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Ground Report

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Human Eye: Part 4

| Health & Science

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Eye diseases, disorders and causes.

When we think about eye problems we usually think about cataracts, glaucoma and the need for glasses.  There are other eye disorders and the eyes can tell us about problems elsewhere in the body.

As we age our skin loses elasticity. Collagen increases the strength and elasticity of the skin.  Low levels of collagen increase the affects of aging.  Vitamin C is a major component of collagen.  Some facial creams used the night before can be the cause of puffiness around the eyes in the morning.  Puffiness can also be from high sodium (salt) intake, allergies and smoking.  Smoking lowers collagen levels by destroying vitamin C.

Blepharitis, a term seldom heard by most of us, is an inflammation of the outer edges of the eyelid and can have other symptoms such as swelling of the eyelid, loss of eyelashes, excessive tearing and sensitivity to light.  The problem can be caused by an infection of the eyelash follicle or the glands in the outer edges of the eyelid.  Inferior nutrition, bad lifestyle choices, poor sleeping and hygiene habits and systemic disease can all lead to a depressed immune system and blepharitis.

Blood shot eyes are usually an indication of insufficient oxygen to the eye.  The lack of oxygen causes the small blood vessels to become inflamed.  Alcohol, eyestrain, poor diet, fatigue and not blinking enough can all contribute to the problem.  Bloodshot eyes can be an indicator of a lack of vitamin B2, B6 and the amino acids histidine, lysine and phenylalanine.

Blurred vision can be a lack of a light sensitive pigment called rhodopsin, or visual purple, that’s composed of vitamin A and protein.  Light entering the eye breaks down a portion of the rhodopsin and the nerve impulses are relayed to the brain.  If insufficient pigment is present, a time delay to the brain occurs and blurred vision is the result.  Fluid imbalances in the body can also cause blurred vision.  

Colorblindness is a result of the lack of specialized cells in the retina that translate light waves into the brains perception of color.  Pernicious anemia and sickle cell disease can cause color blindness.  Medications are also a major contributor to disturbances in the ability to correctly recognize colors and blurred vision.  

Conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, is an inflammation of the membrane of the eyelid.  After being closed for an extended period of time the eyelids may stick together due to secretions from the eyelid/membrane.  Allergies, eye injury, bacterial infection, smoke, fumes, contact lens solution, makeup, chlorine and other chemicals can be the culprit.

Corneal ulcers are caused when the membrane covering the front of the eye, the cornea, is damaged and becomes infected.  The infection can also be caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Diabetic retinopathy is when some of the capillaries that supply oxygen and nutrients to the eye leak fluids or blood, damaging the rod and cones cells of the retina.  Diabetic retinopathy is a result of diabetes.

Dry eyes can be an indication of al lack of vitamin A but can also be caused by drugs, in particular antidepressants, beta-blockers and marijuana.  Long periods of staring at a computer or TV can cause dry eyes, this can be remedied by consciously blinking more often and closing the eyes tightly, then opening them wide.  

Floaters are bits of debris that float in the eye, block light to the retina and are seen as small specks moving in the field of vision.  Nearsighted and older people are most often affected.  Deteriorating health can also cause floaters.  Glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration are covered in other articles on eyes.

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited disease.  Metabolic disorders slowly and progressively destroy the retinal cells.  The first symptom is usually loss of night vision at an early age, as teens or young adulthood, and is followed by loss of peripheral vision and blindness.  

Scotoma is a blind spot in the field of vision.  Unless the spot is large it may go unnoticed.  It can be detected with a test called a visual field test.  Scotomas are a symptom of a problem with the retina, damage to the optic nerve or glaucoma.

Vascular retinopathy can be a symptom of blood vessel problems throughout the entire body.  The problem shows up in the eye as retinal hemorrhages, abnormally large blood vessels in the eye and accumulation of interocular fluid.  Diabetes and high blood pressure are the main causes.

