European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Agazine More Complex than the most sophisticated camera the human visual system a by Lidia Wasowicz United press International concerned Mother dragged her Young son into the ophthalmologists begging the doctor to talk some sense into the whose reckless habits she was cer Tain would drive him the Mother was recalled Marshall a paediatric ophthalmologist at childrens Hospi Tal National medical Center in she i want you to Tell my son once and for All he cant read in his bed under the covers with a till ruin his who is also clinical of ophthalmology at George Washington looked at the boy he you can read under the covers All you i used to read in the dark All the time and still the human visual More Complex than the most sophisticated can be used under almost any condition without being Parks and other Eye experts said in there is hardly anything in the environment or life style that plays any significant role in visual devel said Robert professor and chair Man of the ophthalmology department at Jefferson medical College in the 120 million americans with healthy eyes who need no corrective lenses to see Well owe their Good visual Fortune almost entirely to their genetic doctors sight can be impaired by injury and certain conditions if they remain untreated but the Eye experts interviewed agreed healthy people with Good vision can do very Little to improve or maintain their there is no extra care or procedure that will make your eyes said Wayne clinical ophthalmologist at Pacific medical Center in san Francis Fung cited seven commonly held misconceptions eyelashes keep eyes this is not Only unnecessary but can be he eyes Are strengthened with such As Roll ing them around or doing pushups with them by moving a Pencil towards and away from the this is completely Fung vision is improved by eating foods Rich in Vitamin such As although a proper diet is necessary for Good there is no evidence that flooding the body with Vitamin a makes the eyes Fung people should read Only under Bright in any Light that is comfortable to the person so Long As it does not produce a Glare on the Page is Fine for the the Eye is a perfect Cam created by he Eye drops help maintain visual Fung most drops will shrink the blood vessels in the White part of the creating a More cosmetically appealing appearance in those with red but they do nothing for Eye redness in the eyes is a reaction to something in the environment physical Lack of the drops can re verse the reddening effect but if used repeatedly can actually be eyeglasses or Contact lenses strengthen the they help the patient see More accurately by physically bending helping the eyes focus More they Are not like a cast on a broken leg or weights on someone trying to build they have no strengthening effect at he Contact lenses can permanently Correct near sigh which afflicts 20 million myopic people discover after wearing contacts for a time their vision is Normal even after removal of the that because the Contact lenses flatten the front curvature of the or the window of the making the Eye less but this is not a permanent and the memory within the Cornea will restore the previous curvature if the contacts Are left off for prolonged he for people with Normal vision and no family history of such serious Eye disorders As glaucoma or retinal the san Francisco based american acad Emy of ophthalmology the largest group within the Eye care profession recommends Only occasional Eye exams Between puberty and age people suffering from severe High blood pressure diseases that could affect their vision who have a family history of serious Eye disorders or who show certain visual symptoms should be tested at continued on Page 14 regular Eye screenings Are important to detect vision problems june 1985 the stars and stripes a photo Page 13