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National Eye Health Week is upon us tomorrow, the 22nd of September 2014. Whilst we all realise the importance of good vision in our day to day lives, what some of us may not, is the necessity to regularly assess and test our sight so as to avoid diseases and conditions developing, in many cases with symptoms that you wouldn't normally recognise, which can threaten your ability to see. National Eye Health Week is as much about awareness of getting regular checkups as it is about your sight itself.
National Eye Health Week takes place yearly and has done since 2010. The week long event focuses on joining together eye care specialists and charities to help promote the 'importance of eye health and the need for regular sight tests.' The organised schedule looks to help people understand the importance of vision, but also how to help care for our eyes so that sight issues can be avoided through regular checking and examinations. Some of the points highlighted by Vision Matters indicate the educational process that NEHW looks to promote:
- Around 950,000 people in the UK are living with sight loss that could be treated via standard testing or glasses/contact lenses
- Glaucoma can be detected during routine tests and treated if diagnosed early
- Eye tests can also be helpful in recognising the early stages of other diseases in the body such as high blood pressure or diabetes
- Eat healthily, don't smoke and wear sunglasses in the sun - all tips to keep your eyes in tip top shape
So inline with the emphasis to increase the public's awareness of eye tests at least every two years, what has National Eye Health Week got planned for 2014?
- Monday: General Eye Health
- Tuesday: Women's Eye Health
- Wednesday: Sight After 60
- Thursday: Sports Vision
- Friday: Eye Research
- Saturday: Nutrition and the Eye
- Sunday: Smoking and Sight Loss