Latest / The Eye Believe Podcast / Eye On The Expert: Taking Charge of Eye Health with Dr. Dorothy Hitchmoth

Transcript

Eye On The Expert: Taking Charge of Eye Health with Dr. Dorothy Hitchmoth · The Eye Believe Podcast

• 0:03
  hey homies I hope you guys are doing so well
• 0:05
  thank you for joining us on our webinar this day um
• 0:08
  or today
• 0:09
  we are really excited to be joined again by Doctor
• 0:11
  Dorothy Hitchmoth and she is from the Ocular
• 0:15
  Wellness and Nutrition Society
• 0:16
  so if you were part of any of the presentation
• 0:19
  she shared last year she shared a really incredible um
• 0:22
  and well received presentation
• 0:24
  just about taking really good care of your eyes
• 0:26
  and your nutrition
• 0:27
  and she's gonna just talk all about how food
• 0:30
  and what we eat what we do
• 0:31
  all those different things
• 0:32
  go hand in hand with preserving vision
• 0:34
  and just making sure that our eyes
• 0:35
  one of the organs in our body are really healthy
• 0:37
  so and with that
• 0:39
  I'm gonna go ahead and bring Doctor
• 0:40
  Dorothy into the webinar okay
• 0:42
  well hello everyone it's my pleasure to be here again
• 0:46
  I'm gonna really just get right into the presentation
• 0:50
  so that we have a lot of time at the end
• 0:53
  for me to answer questions
• 0:55
  um so let's get started
• 0:57
  I assume you can all see my screen
• 1:00
  I am in practice I've been in practice about 29 years
• 1:03
  I'll say that um
• 1:04
  I think that's worth a little bit of something
• 1:07
  and we have a very simple mission at my
• 1:10
  my office
• 1:11
  my practice and that is to prevent vision loss
• 1:14
  and really
• 1:15
  that's what today's presentation is all about
• 1:17
  that's often all I lecture about
• 1:20
  this is a little bit about me um
• 1:22
  I'm not gonna read through this um
• 1:24
  happy to send you my background
• 1:26
  I often will dedicate lectures to people
• 1:29
  I dedicated my last lecture um
• 1:31
  with this group to my dad and I'm gonna do that again
• 1:34
  uh my dad lost an eye um
• 1:37
  to sebaceous cell carcinoma in fact
• 1:39
  part of his orbit as well
• 1:41
  and it was his dominant eye and
• 1:43
  you know I've watched a lot of patients
• 1:46
  go through the journey of losing vision in one eye
• 1:49
  or losing an eye or some function
• 1:52
  and it's different when it's someone so close to you
• 1:56
  and um
• 1:57
  I feel like I really understand in a different way
• 2:01
  and that's why I am happy to be here
• 2:03
  giving you all of the information
• 2:05
  that I can possibly give to you
• 2:08
  I will say that the information in this presentation
• 2:11
  is general I
• 2:12
  I will
• 2:13
  encourage all of you to please see your eye doctor
• 2:15
  and your primary care doctor
• 2:17
  and any other specialists
• 2:18
  that you need to see for individual advice
• 2:21
  because individual advice matters yes
• 2:25
  I am the president of the Ocular
• 2:26
  Wellness and Nutrition Society
• 2:27
  and that's because I really do think we can prevent
• 2:30
  vision through what we do at home
• 2:33
  and that what the doctor tells you is important
• 2:36
  but what you do at home is most important
• 2:38
  the primary objective of
• 2:40
  of this webinar is that you learn something new
• 2:43
  and the secondary objective of this
• 2:45
  webinar is that
• 2:46
  you help me really evangelize the importance of
• 2:49
  regular eye care how to avoid vision loss
• 2:52
  and what we learn about
• 2:54
  what we can learn about our eyes
• 2:56
  about our health through our eyes
• 2:58
  I think you all know that eye doctors
• 3:00
  see patients of all ages
• 3:01
  and often throughout their lifetime
• 3:03
  and I believe we're really in the business
• 3:05
  of improving and preserving vision
• 3:07
  we also identify regularly identify I should say
• 3:11
  those at risk for vision loss
• 3:12
  and other health problems
• 3:14
  so I always say you know
• 3:16
  on a good day
• 3:17
  we help save vision and we help save life um
• 3:20
  I truly believe that
• 3:21
  the eye is the window to your health
• 3:24
  and one thing that I think may not be obvious
• 3:28
  um and perhaps your eye DOC doesn't talk about this
• 3:32
  perhaps they do and if they do
• 3:34
  that gets me really excited but I want
• 3:38
  what if I could say you know what
• 3:39
  what are those things that I want
• 3:41
  I want my patients to understand
• 3:43
  I want them to understand
• 3:45
  that the eye is really part of the brain
• 3:47
  it's not really separate from the brain
• 3:50
  and what you do
• 3:51
  that's healthy for your eyes is healthy for your brain
• 3:54
  and when you have a healthy brain
• 3:56
  this has a huge impact on
• 3:59
  on how you live in the quality of life
• 4:02
  um that you maintain
• 4:04
  and I'm gonna go back and talk about that relationship
• 4:07
  throughout the lecture same thing
• 4:09
  with the heart the blood vessels in the back of the eye
• 4:13
  and there are several sets of blood vessels
• 4:15
  in the back of the eye
• 4:16
  are really part of your cardiovascular system
• 4:19
  they're inseparable
• 4:23
  so again
• 4:23
  what's good for your eye is also good for your heart
• 4:27
  and anything that I tell you today
• 4:28
  or discuss today or share with you today
• 4:31
  um good for the eye
• 4:32
  good for the brain good for the heart
• 4:34
  and keep that in mind as we walk through um
• 4:36
  some of the information
• 4:39
  the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness
• 4:42
  are preventable say that again
• 4:44
  the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness
• 4:48
  are preventable I think this is a really
• 4:50
  I know this is an important statement
• 4:53
  for those of you who have lost vision in one eye
• 4:57
  you know how do I prevent vision loss in my other eye
• 5:01
  and we're gonna concentrate on on that today
• 5:05
  so regardless of your exact diagnosis
• 5:09
  there are other health conditions that truly
• 5:12
  can cause vision loss
• 5:14
  and I have obesity highlighted in red here
• 5:17
  because obesity has now moved into the No.
