5 tips for good eye health in kids

1. Send the kiddies outside 

Research suggests that increasing the amount of time children spend outdoors could reduce the risk of them becoming myopic (that is, near-sighted) in the future. A UK study has found that children who spent more time outdoors at age eight to nine years were only about half as likely to become short-sighted by the age of 15.
Melbourne optometrist Tim Fricke* says that for a long time it was thought that kids who read a lot would end up with myopia. “But it’s now thought that maybe these kids who love reading just spend less time outside and so aren’t getting the benefits.”

2. Eat an eye-healthy diet

Ask anyone which foods are good for eyes and most will answer 'carrots' – and while they are a great food for eyes because of their vitamin A content, a diet high in foods rich in vitamins, omega 3s and antioxidants has been found to help preserve eyesight throughout the years.
Some great foods for kids to munch today to help preserve their eyesight of tomorrow include leafy greens like spinach and kale, fruit and vegetables high in vitamin C like strawberries and grapefruit, seeds and nuts for their high vitamin E content, turkey and oysters for zinc and lots of oily fish like tuna and salmon, plus eggs, for omega 3 fatty acids. Research has linked all of these with lower risks of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

3. Sunglasses are more than cool

Many of us really start wearing sunglasses in our teens and 20s – but scientists believe children’s eyes are much more susceptible to UV damage than adults’. Wearing sunglasses as a tot can help protect against the most common eye conditions that develop later in life, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
When choosing shades for the kids, ensure they have standard UV 400 lenses or 100 percent UV protection.

4. Get their eyes checked

There doesn’t need to be a problem to get a standard eye check. Ideally, all children should have a comprehensive eye check before starting school as some problems, such as strabismus (turned eye) and amblyopia (lazy eye), are much more successfully treated when children are young. Plus, says Tim, if there are vision issues, it can impact on learning and behaviour significantly.

5. Monitor their use of digital devices

Make sure the space in which they’re using the screens is comfortably lit, they aren’t holding the device too close and they take regular breaks (Tim suggests at least five minutes an hour).

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Can Eating Alkaline Foods Help Fight Cancer?

The 1931 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg said that cancer cells cannot survive where there are high levels of oxygen. Alkalinity helps to increase the body's oxygen level, which is why alkaline foods can be helpful in fighting cancer. When the blood is alkalized, it is able to contain more oxygen, absorbing up to 100 times more than a body with a high acid content.

Alkaline Foods Decrease Toxicity

In the book "Hidden Truth of Cancer" by Dr. Keiichi Morishita, head of the International Natural Medicine Association, the doctor speaks about how oxygen levels in cells decrease in the presence of too much acid. This creates a toxic environment, which can create mutations in the cells, potentially leading to cancer. With a greater degree of alkalinity in the body, these toxins decrease.

Staying Balanced With Alkaline Foods

When too many acids are present in the diet, the body stores these acids if it cannot find a way to get rid of them. People with cancer generally have high levels of acid in their system, which makes it essential for them to find balance through eating foods that are alkaline in content. This will bring the body to a healthy pH level of approximately 7.4, which helps to saturate red blood cells with healing and essential oxygen.

Staying Balanced With Alkaline Foods

When too many acids are present in the diet, the body stores these acids if it cannot find a way to get rid of them. People with cancer generally have high levels of acid in their system, which makes it essential for them to find balance through eating foods that are alkaline in content. This will bring the body to a healthy pH level of approximately 7.4, which helps to saturate red blood cells with healing and essential oxygen.

Good Eating Ideas to Fight Cancer

Drinking a glass of water before or after meals with a half lemon or lime helps to alkalize the system. A half-teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water does the same, especially when you are feeling the effects of acidosis. Adding alkaline drops to fresh water helps to increase its alkaline content. Buying organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible will ensure that they are free of pesticides and other toxic substances, which are also acid in content.

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Omega-3 intake inversely linked to signs of brain aging

(Reuters Health) - Older women with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood had slightly less brain shrinkage than women with low fatty acid levels in a new study.

The results may suggest that omega-3s protect the brain from the loss of volume that happens with normal aging and is seen more severely in people with dementia, the researchers say.

"The brain gets smaller during the normal aging process - about 0.5 percent per year after age 70, but dementia is associated with an accelerated and localized process of brain shrinkage," said James Pottala, who led the study.

Pottala is an assistant professor at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine in Sioux Falls and chief statistician for the Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Richmond, Virginia.

He and his colleagues analyzed data from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study to see whether omega-3s were associated with brain shrinkage in general, and in specific brain regions involved in memory and other cognitive processes.

The data covered 1,111 women who were, on average, 70 years old and had no signs of dementia at the beginning of the study. At that time, the amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in their red blood cells were measured.

DHA accounts for 30 percent to 40 percent of the fatty acids found in brain cell membranes, and it's especially concentrated near the synapses where the cells communicate with one another, Pottala and his colleagues note in their report, published in the journal Neurology.

Red blood cell levels of the omega-3s are good indicators of how much a person has consumed, the researchers add.

