Dr. Jacquelyn Guida joined Be Well to discuss the importance of making an appointment with your optometrist and staying up to date on your eye care.

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Be Well: Stay Sharp By Prioritizing Eye Care

Seeing an eye doctor is the best way to stay on top of your eye health and it isn't just for eye glasses or contacts. There are actually many common eye diseases that don't have many warning signs. So we're here to protect your eye health and Dr Jacque Andrea is with us. So I know as you age, you start to notice some changes. I know for me, I went from never needing glasses to all of a sudden needing it to read a menu in a restaurant. What happened? Basically what happened is you probably turned around the age of 40. Yes. Unfortunately, we turn around the age of 40. The lens inside our eye loses flexibility. And when that happens, your eye, your eyes lens cannot focus up close. So you need reading to help do what your lens cannot do anymore. Ok. So in a normal physical exam, the doctor looks in my eye. Why do I need anything more than that? When you go for a regular physical, a doctor might be very briefly looking at the inside back of your eye very closely. That's not checking many other things that have to be checked. Internal eye pressure screenings that have to be done that can then determine if someone has glaucoma. There's eye muscle tests that need to be done. There's pupil tests that need to be done. And most importantly, a regular physical won't determine if you need eyeglasses, whether for distance or for reading. Now, how do I determine what kind of an eye doctor I need? Because there are different types. Basically, there are two different types of eye doctors. There are optometrists, which is what I am doctor of optometry. And then there are ophthalmologists which are MD medical doctors and ophthalmologists. Role is when there is something more serious going on that might require surgery. An optometrist is for a routine eye exam where I could prescribe eyeglasses for far, for near do a screening of the health to make sure that the health of the eye is good. If the health of the eye is maybe in jeopardy, then I might refer out to an ophthalmologist. Now, what if I have a family, somebody in my family has had some type of an issue with their eyes and that's something I should let somebody know. And at what point do I get that checked out? Yes. Some of the big ones, two big ones are glaucoma. If there is a close family history of glaucoma, meaning a parent or even a grandparent, that means you have a risk factor. Another big one is macular degeneration. If there is anyone in the family that has macular degeneration, that is also a risk factor that is more prevalent though starting in the. But basically any adult definitely in the by the age of 40 should at least be having a regular yearly eye exam. I feel like a lot of us has been, have been told that, you know, if you eat your carrot, you'll have this better vision. That's an old one. But there are some dietary things that we need to pay attention to because our overall health affects our eye health. Yes, absolutely. Basically just being healthy. If your diet is good, you have your blood sugar under control. That also good because when you have diabetes and it's uncontrolled, that can affect the back of the health of the eye. They believe that there are supplements that can actually be taken to possibly slow down the progression of macular degeneration. It's basically nutrients that supplement the back of the eye. So if there's a family history of macular degeneration, it's good to consider taking supplements. So go get your check up and hopefully you'll be seeing things beautifully for the rest of your life.