          

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About Larry Miller

I was born in Los Angeles in 1940. My father was a fighter pilot instructor during WWll and we moved from coast to coast, maybe that’s where I got the nomad in my blood. After graduating from high school in 1958 I joined the Marines. That lifestyle wasn’t for me and upon my discharge I went on with my life, and have never looked back. I worked briefly for a Caterpillar dealer in Riverside, CA before moving back to N. California where I was a welder and truck driver for a chemical company. Truck driving wasn’t my calling anymore than being in the Marines, and I went back to work for another Caterpillar dealer steam cleaning dirty tractor parts and welding. They sent me to schools, lots and lots of schools. I spent as much time going to trade schools as I did at work. I went from cleaning parts to apprentice field mechanic, to mechanic to the parts department to satellite store manager in less than two years. They wanted me to move to Sacramento and be a salesman: I moved to Oregon to learn to commune with nature. I went to work for another heavy equipment dealer and was later contacted by the World’s largest Lorraine Crane dealer and offered the position of purchasing agent and general parts manager. In 1967 I was offered a line of automotive parts and supplies and went into business for myself. My business revolved around eleven race cars that we maintained for others, driving race cars professionally and maintaining high end sports cars. I was a championship and regional champion driver. My business was the largest import parts and service, non dealer, in the state until I sold it in 1979. We went sailing in 79, first to Mexico and then Hawaii. I was an award winning Trans-Pacific sailor and sailor of the year, Hawaii, Island of Kauai. An opportunity presented itself in Hawaii during 1981 and I was back in business, importing Japanese auto body and hard parts. I also felt the pull to write and began freelancing for magazines and newspapers in 1982. My main focus in my articles is, and always has been, health, wellness and fitness. Most of us have heard the saying, “Time is all we have.” I disagree. Our health is all we have, because without our health, we have no time. I was a US Olympic team hopeful in racewalking and held all the records for the state of Hawaii. As a sponsored athlete in my forties, I finished first in nine marathons in a row in my division, qualified for the Ironman® and was the state USCF cycling champion five times in Hawaii and Oregon. Celinda and I were married in 1988 after a three year engagement. We sold our businesses and organic farm and sailed back to Oregon. After our sailboat boat was sold, we moved to Joseph, Oregon, two miles from the trailhead into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. We were caregivers for my mother the last ten years she was alive. We moved to New Mexico in 1995 because it was too cold for my mom in Oregon during the winters. Celinda designed, and I engineered and built our strawbale house. I began writing the weekly health column for a local newspaper in 1996, and still do. In 2000, I took the summer off to do a four month, 4000 mile, hike, bike and kayak odyssey. I’d been writing health, fitness and sports articles since 1982 and the journey produced a full-length, nonfiction, first person adventure book, Yol Bolsun, May There Be A Road, which can be bought from Amazon.com and others over the Internet. The summer of 2001 was spent hiking. kayaking, fishing and exploring the southwest. In 2002 Celinda and I spent the summer in Canada learning the hospitality business at a resort in preparation for doing promotion for the resort in the US. Most of 2003 was spent reestablishing the trees and landscape that had died during the stay in Canada. We had a house sitter and the house sitter had an ex-husband, and that’s a long story. In July of 2004 I did a solo kayak trip on the Snake River, taking pictures, writing articles and pencil sketching the journey. I hope to do another kayak adventure on the Snake River during the summer of 2008, on the section I missed in 2000 and 2004. In 2005, I returned to Canada to the resort where we’d spent 2002. I was supposed to be there for the month of June. I’d contacted people I’d met in 2002 and they came back to Canada to fish, hike and spend time at the resort, Echo Valley Ranch and Spa, while I was there. My one month became five and then it was off to Spain to do the El Camino de Santiago as a travel companion with one of the guests who’d returned to Canada in June. During the summer of 2006 a friend from Ireland, who I’d met in Spain the year before, came to visit in NM and we fished, hiked and explored the White Mountains of AZ. He’d never slept out in the wild in a tent before, and it was quite an experience, for both of us. My newspaper articles were put on the Internet beginning in 2002. I was asked to give public speaking engagements, photo and video presentations, on various subjects for the library in Deming, NM and continue to do so. In 2006 I videoed and produced a DVD for the Smithsonian Institute’s travel exhibit “Between Fences.” NMFILMS had a conference by invitation only, which I attended. While attending the conference, I realized that film making wasn’t what I wanted to do but I still wanted to use my sixteen years of experience and enjoyment of videoing and photography. During the winter of 2005, I discovered that no one on record had ever run from the Arizona border to the Texas border, a distance of 165 miles. During the spring and summer of 2006 I trained for the run and the run was completed in October, 2006. In late 2005, I began building and maintaining websites incorporating all the things I enjoyed about video, photography, travel and the out of doors. 2007 has been a summer of upgrading the home and property which resulted in a downgrading of my enthusiasm for being located in one place. If we don’t like what’s happening in our life, we need to change what we’re doing. Celinda and I are ready to pull up roots and move on. I guess I’ve come full circle. I’m ready to revert back to my childhood, and a nomadic lifestyle.

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