• 5:20
  1 spot for cause of vision loss right
• 5:25
  directly and indirectly
• 5:28
  obesity drives diabetes
• 5:31
  which is now one of the leading causes of vision loss
• 5:35
  so avoiding diabetes
• 5:37
  mean containing control of your diabetes are
• 5:40
  are really important things
• 5:42
  and the way that you do that
• 5:43
  is to keep your weight in check
• 5:45
  which is always easier said than done
• 5:46
  we're gonna talk about that today but obesity
• 5:49
  diabetes poor diet
• 5:50
  lack of exercise and smoking
• 5:53
  are associated with the leading causes
• 5:55
  of visual impairment so this is prevention 101
• 5:58
  keeping your weight in check
• 6:00
  avoiding diabetes through um
• 6:03
  health management and not smoking so if
• 6:07
  if you smoke quit
• 6:10
  if nothing else that's the No. 1 driver of vision loss
• 6:15
  I'm gonna
• 6:17
  guess that most people who are listening to this
• 6:20
  webinar today this education session do not smoke um
• 6:25
  so we're gonna concentrate on talking about some of the
• 6:28
  the other prevention strategies
• 6:31
  about 12% of the adult population in the United Right
• 6:35
  about 12% of the population
• 6:36
  I should restate that smokes in the United States
• 6:39
  that number was over 50% when I was a child
• 6:43
  back in the 60s and 70s
• 6:46
  so we've come a long way on that
• 6:48
  but I still think it's worth saying over and over
• 6:51
  and over again I keep also saying
• 6:53
  I'm gonna talk about vaping
• 6:54
  because vaping is 10 times worse than smoking
• 6:59
  that's a lecture for for the younger the younger folks
• 7:02
  um
• 7:03
  but if there's anyone out there that's young that vapes
• 7:05
  that has one eye
• 7:06
  like make that your number one priority
• 7:08
  um I think
• 7:09
  I think I should at least say that out out loud
• 7:12
  so the rate of obesity and diabetes and smoking is
• 7:16
  is is a lot the total diabetes diagnosis
• 7:21
  prevalence is around 40 million
• 7:23
  pre diabetes is 88 million
• 7:25
  the total number of Americans who are or obese
• 7:28
  not just overweight
• 7:29
  but obese is 42% and we still have 34 million smokers
• 7:36
  the rate of obesity diabetes and smoking is a lot
• 7:39
  as I said and there are areas in the country
• 7:43
  where it's concentrated
• 7:44
  so if you look at this map here
• 7:46
  and you live in that state
• 7:47
  you're in one of the states
• 7:49
  that has the highest rate of obesity
• 7:50
  diabetes and smoking uh combined
• 7:54
  if you're in a yellow state you have the least yeah
• 7:57
  it's a lot it differs uh based on ethnicity
• 8:02
  you know why that's true I think um
• 8:05
  is a whole another lecture
• 8:07
  but I like to make people aware
• 8:09
  that there's a big difference
• 8:11
  in the frequency of smoking
• 8:13
  across cultural and and race groups
• 8:18
  the rate of blindness
• 8:21
  this is no surprise to those of us who are eye docs
• 8:24
  is actually going up as the obesity rate is going up
• 8:29
  and the rate of diabetes and
• 8:30
  and poor diet quite frankly is going up
• 8:33
  one of the easiest things
• 8:36
  to understand about diabetes is
• 8:39
  are you at risk if you are overweight
• 8:43
  if you're over 45 if you have one parent or one sibling
• 8:48
  your risk goes up precipitously
• 8:52
  if you are physically active
• 8:54
  fewer than three times per week
• 8:56
  if you ever gave birth to a baby that weighed
• 8:58
  more than 9 pounds
• 9:00
  or you had diabetes while you're pregnant
• 9:02
  which we also refer to as gestational diabetes
• 9:06
  so think about that a little
• 9:08
  you know I always
• 9:10
  I have lots of conversations
• 9:11
  all day long with lots of patients
• 9:13
  and a lot of patients are really surprised when
• 9:16
  their primary care DOC says hey
• 9:18
  you know you have pre diabetes or
• 9:21
  or even more shocked that they have diabetes
• 9:24
  and a lot of them don't even know some of these risk
• 9:27
  factors so these risk factors matter
• 9:30
  they're strong
• 9:31
  you can actually delay diabetes by up to five years
• 9:36
  by losing 5% of your weight
• 9:38
  that's a relatively small goal um
• 9:42
  that can make a big difference as an example
• 9:45
  so keep that in mind
• 9:46
  we're gonna talk about that a little bit later
• 9:48
  in the presentation
• 9:50
  I would say
• 9:51
  to also know your risk for macular degeneration
• 9:55
  if you are over the age of 60
• 9:57
  if you have a family history of macular degeneration
• 10:00
  if you smoke again if you're overweight or obese
• 10:04
  or you have high blood pressure
• 10:06
  your risk for macular degeneration goes up
• 10:11
  the family history component is quite strong again
• 10:14
  mom or dad with macular degeneration um
• 10:19
  increases your risk of macular degeneration by 40%
• 10:24
  As many as 15% of uh
• 10:27
  Caucasian folks over the age of 75 have this condition
• 10:31
  this is common
• 10:32
  and it is the leading cause of vision loss over 65
• 10:36
  so it's why you'll hear me throughout the presentation
• 10:41
  talk a lot about macular degeneration
• 10:44
  because a lot of us who are Caucasian
• 10:47
  Northern European descent are at risk for getting this
• 10:50
  I have this risk in my own family
• 10:53
  um
• 10:53
  and I also have the risk of diabetes in my own family
• 10:57
  I am the oldest of four siblings
• 10:59
  three of my siblings have diabetes
• 11:01
  and my mother has diabetes
• 11:03
  so um
• 11:04
  I am paying attention glaucoma
• 11:07
  while not as common
• 11:09
  is a eye condition that has no symptoms
• 11:12
  and because of that is another leading cause
• 11:17
  of blindness in the United States
• 11:19
  so a lot of people understand
• 11:22
  glaucoma
• 11:23
  is a condition where you develop high eye pressure
• 11:26
  in your eyes but the most common type of glaucoma
• 11:30
  you have normal pressure let me just say that again
• 11:33
  the most common type of glaucoma
• 11:35
  you have normal pressure in your eyes um
• 11:38
  and again no symptoms
• 11:40
  so knowing the other risk factors is important
