Peepers

While this site is about mature fitness and anything associated with that subject I sometimes run across points of interest that look worth mentioning. “Protecting Those Peepers”--nine ways to safeguard your vision by Dorothy Foltz-Gray is that type of article and here goes(I will add my own two cents if I think it needs to be there, noted with MG).

• Have regular eye exams, rule of thumb from ages 18-60, get an eye exam every two years. At age 60 and older, see the eye doctor yearly. Do the complete tests which are normally done as a common practice.

• Wear sunglasses that block 100 percent of ultraviolet rays, also get out your broad-rimmed hat to help shield eyes frm the sun. If you wear contacts then get ones that have UV inhibitors, which also block UV rays.

• Wear safety goggles if there is any chance of something polking the eyeballs, i.e. woodworking, racket sports, or rule of thumb is if anything is flying around you then wear safety glasses.

• If you’re diabetic, control your blood sugar. That is the most critical component to preventing retinal damage from diabetes.

• Never sleep in your contacts, if so the risk of infections increases twentyfold.

• Eat an eye-healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, especially dark green, leafy vegetable. Fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants and the nutrient lutein which is very effective in preventing macular degeneration. Also, eat fatty fish, such as salmon at least twice a week.

• Quit smoking--Wow I thought everyone had quit smoking, until I go into a smoke filled room. Smoking is a primary risk factor for macular degeneration. All kinds of bad things comes from smoking which is a very expensive and disgusting habit--MG.

• Take a computer break. Since you don’t blink as much as usual when staring at a computer screen it is necessary to slip away from the screen for a while and give your peepers a rest.

• Don’t rub your eyes since rubbing can damage the eye’s surface, instead flush your eye with water and see your eye doctor.

mike greer

Mirror "Check"

Looking in the mirror can be very beneficial to your long term healthy aging process. While I know on the surface that sounds ridiculous let me illustrate what I am talking about. Fact is this realization just came to me yesterday during a bicycle ride. When I say look in the mirror I am not really talking about a real mirror, I am talking about looking at your parents and using them as your mirror. Now to explain using my own parents as an example of how looking at their health problems and lifestyle practices affected their health drastically could be the same as looking in a mirror for me. But not only will I look in the mirror I will also offer life style practices that will postively affect the negatives that I see. In the case of my father early in life he did not suffer any real health problems but after he turned 40 he did not exercise, ate real unheathy food, gained a lot of weight and then had weight flucuations for years. Later in life he suffered from colon cancer, prostate cancer, open heart surgery, and then senile dimensia. He actually died at 79 in very good health, since everything had been fixed through treatment or surgery, except the dimensia. He also corrected his eating habits and did a little exercise every day. On the other hand my mother’s physical health was always good but she did suffer from some mental health issues, such as depression, and had extremely high blood pressure. She died of a massive stroke at the age of 65. So, here I sit with my 72nd birthday staring me in the face next week and I am in excellent health. At my annual physical my doctor says he would trade his test results for mine any day. Since we are told we have the DNA of our parents and that it cannot be changed it would appear that I am destined for all of these bad things my parents had, and if that is the case it would be one scary life. But,what I have learned is that while we cannot change our DNA we can alter it with healthy lifestyle practices. Now what that means is that for the prostate I can take supplements for that little walnut, eat foods that foster the good health of it and have an active sex life. For the colon I must insure that it is cleaned out and this is done by eating lots of fiber that keeps everything flushed. In the case of the heart again a good healthy balanced diet and exercise practice will help to insure I don’t have heart problems. Now when it comes to the dimensia I have always felt that my father sold his businesses and quit working his mind way to early in life. After he did this he just didn’t seem to have the drive and intiative that he had had when he was active in the business world. On my mother’s side the good news is that many of the lifestyle practices I do for the potential problems on my father’s side will take care or prevent my mother’s issues from happening. At this stage of my life I do not take any prescription drugs to get through the day. This is in complete opposite to both of my parents at my current age and the general population. My parents had a shoe box full of prescription drugs they were taking daily. So, my goal is to stay healthy through a good diet and exercise, and not worry about the DNA factor.

My challenge for everyone is that they take the “mirror” test and then take actions to prevent or heal the ills that may bother you as a direct result from your DNA. In my opinion we can take charge of our lives and live a healthy lifestyle under our own actions. We are responsible for our health and it should not be left up to the medical professional. They are really only good for emergency or repair of what we have screwed up and there are no other choices if we want to stay alive.

mike greer