The researchers used an omega-3 index to describe the fatty acid levels seen among women in the study and to divide them into four groups: women with the highest levels had an average index reading of around 7.5 percent, while women with the lowest levels had an average of 3.4 percent.

Eight years after the women's blood was tested, they underwent MRIs to measure the volume of gray matter and white matter in their brains.

The researchers found that women with the highest EPA and DHA blood levels at the study's outset had brains that were about two cubic centimeters larger overall than women with the lowest levels.

In addition, the hippocampus, a brain region critical to forming and storing memories, was 2.7 percent larger in women who had fatty acid levels twice as high as the average.

Of 13 specific brain regions the researchers looked at, the hippocampus was the only one where they saw a significant difference.

The analysis adjusted for other factors that could influence the women's brain size, including education, age, other health conditions, smoking and exercise.

The researchers didn't measure cognitive function, only brain volume, so they cannot say whether the size differences they saw had any link with differences in memory or dementia risk.

The authors acknowledged other limitations in their report, including that they did not look at whether the women's omega-3 consumption had changed over time.

It's possible that some of the participants had changed their diets or started taking fish oil or other forms of omega-3 fatty acids, Pottala told Reuters Health in an email.

But in previous study, he and his colleagues showed red blood cell EPA and DHA levels and peoples' dietary fish intakes generally don't change over time.

"If some subjects in our MRI study began taking fish oil supplements, then the reported benefits would be underestimated," Pottala said.

Pottala says higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids can be achieved by dietary changes, such as eating oily fish twice a week or taking fish oil supplements.

Since the study does not prove that blood levels of omega-3s are the cause of the brain-size differences observed, or that those differences have any effect on cognitive function, the researchers caution that more research is needed to know whether raising omega-3 levels would make any difference to brain health.

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Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke

Stroke: Causes and Risk Factors
A stroke, sometimes called a “brain attack,” happens when an artery to the brain becomes blocked or ruptures. As a result, blood flow is cut off to a part of the brain, depriving cells of oxygen and glucose from the blood supply. If the cut-off is brief, brain cells may be stressed but able to recover. But if cells are deprived for more than 3 or 4 minutes, they may die, resulting in permanent damage to the brain. In some cases of stroke, certain functions are lost, but other areas of the brain can learn to do the tasks previously handled by the damaged area.

Two types of stroke exist:

Ischemic stroke: About 80% of strokes are ischemic strokes. This type happens when a blood vessel in the brain develops a clot that cuts off blood flow to cells.

Hemorrhagic stroke: The remaining 20% are hemorrhagic strokes, which happen when a weakened blood vessel in the brain bursts. When the vessel bleeds or hemorrhages suddenly, surrounding brain tissue can become damaged. Hemorrhagic stroke is the most serious type of stroke.

Risk Factors

How do you know if you are at risk for having a stroke? There are two types of risk factors: controllable and uncontrollable. Some stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure and smoking, can be controlled by medication or lifestyle changes. Other risk factors, such as age and race, cannot be changed.

Controllable risk factors:

High blood pressure (hypertension): High blood pressure, defined as a reading of 140/90 or greater, is the leading risk factor for stroke. When blood pushes too forcefully against the walls of the arteries, it can weaken them and eventually lead to stroke. Adults should strive to keep their blood pressure below 140/90, or 130/80 or below if they’re at higher risk for stroke. An ideal reading is 120/80 or lower.  

Atherosclerosis: With this major risk factor for stroke, fatty plaques that build up inside the artery walls will block or narrow the vessels, which can lead to stroke.    
Heart disease: Coronary heart disease, heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart), and other heart diseases place people at higher stroke risk, compared to those with normal hearts.  

High cholesterol: Excess cholesterol raises one’s chances of heart disease and atherosclerosis. High cholesterol contributes to plaque buildup in arteries, which can block blood flow to the brain and cause stroke.  

Smoking or tobacco use: Smoking lowers oxygen levels in the blood, forcing the heart to work harder and enabling blood clots to form more readily. Cigarette smoke can also worsen atherosclerosis. According to the National Stroke Association, smokers have twice the risk of stroke as nonsmokers.

Atrial fibrillation (AFib): This disorder, marked by an irregular heartbeat, makes a person five times more likely to have a stroke, according to the National Stroke Association.With AFib, the heart’s two upper chambers beat rapidly and unpredictably, which allows blood to pool in the heart. The pooled blood can form clots that travel to the brain and cause a stroke.  

Diabetes: People with diabetes face higher risk of stroke because they often have other health problems and stroke risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.  

Overweight or obesity: Extra weight, along with being sedentary, raises the chances of high blood pressure or diabetes.

Blood disorders: Blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease or severe anemia, can cause stroke, if left untreated.

Excessive alcohol: Some research has linked too much alcohol to increased stroke risk. Women should limit themselves to one alcoholic drink per day; men, two per day.  

Drugs: Certain medications, such as anticoagulants, can raise stroke risk. Birth control pills and patches place some women at greater risk for stroke, especially if they’re over age 35 or have high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, or if they smoke. Illicit drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, or amphetamines, are risk factors, too.

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