• 11:43
  if you are over sixty if you are black
• 11:46
  Asian or Hispanic
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  you have an significantly increased risk of glaucoma
• 11:51
  compared to the Caucasian population
• 11:53
  if you have a family history
• 11:55
  again of glaucoma mom
• 11:56
  dad especially mom
• 11:58
  and especially if there's one brother or sister
• 12:01
  your risk of getting glaucoma is higher
• 12:03
  so ask your family members if you can
• 12:06
  if you have diabetes heart disease
• 12:08
  high blood pressure or sickle cell anemia
• 12:10
  your risk for glaucoma uh
• 12:13
  is higher
• 12:14
  and having corneas that are thin in the center
• 12:17
  is a bio marker or a marker
• 12:19
  that you may be at risk for getting glaucoma
• 12:22
  and all eye doctors can measure for that bio marker
• 12:25
  if
• 12:26
  you've had previous trauma or inflammation in an eye
• 12:29
  from conditions like uveitis
• 12:31
  you're at
• 12:32
  maybe at a higher risk for developing glaucoma
• 12:35
  so those are the three leading causes of vision loss uh
• 12:39
  in the United States and um
• 12:43
  I hope understanding what those risks are
• 12:45
  will help all of you um
• 12:48
  have a better discussion with your
• 12:49
  with your eye DOC and also your primary care DOC
• 12:53
  so diabetic retinopathy
• 12:55
  I'm gonna talk about this in a little bit more detail
• 12:58
  your risk of losing
• 13:00
  vision from diabetic retinopathy goes up for the
• 13:04
  as as you go through the number of years
• 13:07
  so the longer you have diabetes
• 13:09
  a diagnosis of diabetes
• 13:11
  the higher your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy
• 13:14
  goes now I share my mom has had diabetes since age 38
• 13:20
  she is now 85 she has no retinopathy in her eyes
• 13:25
  because she's
• 13:26
  controlled her blood sugar for decades pretty well
• 13:30
  she's had lots of periods where it's not been control
• 13:34
  but overall
• 13:35
  she's controlled her blood sugar really well
• 13:37
  which is why she's 85 and
• 13:39
  which is why she has no retinopathy
• 13:41
  in the back of her eyes
• 13:42
  so even though you're handed a diagnosis
• 13:45
  doesn't mean you can't do something about it
• 13:47
  and I'm banking on that myself
• 13:50
  so controlling your blood sugar matters
• 13:52
  if you have diabetes controlling your blood sugar
• 13:55
  your blood pressure matters a lot
• 13:58
  controlling certain types of cholesterol matters a lot
• 14:01
  if you smoke and you have diabetes
• 14:04
  that's a quadruple whammy
• 14:05
  you will develop heart disease at 10 times the rate
• 14:09
  so be aware of that that combination is
• 14:12
  is is deadly
• 14:14
  quite frankly forget about vision loss
• 14:16
  and if you're African American
• 14:18
  Hispanic or Native American
• 14:19
  your risk of developing diabetic
• 14:21
  retinopathy is higher than those who
• 14:24
  who are Caucasian you can actually take a wrist test
• 14:29
  I I like to give people tools that they can
• 14:32
  can use that are available
• 14:35
  um so if you're bored listening to me
• 14:37
  at any point during this presentation
• 14:40
  and you wanna know if you have
• 14:42
  if you're at risk for pre diabetes or diabetes
• 14:46
  you can actually go to doIhaveprediabetes.org
• 14:51
  and take their test it will ask you a
• 14:54
  a variety of questions you enter those
• 14:57
  and then it will tell you what your risk is
• 14:59
  so if anybody does that during the presentation
• 15:02
  and you get a risk score and you want to share
• 15:05
  or you have questions about that
• 15:07
  please pop that in the in the chat as we get to the
• 15:10
  that part of the presentation
• 15:11
  where we get to chat with each other
• 15:13
  and have a back and forth
• 15:15
  I call this a really bad food time out there
• 15:19
  there's a there are a couple of things that are in the
• 15:24
  American diet that are so bad
• 15:26
  that I can't not talk about those things
• 15:30
  as individual dietary things
• 15:33
  if you will so fake fat and no fiber is bad
• 15:39
  so fake
• 15:39
  fat actually kills
• 15:42
  some of the healthy bugs that live in your stomach
• 15:46
  in your gut and prevent your body from metabolizing
• 15:54
  or digesting sugar in the way that it should
• 15:58
  so eating fake fat
• 16:00
  can actually cause you to have diabetes
• 16:03
  significantly sooner than if you did not consume fake
• 16:09
  fake fat now some of thankfully
• 16:11
  um the government is involved in
• 16:13
  getting some of these bad components out of our
• 16:17
  prepared foods
• 16:19
  and that's a good thing
• 16:21
  so that we're not consuming these things
• 16:23
  quite frankly by accident
• 16:25
  we're gonna talk about what's fake fat later in the
• 16:28
  in the in the presentation
• 16:30
  same thing fake sweeteners are no good
• 16:34
  so if you've been told by your doctor to cut carbs
• 16:36
  or cut sugars and you're adding in fake sugar
• 16:40
  so that means saccharin and um
• 16:43
  and some of the other artificial sweeteners
• 16:46
  Nutrasweet is one of the name brands
• 16:48
  that's common and used ubiquitously
• 16:51
  practically in all all prepared foods
• 16:54
  same thing
• 16:54
  it actually kills some of the bacteria in your
• 16:58
  or the specific bacteria in your stomach
• 17:00
  that are responsible for
• 17:04
  metabolizing sugar so again
• 17:07
  fake sweeteners
• 17:09
  and fake fats can actually lead to diabetes
• 17:12
  especially if they're
• 17:14
  something that you consume all the time
• 17:16
  so what do I mean by that
• 17:17
  diet soda that's a big one
• 17:21
  chips with fake fat that's a big one
• 17:23
  to be really specific about
• 17:25
  a couple of common foods that people consume
• 17:28
  so can vision loss be prevented
• 17:32
  yes if you maintain your blood sugar levels
• 17:36
  90% of blindness caused by diabetes can be avoided
• 17:41
  that's an amazing number
• 17:43
  now maintaining your blood sugar level is the challenge
• 17:47
  but it is possible and we can
