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00:17We use our eyes from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep.
00:21But despite how important our vision is, eye health can sometimes take a back seat,
00:27especially when there are no obvious problems.
00:30So how often should we actually be getting our eyes checked?
00:33You need to know the difference between a vision screening and an eye exam.
00:39So a lot of people would go to 5Ks or health fairs and they will put you on a machine
00:47and say at the end, do you have good vision or not?
00:50That is not an eye exam, right? That is just checking what your vision is like.
00:54So what an eye exam does is, yes, we check your vision to see how best you can see
01:00if you need glasses to improve, but also the health of the eye.
01:05Do you have cataract? Do you have glaucoma? Those are the two major risks we have.
01:10A routine eye exam is not just about finding out whether you need glasses.
01:15An optometrist can also identify changes in your eyes that you may not notice on your own.
01:21But there are some warning signs we should not ignore.
01:24A lot of people, the first thing they notice when they cross 40 from 38 up,
01:30they have to hold their phones back a little bit, right?
01:34And they know I used to have a better range.
01:38They increase in the font size.
01:40They may find at home they're putting on light in areas that they used to walk around merrily.
01:45So they need more light.
01:47But the other thing that you might notice, for some people, if they're accustomed to watching a clock or a
01:54timer,
01:54and one day they're seeing it clearly and another day they're not seeing it so well,
01:59that could actually be your blood sugar changing on you.
02:03But there's something we are all guilty of, spending hours staying at our screens.
02:09Whether it's for work, school or social media, our phones and computers can keep our eyes focused for long periods.
02:17When it comes to digital devices, if your eyes don't work together, that also puts a strain on the eyes.
02:24And people might complain, I'm getting headaches.
02:27Now it could be that you have a prescription problem, which is why an eye exam will let us know,
02:31okay, is it a focusing problem?
02:33Is it a muscle problem?
02:35Because if your eyes can't keep together, that stress on the system can't trigger headaches.
02:41Protecting our eyes also means protecting them from the sun.
02:44Sunglasses aren't just a fashion accessory.
02:47They can play an important role in protecting our eyes from ultraviolet radiation.
02:51So the idea of sunglasses would be polarized sunglasses.
02:56So anything you put in front of you would reduce the amount of light coming to your eye.
03:03What polarized does is gets rid of reflected glare.
03:06So if you think of driving behind somebody with a chrome bumper, the sun is bad enough,
03:12but that reflected glare, no matter how you dodge, it's there.
03:16The polarized version will eliminate that reflected glare to a more comfortable level.
03:22Healthy eyes are also connected to our overall health and even what we put on our plates.
03:27For persons who suffer with diabetes and high blood pressure,
03:30it can affect the eyes, which makes regular examinations even more important.
03:35One of the things they recommend is do not snack in between meals
03:39because your sugar level never gets a chance to come down, one.
03:45The other thing we have to look at is fruit juices are not that great
03:49because they tend to have sugar.
03:51So they always recommend eating fresh fruit and drink water, right?
03:56For people who are diabetic, they actually recommend
03:59after you eat, work for 10 minutes.
04:01So instead of waiting for the body to bring down your blood sugar,
04:05your legs, the biggest muscles in our body, starts pulling sugar out from the blood.
04:10Overall, our eyes may be small, but they play a huge role in how we experience the world around us.
04:16And protecting our vision isn't something we should take lightly.
04:20From taking care of our eyes every day to getting them checked regularly,
04:24prevention can go a long way.
04:26And if you could do three things starting from today to better protect your eyes,
04:31what would it be?
04:32One, definitely increase your water.
04:35Because I think we're all not drinking our quota of water.
04:42Two, definitely do a regular eye exam.
04:45Annual would be ideal, right?
04:47Three, put down the food and get outside.
04:51I am Charlotte Kisto with tonight's Health Watch.
