Don’t wait until it is too late and never go outside without your sunglasses on, even on a cloudy day. UV rays go right thru clouds like they’re not ever there!  F.E.

Fine Eyewear & Eyecare offers a full line of fashion and sport sunglasses with 100% UV protection. We are a Maui-Jim Gold store!  We’re located in the Heb Whitestone shopping center at Parmer and 1431, located at the three corners of Cedar Park, Austin and Round Rock, TX and a short drive from Georgetown, TX . Some of the local neighborhoods served by Fine Eyewear include Forest Oaks, Silver Oaks,  Teravista,  Avery Ranch, Stone Canyon, Mayfield Ranch,  The Ranch at Brushy Creek, Vista Oaks and Wood Glen – we have an eye doctor close by for you!  Come and See us!

Sunglasses should be worn all year round. Sun rays are at work every day, even on cloudy days.  Did you know a properly designed pair of sunglasses lenses can actually help you see better when driving in lower light, rainy conditions?

Look for sunglasses that have quality 100% UV protection that won’t rub off over time as you clean the sunglasses. Sunglasses with anti-reflective treatment helps minimize light rays that come from behind from bouncing off the inside of your glasses back into your eye. Good polarization prevents scattered light and reflections from causing blinding conditions.  And don’t forget to look for sunglasses that have good eyeball and eye socket coverage. And last, but not least, look for a pair of sunglasses that compliment your facial structure, wardrobe and life style!

Fine Eyewear & Eyecare is a full service eye care facility specializing in quality polarized sunglasses. We offer both sport sunglasses  and fashion sunglasses. Our eye care facility is staffed by eye doctors who care about your sun vision requirements.  We’re located in the Heb shopping center at Parmer and 1431, located at the three corners of Cedar Park, Austin and Round Rock, TX and a short drive from Georgetown, TX , Teravista and Avery Ranch.

You can find more information at www.FineEyewear.Net

        The UK’s Telegraph (7/23, Smith) reported that prior research conducted by a team from Tufts University “found that a diet rich in omega three, found in mackerel and salmon, can reduce the risk of developing macular degeneration by a third in humans.” In the Tufts study, researchers found that “progression of advanced disease was 25 percent less likely in those eating two portions of oily fish a week.”

USA Today (2/24, Marcus) reports that, according to a study published Feb. 23 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “taking B vitamins could lower the risk for” age-related macular degeneration (AMD), “a leading cause of blindness in older Americans.” For the study, William Christen, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues “collected data from a cardiovascular disease trial involving more than 5,200 women over 40 who reported they did not have” AMD at the start of the study. The “women had been randomly assigned to take either a daily combination of folic acid, B-6, and B-12 supplements, or a placebo.” Over seven years, “55 cases of” AMD “were confirmed in the vitamin group,” compared to 82 cases “confirmed in the placebo group.” In other words, women “who took the supplements had a 41 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with” AMD.

AMD “is the leading cause of blindness in people 65 and older, with nearly two million Americans in the advanced stage of the condition,” the Wall Street Journal/AP (2/24, D3, Johnson) points out. AMD “causes a layer of the eye to deteriorate, blurring the center of the field of vision and making it difficult to recognize faces, read, and drive. There’s no cure, but treatment…can slow it down.” Despite the study’s finding, however, Christen explained that there “were too few cases of the most advanced AMD to make claims about vitamins’ potential benefits.” He emphasized that “it’s too soon to recommend B vitamins to people who want to prevent age-related vision loss.” Instead, he “recommended food sources of B vitamins and folic acid, such as meat, poultry, fortified cereals, beans, nuts, leafy vegetables, spinach, and peas.”

Bloomberg News (2/24, Ostrow) explains that AMD “is caused by damage to the arteries that carry blood to the retina. Folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 may lower the risk for the disease, Christen said, because they reduce blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that contributes to plaque buildup in the arteries.” Study participants “who received the supplements had about an 18 percent lower level of homocysteine than those given the placebo, Christen said.”

The UK’s Telegraph (2/24, Smith) quotes Christen as saying, “From a public health perspective, this [finding] is particularly important, because persons with early AMD are at increased risk of developing advanced AMD, the leading cause of severe, irreversible vision loss.” Currently, “the only way to reduce the risk of AMD…is not to smoke.” The study authors theorized that “supplements reduce levels of…homocysteine which can damage the lining of blood vessels and make blood more likely to clot.” In addition, “the vitamins may also have an antioxidant effect to improve the blood vessel functioning in the eye.”

Writing in the Boston Globe (2/23) White Coat Notes blog, Elizabeth Cooney observed, “The study’s results stand in contrast to other findings from [a] cardiovascular study, which was designed to test whether the folic acid-vitamin B6 and B12 combination could prevent heart attacks or stroke in women who had a history of cardiovascular events or risk factors.” The study “showed no benefit for women taking folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 in reducing their risk for cardiovascular events.”

MedPage Today (2/23, Smith) noted that the study authors “concluded that their findings could be due to chance and need confirmation, but ‘it may be worthwhile to consider whether the discordant findings for AMD and” cardiovascular disease “reflect important differences between the choroidal and systemic vasculature with respect to responsiveness to the lowering of homocysteine levels.”

CBC News (2/24), Canada’s CTV (2/23), and WebMD (2/23, Warner) also covered the story. HealthDay (2/23, Edelson) also mentioned the study.