• 17:49
  we've measured this over and over and over again
• 17:52
  in the public health space
• 17:54
  if you have a BMI of greater than 30
• 17:58
  your risk is two and a half
• 18:00
  times more that you'll develop macular degeneration
• 18:03
  than somebody with a lower BMI
• 18:05
  so there's that obesity thing again right
• 18:08
  it drives diabetes it drives macular degeneration
• 18:12
  smoking increases your chance of macular degeneration
• 18:16
  by two to five fold and we talked about that already
• 18:19
  these are just public health facts that I'm restating
• 18:23
  people with diets that are elevated in fat
• 18:26
  and cholesterol and high glycemic index foods
• 18:30
  and low in antioxidants and green
• 18:32
  leafy vegetables may be more likely to develop
• 18:36
  all three of the leading causes of vision loss
• 18:40
  macular degeneration diabetes and glaucoma
• 18:43
  so food matters right
• 18:46
  high blood pressure and a lack of exercise
• 18:51
  are associated with macular degeneration
• 18:53
  increase risk
• 18:55
  we also know that eye vitamins can slow
• 18:58
  or prevent the progression of macular degeneration
• 19:02
  in about 25% of people who take those supplements
• 19:06
  according to the very well known
• 19:09
  now famous age related eye disease studies
• 19:13
  and I say studies because there are over 30 reports
• 19:16
  from this group of studies
• 19:18
  that the National Eye Institute has funded
• 19:20
  for my entire career which is the last 30 years
• 19:23
  which is really an amazing and massive
• 19:27
  public health undertaking
• 19:29
  and I'm sure all of you
• 19:30
  if you watch TV or look at social media
• 19:33
  you will have been bombarded if you're over fifty um
• 19:36
  with ads for Ared's vitamins or Ared's 2 vitamins
• 19:41
  they do make a difference
• 19:43
  food matters more boosting your intake of leafy greens
• 19:47
  is associated with a reduced
• 19:48
  risk of developing glaucoma
• 19:50
  also macular degeneration
• 19:53
  and there is a positive association
• 19:55
  this is a big one that I
• 19:57
  I think I don't talk about enough
• 19:59
  between tooth loss and primary open angle glaucoma
• 20:03
  and in the last 10 years
• 20:05
  we also know that poor oral health
• 20:08
  gingivitis or periodontal disease
• 20:11
  if you brush your teeth and you see pink in the sink
• 20:14
  you're at risk also for getting dementia
• 20:16
  are alzheimer's so take care of
• 20:19
  taking care of your teeth is critical
• 20:21
  it is critical critical
• 20:22
  critical and I'm sure
• 20:23
  my friends in dentistry would love to hear me say that
• 20:26
  um but it is true
• 20:28
  and yes there are things you can do at home
• 20:31
  to prevent oral disease as well
• 20:34
  um oral disease matters a lot
• 20:36
  same thing with diabetic retinopathy
• 20:38
  even though I don't have that written on the slide here
• 20:40
  and having insulin resistance
• 20:42
  or diabetes does drive your risk
• 20:44
  also for glaucoma so in the end
• 20:47
  you know I think the take home this afternoon that I
• 20:51
  I I hope is
• 20:53
  is becomes a parent is it's in your hands
• 20:56
  it's not your doctor it's not it's not medicine
• 20:59
  it's not some crazy juicing diet
• 21:04
  it's it's really what you put in your mouth
• 21:06
  and what you chew that matters
• 21:08
  and will change the health of your eyes and your brain
• 21:12
  and your body and affect the quality of your life
• 21:15
  it is in your hands and this is something
• 21:18
  that you have to think about every single day
• 21:21
  I think this goes without saying
• 21:23
  with this particular group
• 21:25
  but I put this in
• 21:26
  in here so that you can help me evangelize
• 21:29
  so you can help your family members and your friends
• 21:32
  and your tribe and your church or
• 21:34
  or whatever group that
• 21:35
  that you touch in your life on any periodic basis
• 21:41
  for people over 65
• 21:42
  and most people over 65 have Medicare
• 21:44
  or Medicare Advantage as an insurance
• 21:47
  Only 45% of that population has had an eye exam
• 21:53
  which to me is stunning
• 21:55
  so just getting your eyes examined for a baseline
• 21:58
  to have a discussion with your DOC about your risks
• 22:00
  and to understand your risks is incredibly important
• 22:05
  all of you know that eye exams have
• 22:08
  have saved your vision or
• 22:09
  or your life so
• 22:13
  what can you do to prevent vision loss in both eyes or
• 22:17
  or one eye if you've lost your spare as I call it
• 22:22
  watch for symptoms really closely
• 22:24
  there are some that are more important
• 22:26
  symptoms than others if you have blurry vision
• 22:29
  that has come on more suddenly than gradually
• 22:33
  that's a reason to go back to your eye DOC
• 22:34
  even if you don't think it's time
• 22:37
  better safe than sorry
• 22:39
  simple blurry vision can be a warning sign
• 22:42
  a change in vision that is abrupt
• 22:45
  or less than subtle
• 22:47
  is a reason to go back to your eye DOC
• 22:50
  distortion of vision is a big one
• 22:52
  so for example what do I mean by that
• 22:55
  if you you are looking at something that you know
• 22:58
  should be a straight line
• 23:00
  like a door jam or a window sill
• 23:02
  and it's not straight
• 23:04
  and it's like a little bumpy or waving
• 23:06
  that's a vision test it's a really good vision test
• 23:09
  if you're looking at anything that
• 23:10
  you know should have straight lines
• 23:12
  and they they do not have straight lines
• 23:14
  that's a get to your DOC right away
• 23:16
  and that means within days
• 23:18
  not weeks or months
• 23:19
  if you see flashes of light in your vision
• 23:22
  or new floaters in your vision
• 23:24
  that's a get to the get to your eye doctor call today
• 23:27
  eye pain that lasts more than an hour
• 23:30
  is a get to your doctor right away
• 23:33
  eye redness is check with your doctor
• 23:36
  and run your symptoms by your DOC
• 23:39
  um and anything else really that's new
• 23:41
  anything that you think is a change and you're not sure
