Your health: Lose the lenses
Avoid scary eyes
As Halloween approaches, you may be thinking about finishing off your costume with zebra-striped or glow-in-the-dark decorative contact lenses or maybe the newest fad, circle lenses. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists are warning consumers that purchasing any contact lenses without an eye examination and a prescription from an eye-care professional can cause serious eye disorders and infections, which may lead to permanent vision loss.
Websites often advertise decorative contacts as if they were cosmetics, fashion accessories or toys. With whimsical packaging and names like Dolly Eyes, their targets are often teens and young adults.
“Consumers need to know that permanent eye damage can occur from using over-the-counter lenses, says Dr. Thomas Steinemann, professor of ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. “Personally, I have seen far too many serious cases in both children and adults from using decorative lenses. My most recent case was a patient who was only 12 years old.
For more information about contact lenses, visit geteye smart.org.
Say what?
Have you noticed that it's hard to ignore a cell-phone conversation going on near you? You're hearing only half the conversation, but, according to a group of researchers, that's precisely why it may be hard for you to concentrate on your own tasks. Unpredictable noises or silences tend to distract, and the one-sided conversations of overheard cell-phone chats what the researchers termed “halfalogues fall well into that category.
No shots?
Forty-three percent of Americans will not be getting a flu shot this fall, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. The same survey found one-third of mothers saying they have no plans to get flu shots for their children. Last year, parents were lining up for blocks at schools to get H1N1 shots. The Centers for Disease Control recommends everyone over the age of 6 months get a flu shot, unless allergic. This year's flu shots protect against H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B viruses.