours in front of a computer monitor, says Dr. Matsuda. "But your eyes are meant to be used at varying distances, and focusing at a fixed distance for any period of time can cause eye strain and dryness."

What should you do? Look up occasionally, blink your eyes to remoisten them, and refocus on something in the distance. You can also adjust the screen brightness, improve the lighting around you, or wear anti-reflective lenses to help with the glare.

Be alert to gradual changes. Our eyes naturally change throughout our lives. With the onset of presbyopia (loss of near vision), we need reading glasses and brighter light. We may benefit from polarized lenses to help with increased glare from sunlight, or anti-reflective lenses to help reduce headlight glare.

Dry eyes are common among older people because aging tear glands produce fewer tears. Using moisturizing eye drops may help. Spots or floaters you may see are caused by particles floating in the fluid that fills the inside of the eye. The particles are usually harmless but they shouldn't increase suddenly.

Know when to call your doctor or the consulting nurse. Symptoms that require prompt care include:

• New floaters appearing suddenly. They may be accompanied by bright, flashing lights. This may be a symptom of retinal detachment, which is a tear in the retina.
• Straight lines looking wavy. This may be an early symptom of wet macular degeneration.
• Gradual loss of peripheral vision, which is a symptom of glaucoma. A sudden loss could indicate a stroke.
• Red or tearing eyes, sensitivity to light, eye pain, or squinting. If your child develops a puffy, red eye, it may be highly contagious conjunctivitis (pink eye).

Fast Facts About Group Health Eye Care
In addition to 3,000 cataract surgeries a year, Group Health Eye Care performs non-covered procedures such as multifocal implants (which restore distance and near vision for many people), conventional corneal transplant surgery, and the new partial-corneal transplant procedure.

There are more than 170 optometrists, ophthalmologists, licensed opticians, and certified technicians at Group Health Eye Care, making it the largest vision care practice in Washington state. An estimated 70,000 pairs of glasses are dispensed every year.

Group Health has partnered with the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) to increase early patient referrals for blind and low-vision services. Doctors refer patients who have been diagnosed with permanent vision loss to DSB, where free rehabilitative services are available to Group Health members who have qualifying low-vision needs.