Eye Health Solutions

With summer coming I thought I would post some of my thoughts on sunlight and specifically ultraviolet or UV light as it is known. I think we have perhaps went a little too far down the road with protection from UV light. It is necessary to have some UV exposure to be healthy. Imagine if you never went outside. Pale and sickly would be some of the words that would describe your appearance. It is obvious we were created to need the sun at some level. UV light is necessary for us to make vitamin D. This reaction happens in your skin and the only time we can do it in Iowa is from about April through September and from the hours of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. If you live further south your window to make vitamin D is longer. If you live further north it is shorter. Hence, folks that live further north tend to have lighter skin as it is more efficient at making vitamin D. Eskimos excluded as they get their vitamin D through their unique diet. Current research shows that macular degeneration pa...

HOLD THE RICE Growing up in a Chinese household, we ate rice. In fact, a ton of rice. It was served with most meals that Ma Ma freshly prepared at home. And any takeout that Ba Ba cooked at the restaurant for us four kids had a least one white quart-sized container included in the brown paper sack. Like I said, we ate a ton of rice. Black bean riblets I remember as a child that I was not fond of rice. It was bland and boring. A white mound beside the glistening, black bean riblets that had so much flavor. It was not unusual that I was left alone at the dinner table staring at that small, scoop of untouched rice and not uncommon for me to hear: You need to finish your rice before you can leave the table.  Every kernel of rice you leave on your plate will be a blemish on your future husband's face . I got smart after awhile. When the coast was clear, I would scrape the rice off my plate into the trash. A crumpled napkin would go on top. Dr. Jason's face...

What Are Eye Floaters? You’re seeing specks, spots, threads, or cobweb-like objects in your field of vision, but when you try to focus on them, they never stay still long enough to be visible. What’s going on? You’re experiencing eye floaters, and although these phantom forms can be a bit unnerving at times, you likely have nothing to worry about. Eye floaters generally occur as you age, and are caused by the natural degeneration of your eye’s vitreous, the gel-like substance that helps maintain the round shape of your eyeball. Over time, the vitreous can dissolve, shrink, and liquefy, causing the vitreous to have a stretched or string-like consistency. When this happens, the usually transparent vitreous casts shadows on your retina, ultimately appearing in your vision as an eye floater. Most often, eye floaters affect older individuals, those with diabetes, or people who have undergone cataract surgery. The occasional floater is nothing to worry about, but in some situations,...