Maybe that little child did eat the carrots, and maybe he or she didn’t follow through on a half-hearted promise to eat them. But whoever told that child about the benefits of consuming carrots wasn’t kidding. Although many consider it an old wives’ tale, carrots actually are good for eyesight. They are rich in the vitamins that help boost the eye’s efficiency.
As we age, certain health conditions can manifest that can be damaging to the eyes. Such diseases as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart conditions can all impact how well we see and cause vision complications.
There are also eye-specific problems that can develop because of poor nutrition. One of the biggest is macular degeneration. Developing the disease eventually may cause blindness or major visual impairment, the latter limiting such pleasures as reading, driving or walking unassisted.
Macular degeneration is caused by an abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye, growths that eventually cover key parts of the retina and eliminate portions of vision. The disease can deteriorate vision to the point of blindness. Macular degeneration comes in wet and dry forms, corresponding to the conditions the disease generates on the eyeball.
The National Institute of Health’s National Eye Institute estimates that about 2 million people suffer from the condition, which may increase to 3 million by 2020. Those considered most at risk are those people older than age 45 with a family history of the disease.