Archive for the ‘Eyes & Vision’ Category

Most Americans dread loosing an hour of sleep when we “leap foward” each spring during the switch to daylight savings time. Now a new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology shows that not only do we loose lose an hour of sleep, the physiological and psychological adjustment that our body goes through can pose dangerous consequences for those who work in hazardous environments. After looking at 24 years of data about mine workers, researchers noted that there were more injuries on the Mondays following the switch to daylight savings time. In addition there was a 68% increase in lost work days due to these injuries. The researchers did not find any significant changes in the number and severity of workplace injuries on the Mondays after the switch back standard time, when people gained an hour of sleep. This shows that even an hour of sleep can have drastic effects on human behavior. Also, based on this study, it’s probably a good idea to refrain from performing dangerous job duties following the daylight savings time change. [via Medical News Today]

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As a part of their medium-term strategic plan the World Health Organization is calling for low-cost interventions that can help bolster the world’s economies. Such interventions include the distribution of vision corrective glasses to those who live in poverty. Studies have shown that blindness can contribute to poverty and those who are visually impaired have an increased risk of falling into lower socioeconomic classes and have higher rates of unemployment.

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A European study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that eating oily fish reduces the risk of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the major cause of blindness and poor vision in adults in Western countries. Those who consistently ate oily fish at least once a week are 50% less likely to have wet AMD. The common nutrient that are found in oily fish are the omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers emphasize that they are not endorsing omega-3 supplements since this study only investigated consumption of dietary fish. Full story.