Blog Vol.II, # 10. The Heart of the Matter
First, a couple of
house-keeping matters, it is now two weeks past my second Pfizer shot: fully
vaccinated. Now, I can sit in a throng
of 50,000 screaming Blue Jay fans at the Roger Centre. Not yet, but one step closer…
As we have been opening up, I have been able
to receive some routine medical care. Today was a cardiovascular stress
test. My family’s gene pool has issues
with providing enough oxygen to the heart muscles, especially later in life,
hence the preventive care. This got me
thinking about the eye’s huge demands for oxygen. The over one million receptors in the retina especially
require oxygen every time they fire away. That is how we see: a photon hits a
receptor, a rod or cone, and causes a chain reaction that sends a neural impulse
along the pathway to the visual cortex.
This sounds tedious, but one
of the best ways to ensure that you keep your sight is a healthy diet and
exercise. It would be nice be able to
take a pill that would take care of our oxygen demands. Not so easy, these are habits, they take time
to establish. If you were raised in a
super-size-me home or if you live in one of those right now (I exaggerate), your
diet needs to be rethought. Or if you
haven’t gotten your heart rate up for any prolonged period in the past while, some
exercise is in the plans. The key to getting rid of “bad” habits is to replace
them with “good” ones. You do not have
to go crazy, do not overdo it, start slow and slowly ramp up. The goal is for the duration, the long haul.
Diet. Exercise. Preventive
care, especially if there is a family history of cardiovascular problems.
There are some wanted side
effects to providing oxygen to your eyes, not to mention that your brain, your
heart, and the rest of your body will love the new hyperbaric digs. There is no guarantee that you will have
perfect health, but you will have a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you
have done your part, and a general sense of well-being that comes with a
balanced and healthy lifestyle .
And, by the way, come in for
an eye check-up, especially if you are younger so we can get you building those
healthy habits sooner.
Til next week,
the good doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist
