the good doctor on: The Heart of the Matter
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
