1. Wash Your Hands

Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Assume Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the cold germs.

2. Don't Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs With Your Hands

Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands,

muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately. If you don't have a tissue, turn your head away from people near you and cough into the air.

3. Don't Touch Your Face

Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.

4. Drink Plenty of Fluids

Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you need more fluids.

5.Take a Sauna

Researchers aren't clear about the exact role saunas play in prevention, but one German study found that people who steamed twice a week got half as many colds as those who didn't. One theory: When you take a sauna you inhale air hotter than 80 degrees, a temperature too hot for cold and flu viruses to survive.

6. Get Fresh Air

A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.

7. Do Aerobic Exercise Regularly

Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural
virus-killing cells.

8. Eat Foods Containing Phytochemicals

"Phyto" means plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the
vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So in addition to supplements,
eat dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits.

9. Eat Yogurt

Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.

10. Don't Smoke

Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia. These are the delicate hairs that line the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs, and with their wavy movements, sweep cold and flu viruses out of the nasal passages. Experts contend that one cigarette can paralyze cilia for as long as 30 to 40 minutes.

11. Cut Alcohol Consumption

Heavy alcohol use destroys the liver, the body's primary filtering system, which means that germs of all kinds won't leave your body as fast. The result is, heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body -- it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.

12. Relaxation

There's actually some evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukins -- leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses -- increase in the bloodstream. Relaxation is a learnable skill; train yourself to picture an image you find pleasant or calming and do this 30 minutes a day for several months. An interesting observation is that people who visualize nothing, and are simply bored, show no change in blood chemicals.

Vision & Health Newsletter courtesy of:

Suzanne Day, O.D.
1040 Gulf Breeze Parkway
Suite 210
Gulf Breeze, FL 32561

850-932-4184

Read Full Entry

The most commonly encountered "bump" on the eye concerning patients is a fleshy-appearing growth called a pinguecula (ping-gwek-u-lah). They may be yellow, gray, white, or colorless. They are usually found on the white part of the eye in the space between the eyelids, almost always on the side closest to the nose. pingueculae are more common in middle-aged or older people but they can also be found in younger people and even children.

Causes

Overlying the white part of the eye (sclera) is a transparent mucous membrane called
the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva also lines the inside of the eyelids. A pinguecula is a slow growth caused by the degeneration of the conjuctiva’s collagen fibres. Thicker yellow fibres, or in some cases calcified deposits, eventually replace the original transparent fibres. In rare cases, the conjunctiva can also become red and irritated. Pingueculae can be found in one or both eyes and do not affect vision.

The exact cause or causes of this disorder is unknown, but it occurs more frequently in people who live in sunny and windy climates and people whose jobs expose them to ultraviolet (UV) light (for example, farmers and arc welders). The frequency of pingueculae increases with age lending credence to the idea that they are primarily the result of prolonged exposure to UV, infrared light and irritation.

Signs and Symptoms

There are often no symptoms of a pinguecula other than a cosmetic concern. Dry eye can sometimes contribute to increased irritation, resulting in a "foreign-body" sensation and inflammation.

Treatment

Most people with pingueculae do not require treatment unless their symptoms are severe. Lubricating eye drops are normally recommended to relieve irritation and foreign-body sensation. Steroidal eye drops may be prescribed if significant inflammation and swelling are present. Everyone with pingueculae should wear UV-blocking sun protection to help reduce the irritation that contributes to the formation and progression of pingueculae. Surgical removal of pingueculae is sometimes considered if they are large or result in the the inability of contact lens wearers to wear their lenses.

Pterygium

A less commonly encountered "bump" on the eye is a pterygium. A pterygium is a triangular or wing-shaped growth on the white part of the eye that also extends onto the clear front window of the eye called the cornea. A pterygium contains blood vessels and can be of greater cosmetic concern than the typical pinguecula. In extreme cases, pterygia may grow far enough onto the cornea to interfere with vision. A pterygium can result from the progression of an initial pinguecula. As with pingueculae, prolonged exposure to ultraviolet, wind and dry conditions seem to play a significant role.

Symptoms

Many people with a pterygium are asymptomatic but others can experience a significant foreign-body sensation. Because a pterygium can stretch and distort the cornea, some people acquire astigmatism from a pterygium. When the astigmatism induced by the pterygium is significant, reduced visual acuity can be the result.

Treatment

Usually, no treatment is needed. Artificial tears can be used to relieve the sensation of a foreign body in the eye and to protect against dryness. Surgery to remove the pterygium is advisable when the effect on the cornea causes visual defects or when the thickening is causing excessive and recurrent discomfort or inflammation. surgical removal can also performed for cosmetic reasons.

Patients frequently ask their eye doctor about surgery to remove a pinguecula or pterygium. It is important to realize that healing from this type of surgery, although usually painless, takes many weeks, and there is a high rate of recurrence (as high as 50-60% in some regions). Accordingly, surgery is usually not recommended unless discomfort is significant or vision is affected.

Prognosis

Most pingueculae and pterygia grow slowly and almost never cause significant damage, so the prognosis is excellent. Diagnosis should be made by an eye doctor to rule out other more serious disorders.

Prevention

There is nothing that has been clearly shown to prevent these disorders, or to prevent a pinguecula from progressing to a pterygium. However, the presence of pingueculae and pterygia have been linked to exposure to UV radiation. For that reason, UV exposure should be reduced. The American Optometric Association (AOA) suggests that sunglasses should block 99-100% of UV-A and UV-B rays. Patients should speak to their eye care professionals about protective coatings on sunglasses or regular spectacles. Protecting the eyes from sunlight, dust, and other environmental irritants is a good idea.

Sources:
1. American Optometric Association
2. Harvard Healthcare

Vision & Health Newsletter courtesy of:

Suzanne Day, O.D.
1040 Gulf Breeze Parkway
Suite 210
Gulf Breeze, FL 32561

850-932-4184

Read Full Entry