• 23:44
  just go ahead and get checked
• 23:46
  sometimes peace of mind is worth a lot
• 23:49
  and you'd rather be safe than sorry is
• 23:52
  is what I tell my own children
• 23:54
  so you know the father of medicine
• 23:57
  um at least in of what western medicine
• 23:59
  the person that we've identified as the
• 24:01
  father of medicine is Hippocrates
• 24:04
  and he said
• 24:05
  let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food
• 24:09
  this is still true I still believe this
• 24:12
  and that's what I want to focus on today
• 24:15
  how can we let food be our medicine
• 24:19
  and help us prevent vision loss and live a better life
• 24:25
  the Mediterranean diet Mediterranean diet
• 24:28
  Mediterranean diet is super important
• 24:30
  and
• 24:30
  I'm gonna stop talking about the Mediterranean diet
• 24:33
  and start concentrating on what it means
• 24:37
  and what is the miracle of the Mediterranean lifestyle
• 24:42
  really
• 24:42
  that is what I would love for the group to understand
• 24:46
  if you don't already understand this
• 24:50
  the wonder of the Mediterranean lifestyle has been
• 24:56
  promoted pretty much on every social media platform
• 25:00
  television you name it
• 25:02
  so if you haven't heard about the Mediterranean diet
• 25:05
  I would be surprised I think the challenge is
• 25:09
  understanding
• 25:10
  what Mediterranean lifestyle really means
• 25:13
  and I hope we can dig into that a little bit today
• 25:16
  I happen to have the benefit of having a
• 25:20
  an Italian mother full blooded Italian mom
• 25:23
  so I grew up with a lot of the foods
• 25:26
  that you see in this picture
• 25:27
  here they are
• 25:29
  it would seem weird to me to not have these foods in
• 25:32
  in my everyday life but the Mediterranean lifestyle
• 25:36
  also means being with family
• 25:38
  and friends and having purpose
• 25:41
  and we'll talk about that a little bit
• 25:43
  and in the power of food and the types of food
• 25:47
  that are in the Mediterranean diet
• 25:48
  there are other diets out there
• 25:50
  um that are similar to the Mediterranean diet
• 25:52
  I'm just gonna focus on this one
• 25:54
  because it's one of the more well known
• 25:56
  but we can
• 25:57
  you can ask questions about some of the other
• 25:59
  diets that have been promoted
• 26:01
  such as the Okinawa Okinawan diet
• 26:04
  these the uh Nordic diet um
• 26:06
  very similar to the Mediterranean diet
• 26:08
  but we can actually change our genetic destiny
• 26:11
  through nutrition
• 26:13
  the way that your genes are expressed
• 26:16
  is controlled by your food
• 26:17
  so even if you have all those risks
• 26:19
  that I talked about earlier in the presentation
• 26:22
  you can change that risk with food
• 26:24
  you have to use your food as medicine
• 26:26
  and you have to be consistent and systematic about it
• 26:29
  but have fun figuring out what that means hahaha
• 26:34
  easier said than done and let me just say
• 26:38
  I'm not the only evangelist right
• 26:40
  um I happen to be the president of the Ocular
• 26:42
  Wellness and Nutrition Society
• 26:44
  but the center for Disease Control
• 26:46
  the American Heart Association
• 26:47
  the American Cancer Society the National Heart
• 26:50
  Lung and Blood Institute and so on
• 26:52
  we're all recommending the same types of healthy foods
• 26:57
  and healthy lifestyle there's not a lot of difference
• 27:00
  um you know
• 27:01
  I'm bombarded on my yes I'm I'm an old lady
• 27:04
  I I sort of define myself by
• 27:06
  by admitting what social media I tend to look at
• 27:10
  but in my Facebook feed you know
• 27:12
  I'm bombarded every single day with all these fad diets
• 27:15
  and eat this and
• 27:17
  you know you get sucked in
• 27:18
  and people are telling you all these things
• 27:20
  that you need to eat this one food
• 27:21
  and you'll live forever
• 27:23
  or eat this shake and you'll live forever
• 27:26
  I'm gonna get cut right to the chase at the end of
• 27:28
  at end of this presentation
• 27:30
  and share with you some
• 27:31
  information that is completely free
• 27:34
  and that you can start using right away
• 27:36
  if you don't know about it already
• 27:38
  I'm gonna talk about a couple other facts
• 27:42
  before we get into the food discussion
• 27:46
  because even if you think you're eating healthy
• 27:48
  you may not be eating healthy
• 27:50
  and I want to make that point by saying
• 27:52
  nearly everyone nearly everyone
• 27:55
  failed to meet recommendations for dark
• 27:58
  green vegetables orange vegetables
• 28:00
  legumes that's uh
• 28:02
  beans
• 28:02
  and whole grains when surveyed in the United States
• 28:07
  we're calling this a US diet crisis
• 28:10
  so what that means is
• 28:12
  nearly the entire US population
• 28:14
  does not have the diet that they should
• 28:17
  to prevent disease period right
• 28:20
  so I hope this helps
• 28:22
  we already talked about the obesity crisis
• 28:25
  the sugar crisis I call I call
• 28:27
  we're also have in what I call the US sugar crisis
• 28:30
  our food is so loaded with sugar
• 28:35
  that we don't even know exist right
• 28:37
  it's I think most of us know now soda equals sugar
• 28:41
  ice cream you know
• 28:42
  has sugar in it
• 28:43
  cakes and and and crackers have sugar in it
• 28:46
  but there's so much sugar embedded and snuck into the
• 28:50
  into the packaged food in the grocery store
• 28:53
  that you may not recognize as sugar
• 28:57
  and not even realize that
• 28:58
  you're consuming massive amounts of sugar
• 29:00
  we know that that's happening right
• 29:03
  by what people buy
• 29:05
  what flies off the the shelves in the grocery store
• 29:08
  we're eating a massive amount of sugar
• 29:11
  compared to the sugar we you know
• 29:13
  were eating over over a century ago
• 29:16
  um I don't have this in my in my presentation
• 29:19
  but there is a um
• 29:22
  doctor by the name of Doctor Robert Lustig
• 29:24
  he's been nicknamed the Sugar Doctor
• 29:27
  and he's written five books about sugar
