The inevitable flu season. It comes back to get us every year. Luckily, there are many easy ways to help protect yourself this season, and most methods should sound familiar; thorough hand washing, a mix of rest and regular physical activity, and lots of vitamin C are great habits for staying healthy no matter what the season is. Other simple preventative measures include avoiding direct contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as avoiding close interaction with others who may be sick. And of course, it’s important to get vaccinated to prevent a run in with the flu, but did you know there’s another preventative measure out there?
A routine eye exam is one way that flu symptoms may be detected before they become severe. In the early stages of any virus, symptoms may be less detectable, but there a number of subtle signs in the eyes that can be an early indication of a virus like the cold or flu. Doctors can look underneath your eyelids for a papillary reaction. A papillary reaction looks like goose bumps with redness and irritation, all things that indicate a patient is symptomatic. Besides early detection of viruses like the cold or flu, eye exams can also detect signs of other health problems such as diabetes, glaucoma, or heart disease. Early detection of a variety of illnesses is just another great reason to see your eye doctor at least once a year. Call us today to beat flu and cold season!
The Skinny on Eye Color Genes You may have learned in biology class that your eye color is determined by the genes you inherited. (Genes are essentially “sets of recipes” that are provided in our DNA.) Along with that, you were probably taught about dominant and recessive genes. For eyes, the dominant gene for the color brown always won over the recessive gene for blue eyes. Unfortunately, that information isn’t right. In the past decade, scientists have discovered the influence of genes on eye color is a little more complicated. A number of different factors define a person’s eye color, the most important of which is eight different color-related genes. The genes control how much melanin, or color pigment, exists in the iris of your eyes. For instance, a gene called OCA2 controls almost 75 percent of the blue-brown color spectrum. Other genes can overrule OCA2, but that rarely happens. This can explain why green eyes are a rarity throughout the world.
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