Dr. Mercola Eye Support with Lutein
One of your most precious senses is your eyesight. It's easy to take the gift of sight for granted, until it starts to fail.
Studies show that eye health ranks #4 among consumer health interests in the U.S. – suggesting that millions have friends or relatives who worry about getting the nutrients they need for maintaining healthy vision.
But now you can say goodbye to your worries about nutrition for eye health.
If you're a Baby Boomer over 55, in my opinion, there are many actions you can take to support your eye health. Studies show people over age 60 may need even more support. You may also need additional vision support if you share any of these characteristics:
- You smoke
- You're obese
- You're Caucasian
- You're female (need more support than men)
Healthy vision may seem like a distant concern when you’re young.
But if you spend a lot of time staring at a computer, you may already need additional support for your eye health. The increased use of computers and video display terminals (VDTs) at home and work has led to an increased need for vision-supporting supplements.
Your eye is an incredibly complex and miraculous organ, allowing you to see sharply and engage fully in life.
To gain a bit more of an appreciation of the complexity (without burying you in details) refer to the image on the right, as I explain the function of each part:
- Cornea - the clear skin that covers the front of your eye. It’s as clear as glass and contains no blood vessels.
- Sclera - the tough skin that surrounds most of the outside of the eyeball, known as the 'white' of the eye.
- Iris – the colored part of your eye (blue, brown, green…) that controls the amount of light that enters your eye.
- Pupil - the hole in the iris that lets light into your eye. It becomes tiny in bright sunlight, and larger in darkness.
- Lens - focuses light onto the retina. It changes shape as needed to ensure the 'picture' on the retina is as clear as possible.
- Retina – your eyes’ very own upside down movie screen… Your retina has cells called rods and cones (named for their shape). Rods see black and white; cones see color. Each eye has about 120 million rods and 7 million cones! Together, they’re responsible for changing the received light into impulses. Those impulses are then carried to the brain along your optic nerve.
- Blind spot – a tiny spot on your retina which isn’t sensitive to light because it has no rods or cones. This is the spot where the optic nerve joins the retina.
- Optic nerve – transmits the electrical messages from the retina to your brain.
- Macula - in the center of your retina. Produces your central vision which enables you to read, drive, and perform other activities requiring fine, sharp, straight-ahead vision.
After light enters your pupil, it hits the lens – which focuses those light rays on the back of your eyeball - the retina.
The retina is in the very back of your eye, past the large vitreous body. Though smaller than a dime, it holds millions of light-sensitive cells. It takes the light it receives and converts it to nerve signals so your brain can understand what your eye is seeing.
Unfortunately, free radical damage from age and environmental factors can keep your eyes from functioning optimally.