• 29:31
  and how it has snuck into the food supply
• 29:35
  so if you want to read further about
• 29:38
  the 50 different names that we've come up with
• 29:41
  that are food ingredients that are really sugar
• 29:44
  I would suggest looking him up
• 29:46
  and looking at his website
• 29:48
  and that'll give you a good idea
• 29:49
  the other thing you can do is just avoid packaged food
• 29:51
  that's the simplest thing to do
• 29:54
  you know there are other exposures
• 29:58
  that can also reduce what you take in for nutrients
• 30:02
  um I've listed a few of these here
• 30:05
  but I think a lot of people don't under don't may
• 30:09
  it may not be top of mind
• 30:10
  I don't want to sound insulting to say oh
• 30:13
  people don't know about this
• 30:15
  but our water supply having copper pipes
• 30:18
  can actually deplete
• 30:19
  some of the nutrients that you consume in your body
• 30:22
  if you over consume Calcium
• 30:25
  if you over consume uh
• 30:27
  fried foods because they're filled with trans fats
• 30:30
  if you have hormonal imbalances
• 30:32
  there's a whole host of medications
• 30:34
  that can deplete nutrients
• 30:36
  we know that sugar and smoking also deplete nutrients
• 30:40
  as does the chronic use of a heartburn medication
• 30:43
  and aspirin
• 30:44
  so this is why I emphasize at the beginning of
• 30:48
  of this presentation
• 30:50
  that you should talk to your DOC
• 30:52
  about your individual situation
• 30:55
  because there may be a lot of exposures that you have
• 30:58
  that reduce your ability
• 31:00
  to uptake nutrients even if you have a healthy diet
• 31:04
  and that's perhaps that's perhaps that's something for
• 31:07
  for another lecture you know
• 31:08
  I I do love this book how not to die by Doctor Greger
• 31:12
  he is a staunch vegan I am not a vegan
• 31:15
  but he has some great information
• 31:17
  about how to get more fruits and vegetables
• 31:19
  into your diet and it's just a general
• 31:22
  general uh recommendation that I have for for books
• 31:25
  I have lots of other recommendations there
• 31:27
  there's a lot in the pipeline
• 31:29
  in terms of what I refer to as ultra prevention
• 31:34
  but I'm gonna talk about some real
• 31:37
  real simple things today um
• 31:39
  and as I said earlier
• 31:40
  there are a lot of highly uh rated health apps
• 31:44
  but there are over 200,000 health apps
• 31:46
  now that's really really really confusing
• 31:49
  um here are some of my favorites
• 31:51
  and I'm happy to share this list
• 31:52
  but I will tell you my list changes constantly
• 31:55
  cause I can barely keep up
• 31:56
  and I'm gonna try to cut through all that noise
• 32:00
  as we talk about food
• 32:02
  so if you're not sure if you're eating healthy foods
• 32:07
  there are questionnaires
• 32:08
  that you can take to understand
• 32:11
  how close your diet is to the Mediterranean diet
• 32:15
  so if you're a real scientific type
• 32:17
  and you wanna get right down to the nitty gritty
• 32:19
  and you wanna score yourself
• 32:21
  and understand whether or not
• 32:23
  you're close to the Mediterranean diet or not
• 32:26
  you can there are a number of questionnaires out there
• 32:28
  I was gonna have a list of those prepared
• 32:30
  but I didn't have time to do that for this particular
• 32:32
  presentation but let me review the visual here
• 32:38
  being physically active and eating with others
• 32:42
  is something that you should try to do
• 32:45
  if you're not doing that now
• 32:48
  what you eat slower when you eat with others
• 32:51
  your cortisol your stress hormones are lower
• 32:54
  you digest your food better
• 32:56
  and your nutrient intake goes up
• 32:59
  if you're with people you like
• 33:02
  so that means friends and family
• 33:04
  and people that make you happy is No. 1 actually
• 33:09
  in terms of intaking
• 33:12
  food that's healthy and digesting it the proper way
• 33:15
  I don't think we talk about that much as docs
• 33:18
  I don't think we talk
• 33:19
  I don't think you hear about that very much
• 33:21
  when you listen to the health pundits that are
• 33:24
  that are in the world what you should be doing
• 33:27
  is making sure that you have certain foods
• 33:30
  in most of your meals that are olive oil
• 33:35
  avocados greens
• 33:38
  healthy whole grains and and that's a confusing point
• 33:42
  nuts and seeds I have preferences
• 33:44
  some seeds you should not eat
• 33:46
  walnuts for example
• 33:47
  are a much healthier nut Brazil nuts
• 33:50
  sulfurine based vegetable
• 33:52
  or foods like garlic and onion
• 33:55
  should be a regular staple
• 33:57
  and all the citrus
• 33:59
  uh fruits as well
• 34:01
  a couple of times actually three times a week
• 34:04
  eating fatty fishes or foods that have Omega threes
• 34:09
  that are high in Omega threes is important
• 34:12
  eating moderate portions
• 34:14
  which you automatically do if you eat a meal with folks
• 34:16
  if you can and eat less more often
• 34:20
  so smaller meals
• 34:22
  there's some notes in there about drinking more water
• 34:24
  yes or drinking more fluids
• 34:26
  healthy fluids
• 34:27
  there's a note in there about drinking in moderation
• 34:31
  I'm gonna say maybe not on that one
• 34:33
  there's too much in the research now that says
• 34:36
  even small amounts of daily alcohol
• 34:39
  are probably not good I will tell you
• 34:42
  even though I have an Italian mom
• 34:43
  and a large Italian family
• 34:46
  that most of us do not drink
• 34:48
  and I do not drink any alcohol at all
• 34:51
  I know that sounds really boring
• 34:52
  probably for some people but the older you get
• 34:55
  it's much more difficult for your brain
• 34:57
  to recover from the alcohol exposure
• 35:00
  and it's a it's a neurotoxin
• 35:02
  so that's one thing I'm like yeah
• 35:04
  you should cut that out too
• 35:06
  but all the healthy foods that have resveratrol
• 35:10
  or something called polyphenols
• 35:12
  so polyphenols are a really
• 35:15
  really really super super important nutrient
• 35:18
