Transcription:
Keeping Healthy Eyes

Melanie Cole (Host):  Your eyes are such an important part of your health and the window to the world. There are so many things you can do to keep them healthy. My guest today is Dr. Ian Kilby. She's an ophthalmologist with Stoughton Hospital. Welcome to the show Dr. Kilby. Let's talk about some basic eye health. Do women have a higher risk of having poor vision or eye problems than men? Tell us a little bit about that.

Dr. Ian Kilby (Guest):  I think both men and women can have equal changes in their eye health with age. Some things, especially inflammatory problems, can affect women more frequently than men. But, typically the things we see like glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts, those usually affect men and women with about the same frequency.

Melanie:  So, what happens to our eyes as we age?

Dr. Kilby:  As we age these are the first things people start to notice, is that they might need reading glasses, or their arms are not long enough to hold the reading material to see it. So, they come to us and talk to our optometrist about the need for reading glasses. The lens hardens with time. It becomes less pliable, so it makes it more difficult for you to focus up close. So, that's usually the first thing. Second thing that can happen is the cataracts start developing which is just the clouding of the lens in the eyes. It can happen as early as people in their 30's or 40's. It depends on their other medical health. And then, just to have a good screenings on eye health because a lot of things can happen that you don't necessarily know is a problem until we see it and keep watch on it.

Melanie:  How often do you recommend people have their eyes checked?

Dr. Kilby:  If you're noticing any problems, I would definitely have your eyes checked. Having problems seeing, problems with glare or headlights, or driving. You should have an eye exam probably as a child to make sure everything works okay and then around age forty. Then, usually we recommend seeing us about every two years unless there's a family history. If there's a family history of macular degeneration or glaucoma, then usually we'll want to take a look about every year, so we can jump on top of things and catch them early.

Melanie:  Tell us about that eye exam and the dilation. People get a little concerned about that. They think they're not going to be able to see for the rest of the day. Just tell us a little bit about that eye examine.

Dr. Kilby:  Sure. With the eye exam, you come in and we usually have a technician who checks your vision and checks your eye pressure. None of the parts of the eye exam should hurt, so that should be reassuring. We check how your eyes move. We check your peripheral vision. Then, we look with one of our microscopes to see if there's any changes in the front of the eye, on the cornea, or on the lens, any the cataracts. We usually do dilate your eyes during the first visit, especially. That allows us to see into the retina and see the health of the retina, health of the optic nerve, the health of the periphery of the retina. All of that is important. The dilation we put in your eyes usually last about four to six hours and some people will have difficulty. It’s mostly with the near vision. Distance vision should be okay. But, if you're concerned at all, definitely bring someone with you to help you, or to have them drive you home, but usually it's not something that should last beyond that day.

Melanie:  So, you mentioned before other medical conditions. How does our general health affect our eye health and vice versa. How does our eye health affect our other general health?

Dr. Kilby:  The general health of someone with different medical problems like high blood pressure, or diabetes, in particular, can show up in the eye. Sometimes that is how it’s first diagnosed. We dilate your eyes and we can see changes in the blood vessels in the back of the eyes that indicate that something is not right, and we can get you to your primary doctor so they can run some tests to make sure everything is okay. The interesting thing about the eye is that it's the one place where we can see the blood vessels directly. So, we can look at a blood vessel and see if it looks unusual, if there is a plaque or something in it that could be indicative that you have a blockage somewhere else in your body. We can help try and actually prevent strokes or heart attacks by seeing something going on in your eye first.

Melanie:  That's pretty cool. So, people hear those numbers. They hear 20/20 vision. What do those numbers mean, Dr. Kilby?

Dr. Kilby:  The 20/20 vision is something that, when we check your vision, we're generally using an exam room that is about twenty feet long. So, the 20/20 vision is considered perfect, or normal, vision. That is what someone who can see from that twenty feet distance, how well they can see. Now, if someone sees 20/40, that would mean that 20/20 person could go back another twenty feet and see that line. So, this person needs to be closer to be able to see that. So, usually 20/20 is considered perfect vision. Some people even have 20/15 or 20/10 vision which is excellent. And then, as different medical problems develop, the vision can decrease to 20/30 or 20/40. Those are worsening vision.

Melanie:  And, people don't often think we hear a lot about sun protection and sunscreen, but our eyes are susceptible to problems from the sun as well, too. Isn't that correct?

Dr. Kilby:  Yes, that is correct.

Melanie:  So, what would you like us to do for our eyes to protect them in the sun?

Dr. Kilby:  I recommend always wearing sunglasses when going outdoors, or a good ultraviolet protection. Wear hats or something to keep the ultra violet damage to the eyes minimal. Ultra violet light can increase or speed up cataract as well as there is evidence of worsening of macular degeneration. So, it is very important to wear eye protection when you go outdoors.

Melanie:  They used to tell us, Dr. Kilby, to get a lot of vitamin A and eat carrots and such because they were good for your eyes. Is there any relationship between what we eat nutrition and our eye health?

Dr. Kilby:  Yes, there is. The health of the eyes is just like the rest of the body. The retina and the optic nerve and everything to function properly needs all the nutrients and Vitamin A is one of the nutrients that it does need. Specifically, in macular degeneration, we have vitamins supplementation that can help decrease the risk of worsening of macular generation.

Melanie:  So, for an example if somebody says, "Dr. Kilby, what should I be eating to help prevent macular degeneration or slow it down or just to keep good eyes?" What do you tell them?

Dr. Kilby:  The best thing is to get the nutrients from your food, if you can. Eating green leafy vegetables like broccoli, kale, spinach and eating fish--oily types of fish like salmon and tuna. Those are the best thing if you can get them. We suggest eating them about two times a week for the fish and the green vegetables as often as you can provided you're not on another medication that might affect your bleeding time.

Melanie:  Now to help with our eyes, are there some behavior modifications that you would like to tell people that they should do to keep those healthy eyes?

Dr. Kilby:  Probably one of the most important things is to not smoke. There are so many medical problems that have been correlated with smoking, or smoking makes it worse. With the eyes, that is the same thing. It can worsen cataracts and, more seriously, it can worsen macular degeneration and there is a direct link between smoking and macular degeneration.

Melanie:  Dr. Kilby, we're all at computers these days; looking down at our phones and looking at computers all day. Are you seeing the difference in your practice with people as their eyes age because of the computers and the proximity of looking at screens all day?

Dr. Kilby:  Yes. I have seen a lot of people that that's what they do now. They're on the computer, they're on their phone and they’re doing a lot of communication that way. And, first to have glasses that help you do that. Some people have computer glasses which are a great thing that help you look at the computer distance as well as look down and allow you to read. The other thing that we see is a lot of eye fatigue after using computers and screen. So, we try and have you take a break about every twenty minutes. Take a break and look in the distance. Maybe get up and move around a little bit. The other thing we see a lot of is dry eyes and that can be associated with more focusing on near tasks because people tend to blink less when they're doing those tasks. So, using artificial tear can be very helpful.

Melanie:  So, in just the last few minutes Dr. Kilby, and it’s such a great information, give your best advice for keeping those healthy eyes. What do you tell people every single day that you would like us to know about seeing beautiful things from our eyes and keeping these precious things healthy?

Dr. Kilby:  I tell people to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. That is something that will help protect your eyes, help protect your body from things, and wearing sun protection when you're outdoors, wearing safety glasses when you're doing any type of working that might involve having something hit the eye. All those things are very important.

Melanie:  Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to Stoughton Hospital Health Talk, and for more information you can go to StoughtonHospital.com. That's StoughtonHospital.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.