Optometry Mails

By Ayomikun Nifemi Dahunsi OD. The health of the eye is dependent on the health of the body. There are about 50 known essential nutrients for the human body, which include the vitamins and about 20 minerals. Nutrition and the eye continues to be a field of very active research and the information available can be used as a guide for advising proper dietary habits and for considering vitamin and mineral supplements, rather than as firm recommendations. Some nutrients are likely to be toxic if taken in excess and so there is an upper limit for consumption that should not be exceeded. Vitamins are today often referred to as micronutrients. Vitamin A is essential in the formation of the retinal photoreceptor pigments and vitamin A deficiency leads to defective night vision. Vitamin A is also important in maintaining the health of the ocular surface and keratomalacia occurs when the diet is grossly deficient in vitamin A. In common with vitamins C and E, vitamin A has anti-oxidant propertie

  What is refractive error ? By Muhammad Jamiu Omeiza According to the world health organization, refractive error is a very common eye disorder, which occurs when the eye cannot focus on the images from the outside world. The result of refractive errors is blurred vision, which is sometimes so severe that it causes visual impairment. Worldwide, it is recorded that uncorrected refractive error is the main cause of moderate and severe visual impairment and it's the second leading cause of blindness accounting for an estimated 153 million and 8 million affected persons, respectively. (Christian Ezelu et, al). What are the causes of refractive error? Normally, rays of light entering the eye are supposed to focus their image on the central portion of the retina, the fovea for clear vision. Any deviation from this normal physiological process will result in errors in vision and visual processes. An increase or decrease in the length of the eyeball, a change in the shape of the cornea (