  but it's also in other things that are not red wine
• 35:21
  like blueberries and in fact
• 35:23
  any kind of berries and all your purple foods
• 35:26
  purple fruits and vegetables
• 35:28
  and we'll talk about those a little bit
• 35:31
  um
• 35:32
  there are some tests out there little blood spot tests
• 35:39
  this is just happens to be one
• 35:40
  and I have no financial interest in this company or
• 35:43
  or anything else that I mentioned in the lecture today
• 35:47
  but I like Tina
• 35:48
  Tina is an at home Omega 3 blood spot test
• 35:52
  so this is a super simple test
• 35:55
  you can go to their website and order it
• 35:57
  you can take the blood test at home
• 35:59
  you send this little card in
• 36:00
  and it actually tells you if you have healthy
• 36:03
  or unhealthy levels of Omega three
• 36:07
  uh Omega 3 is a critical fat to have in your diet
• 36:10
  it was naturally in all of our diets
• 36:13
  in the United States of the
• 36:15
  in the last century it has been stripped from our diet
• 36:18
  so it's not that it's a miracle food or a miracle cure
• 36:22
  it's that our diet is largely absent of this food
• 36:25
  so understanding your Omega 3 to 6
• 36:30
  9 balance is important
• 36:32
  most people should have more Omega threes
• 36:35
  and less Omega 6 in their diet
• 36:38
  so that means more olive oil and fatty fishes
• 36:42
  and less red meat not zero red meat
• 36:45
  but less other meats
• 36:47
  and less other foods that have Omega 6 right
• 36:51
  so with this test with Tina
• 36:53
  you can track you
• 36:55
  you can get a baseline blood spot test at home
• 36:57
  you can bring it to your DOC
• 36:58
  I would encourage you to do that
• 37:00
  you can change your diet and then
• 37:02
  you can retest to see if what you're eating
• 37:04
  is making a difference
• 37:05
  in raising your blood levels of Omega 3
• 37:08
  which helps prevent diabetic retinopathy
• 37:11
  it helps support glaucoma
• 37:12
  and it helps
• 37:13
  prevent vision loss from macular degeneration
• 37:16
  again those three leading causes of blindness
• 37:19
  the the goal of that particular test is
• 37:21
  improve and monitor the impact of dietary habits
• 37:25
  on retinol Omega 3 and get to the right level based on
• 37:30
  on Mediterranean diet recommendations
• 37:32
  okay so that's just one
• 37:35
  there's they're adding some testing capability
• 37:39
  that will come out soon to see
• 37:41
  do you have enough lutein
• 37:43
  zeaxanthin a
• 37:44
  vitamins a d
• 37:45
  E and coenzyme Q10 and curcumin levels in your blood
• 37:49
  so those are the nutrients
• 37:51
  that are important for preventing vision loss
• 37:54
  those are some of the primary nutrients
• 37:56
  important for preventing vision loss
• 37:58
  they're not the only ones
• 38:00
  but if you're super high risk
• 38:02
  or you already have an identified eye disease
• 38:04
  these become a little bit more important
• 38:06
  and you will be able to test your own blood
• 38:08
  at home
• 38:09
  to see if you have enough of this in your bloodstream
• 38:12
  to make a difference on your eyeballs
• 38:14
  so that's um kind of cool
• 38:17
  super inexpensive and will be broadly available
• 38:21
  and even your your
• 38:22
  your primary care docs
• 38:23
  not gonna test for these nutrients
• 38:25
  but I think many of them would be interested um
• 38:28
  what's hanging around in your blood
• 38:30
  based on what you eat
• 38:31
  and that's the purpose of that of the these tests
• 38:34
  so I'll leave some QR
• 38:35
  codes in case you really wanna take a look at that
• 38:38
  so what what do I tell my patients right
• 38:40
  I wanna get the whole gamut here
• 38:43
  it's it's hard for me to get all this in
• 38:45
  but I repeat repeat
• 38:46
  repeat
• 38:46
  and then I do webinars like this that are recorded
• 38:49
  so that my patients not just the audience here
• 38:53
  but so that my patients can hear me talking about
• 38:56
  for over an hour what I really think
• 38:57
  and maybe have some some take home education
• 39:01
  so follow a heart healthy diet
• 39:04
  that means a Mediterranean lifestyle
• 39:06
  eat foods uh plant based Whole Foods
• 39:10
  that means you can identify what the food is
• 39:13
  eat lots of fruits and veggies
• 39:15
  and healthy proteins and healthy fats
• 39:16
  and I'm gonna talk about that in a moment
• 39:19
  move around 150 minutes a week
• 39:22
  and that doesn't mean you have to go
• 39:24
  sweating in the gym and running and walking
• 39:27
  it means move get off your chair
• 39:30
  get off your chair get off your chair
• 39:32
  move around move around
• 39:33
  move around naturally um is
• 39:35
  is actually preferred especially if you're over 65
• 39:40
  reduce stress meditate
• 39:42
  that's a hard one right
• 39:43
  I mean some of us naturally have stress
• 39:45
  how we handle stress is individual
• 39:48
  but there is one thing that
• 39:50
  at least the research tells us
• 39:52
  that if you learn how to meditate
• 39:54
  even for one minute
• 39:57
  you can reduce your stress and your cortisol level
• 39:59
  so that's a bad hormone that drives disease
• 40:03
  it makes everything that I mentioned worse
• 40:05
  um
• 40:06
  in terms of eye disease or body disease
• 40:09
  even one minute so you don't have to become a yogi
• 40:13
  you don't have to learn how
• 40:16
  you know go to all kinds of meditation classes
• 40:18
  to understand how to meditate
• 40:20
  there are super simple apps that are
• 40:22
  what I call timeout meditate
• 40:24
  apps that you can download to your phone
• 40:26
  and you can just read how do I
• 40:28
  how do I do
• 40:28
  a one minute meditation is better than zero meditation
• 40:32
  if you do 3 minutes a day
• 40:34
  massive impact on your health right
• 40:38
  sleeping is key
• 40:39
  the rate of insomnia in the United States
• 40:42
  is off the hook why is that
• 40:44
  poor diet by and large
• 40:47
  there are other reasons that people have poor sleep
• 40:51
  and again that's why these are general recommendations
• 40:53
  and you have to talk to
