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In December 2015, the city of Beijing, China issued its first “Red Alert” warning to its citizens because of the extreme levels of toxic smog in the air. In the United States, pollution has been a problem (not on par with Beijing) in some cities, and it got us thinking about the public’s awareness of […]

At just about every eye exam, the optometrist or ophthalmologist administers some sort of yellow gel-like fluid directly onto your eyes with a pipette. The solution feels somewhat unctuous and uncomfortable, and it might distort your close-range vision for an hour or two, but other than that, you might not know much about it. Your […]

Winter winds and temperatures can be harsh on the human body. Your ears endure a stinging tingle as the chilling air whistles through your exterior. Your fingers will begin to feel uncomfortably numb as you reluctantly trudge from the desolate parking lot to the inviting shelter of your office. Sometimes the prospect of venturing out […]

In the United States, eye injuries are the leading cause of blindness in children; most of these injuries are sports-related. According to the National Eye Institute, these injuries account for approximately 100,000 physician visits annually, and cost a total of more than $175 million per year.

While folks further north in the country may think we have it easy, midwest winters can be harsh. If you’ve lived here for a while, you know the weather can be unpredictable with heavy snow on days calling for light snow, and light snow falling on days that were supposed to be clear! Whether you’re […]

You’ve probably been told at some point in your life that being in the presence of light during the night will agitate your body’s circadian rhythm (your natural internal clock). Exposure to light during nighttime hours will reduce the amount of melatonin (a hormone that helps you to sleep) that your body produces. What many […]

It has been estimated that the American population suffers four to five million concussions every year. A concussion is usually the result of a traumatic cerebral injury that alters the way your brain functions, and is often caused by blunt-force trauma or a blow to the head. Concussions are a common injury in contact sports […]

It’s estimated that more than 50 percent of Americans over the age of 18 consume coffee on a daily basis. Experts have performed numerous studies on the effects of coffee — and, consequently, caffeine — on the human body. As a result, one question that has been raised is, “Is the caffeine in coffee linked […]

According to the National Institutes of Health, cataracts are the most common cause of blindness in the world, affecting more than 22 million individuals in America alone. More than half of all people in the U.S. will experience some form of cataracts, or undergo cataract surgery by age 80. To put the statistics succinctly, there […]

Occasionally, rubbing your eyes briefly might help you feel better. A short “ocular massage” can help stimulate the secretion of tears, lubricating itchy, dry eyes, and removing irritants from your eyeballs. Pressing down on the eyeball can also stimulate the vagus nerve, which will slow down your heart rate and relieve stress by triggering your […]

Even when you’re not crying out of sadness, crying from pain, or laughing so hard that you start to cry, your tear ducts are constantly producing moisture to keep your eyes wet. Tears are necessary to sharpen your vision and protect your eyes from your environment at all times. What many people don’t realize, however, […]

With such an abundance of books and websites attesting that their eye exercises will improve your vision to a point where you will no longer need glasses, you might assume there would be some scientific evidence to justify these bold claims. Surprisingly, however, there is very little data available to definitively conclude that these eye […]

Plainly speaking, people are generally familiar with the external structure of the human eye: a white sphere with a colored ring and a dark hole in the center. Of course, there’s more to the eye than that, but that’s basically what you see on the surface level. One telltale sign of a serious condition, which […]

As the majority of humans on planet Earth, we spend all of our time with the same physical and atmospheric conditions. So it makes sense that the human body has been biologically engineered through adaptation and evolution to function optimally under the Earth’s gravity, and not, for instance, the weightlessness of outer space. When astronauts […]

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco use kills more than five million people per year, and is responsible for one out of every ten adult deaths. It is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death. While most people are aware of the strong causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer or heart […]