Eyes are one of the senses that is important for humans, through the human eyes then humans are able to absorb visual information that is used to carry out various activities. However, visual disturbances often occur, ranging from mild disturbances to severe disturbances. Efforts to prevent and overcome visual disturbances need to be done as early as possible.
“We must love the eyes, because they are the most important senses, so we must keep our eyes healthy,” said dr. Andhika Guna Dharma, Sp.M(K), FICS, Ophthalmologist at Diponegoro National Hospital (RSND) of Diponegoro University.
“What people often complain about is blurry eyes or blurred vision. This can occur due to refractive errors of the eye, media abnormalities that can occur due to infection or cloudiness in the lens called cataracts, and neurological or retinal disorders,” he continued.
According to dr. Andhika, whether you feel that your vision is alright or blurry, you should have regular eye examinations, at least every 6 months, especially in the more advanced age group (40-50 years and over). Since at the age of 50-60 years, cataracts usually start to appear. In addition, if there are other comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar levels or hypercholesterolemia, which can have an impact on the eyes, it is ideal to have an examination.
“Anticipation that can be done for eye health includes paying attention to the condition of the room, we need to adjust the lighting, adjust our position or reading distance from the object, don’t read while lying down. Eating vegetables and fruits is a must because they are good for eye nerve health. All colorful vegetables are good for children in their growth period until the age of 18 years and the elderly as antioxidants,” he said.
He said that discharge in the eyes in the morning is normal, but if there is a lot of discharge from the eyes, it may be due to dry eyes. Dry eyes can occur at a young or old age, for example people who work in air-conditioned rooms will feel dry eyes or people who work outdoors, their eyes will be exposed to wind or dust. While the elderly, the function of the eye decreases, including the lubricant on the surface of the eyeball is also reduced. Normal eye dryness can be anticipated with artificial tears.
“Please don’t use eye drops carelessly, because every eye drop has a different composition. For example, if our eyes are red, we should be careful in using eye drops sold on the market because if used in the long term it will have an impact. This means that we must first see the condition of the eyes, whether red eyes are due to infection, dry eyes or due to mild irritation. Handling eye disorders is different so we have to be careful in using any type of eye drops,” he explained.
“In the context of World Sight Day in October 2021, we invite everyone to work together to keep their eyes healthy. If our eyes are healthy, of course we will be able to capture various information from our senses. Increase consumption of vegetables and fruits to maintain eye nerve health, pay attention to the length of time when looking at objects and maintain our posture when doing activities. Whether or not there are eye complaints, we need to check regularly to see if the eye condition is good,” said dr. Andhika. (Linda – Public Relations)