• 40:54
  your DOC about individual circumstances
• 40:57
  like sleep apnea and and a whole bunch of other
• 41:00
  other things that can interrupt sleep
• 41:02
  to include lots of mental um
• 41:05
  mental health diagnoses but eating
• 41:09
  and getting the proper balance of fruits
• 41:11
  and vegetables and Omega threes in your diet
• 41:13
  actually can help you sleep
• 41:15
  it can reduce the rate of depression
• 41:17
  it can help you meditate better so again
• 41:20
  these are the recommendations
• 41:22
  but how you get there is the food
• 41:23
  and so it has broad application
• 41:25
  maintaining your weight again
• 41:27
  healthy food
• 41:28
  will help you automatically maintain your BMI
• 41:31
  and for this group
• 41:32
  don't forget to wear your safety glasses
• 41:34
  if you don't wear glasses all the time
• 41:37
  and I'm positive that all of
• 41:38
  you have heard that from your individual eye docs
• 41:41
  at a minimum if you've lost vision in one eye or lost
• 41:46
  lost the eye itself or one of your eyes
• 41:50
  uh blue light blocking glasses
• 41:51
  probably important is some controversy on that
• 41:54
  I have screen blockers on all all my computers uh
• 41:58
  and also on my phone
• 41:59
  and I put the blue light blocking settings
• 42:01
  on all my electronic devices
• 42:04
  if your diet stinks
• 42:06
  you're probably gonna need to supplement
• 42:08
  above and beyond never smoke
• 42:10
  and I joke with my patients
• 42:12
  read that Ocular Nutrition Society brochure in
• 42:15
  in my waiting room haha
• 42:18
  there are some some books that have been published
• 42:20
  in the last few years
• 42:22
  these are a couple of books that can help that
• 42:24
  that list both recipes and foods
• 42:28
  that you should concentrate on for eye health
• 42:32
  and you know here's sort of bottom line information
• 42:38
  these are the most nutrient dense foods
• 42:41
  so
• 42:42
  every single one of these foods are good for the eye
• 42:47
  the brain and the heart the body essentially
• 42:52
  and I'm gonna leave this here and pause
• 42:55
  and if this is what your diet looks like
• 42:58
  you can shut off the presentation right now hahaha um
• 43:03
  I will give you some examples
• 43:05
  I eat probably 10 eggs a week
• 43:09
  I happen to hard boil my eggs
• 43:12
  I drench them with olive oil
• 43:14
  I sprinkle herbs from my garden um
• 43:18
  or from the farmers market on my eggs every morning
• 43:20
  so this dark green herbs actually help you absorb
• 43:23
  and the olive oil actually helps you absorb the
• 43:26
  the good stuff that's in the egg yolks
• 43:29
  I eat every every morning also some form of a Berry
• 43:34
  at lunch I rip off a piece of dark chocolate
• 43:37
  that's the most favorite part of my day
• 43:39
  has to be high quality dark chocolate
• 43:42
  higher than 75% cacao I eat several avocados per week
• 43:48
  green leafy vegetables almost every single day
• 43:51
  more than once a day
• 43:52
  and I eat tons and tons and tons of sardines
• 43:55
  and salmon and peppers and I
• 43:57
  I buy pumpkin in the can
• 43:59
  even when it's not available in the fall
• 44:01
  and same thing with sweet potatoes
• 44:04
  I buy it in when it's fresh
• 44:05
  I buy it fresh
• 44:06
  when it's not available fresh
• 44:08
  I buy it in the can so in the can is actually good
• 44:10
  and any of these fruits
• 44:12
  vegetables or foods are generally also good frozen
• 44:17
  not avocados I think most of you know that
• 44:22
  and don't forget to drink your water
• 44:24
  so again these are the most nutrient dense foods
• 44:27
  and really just pause and
• 44:29
  and take a look at this image and say hmm
• 44:33
  do I do I eat these
• 44:35
  I also eat walnuts almost
• 44:37
  almost every single day
• 44:39
  there's even a study and I don't have this in the
• 44:41
  in the presentation that says
• 44:43
  if you eat 3 tablespoons worth of walnuts a week
• 44:48
  that you live longer never mind have better vision
• 44:51
  this is a little bit more like the Mediterranean diet
• 44:55
  again eating with people
• 44:57
  slowly preparing your food
• 44:59
  slowly eating your food
• 45:01
  and being mindful about how you just walk through life
• 45:06
  with the people that are around you
• 45:08
  and that you love
• 45:09
  having purpose is something that you can
• 45:13
  can think about and do right
• 45:14
  you know in my family
• 45:16
  there are two terms that we use all the time
• 45:18
  and one is mangiare and that means eat with purpose
• 45:23
  and also alla famiglia with your family
• 45:27
  and those are important things
• 45:28
  and your fan
• 45:29
  and defining family is something that you do
• 45:32
  so food
• 45:35
  Joy Span Health Span
• 45:37
  Tribe family
• 45:38
  these are all buzzwords in the
• 45:40
  in the health world if you will
• 45:42
  right now and health span
• 45:45
  I'm gonna talk about this for 2 seconds
• 45:47
  are the healthy years
• 45:49
  or the number of years of disease free in your life
• 45:54
  and so there's a shift now in medical research
• 45:59
  and even in the development of
• 46:01
  of nutrients and supplement
• 46:03
  what are the things that really give you healthy
• 46:06
  quality years not just longer years
• 46:09
  and another term the joy span
• 46:12
  this concept goes beyond the lifespan span
• 46:15
  or how long you live and it highlights that
• 46:17
  a long life is not necessarily a fulfilling life
• 46:21
  if it lacks joy connection
• 46:23
  meaning and purpose so those things matter for sure
• 46:28
  and I want to just take a little time out here
• 46:31
  especially for this group
• 46:33
  and talk about fall prevention
• 46:34
  so what what a wait a minute
• 46:36
  what are you talking about falls for
• 46:37
  I thought we were talking about food and diet and
• 46:40
  and how important that is
• 46:42
  there are a lot of you who are listening
• 46:44
  who have lost your depth perception
• 46:46
  and may have some poor contrast vision
• 46:49
  either because of that directly or indirectly
• 46:52
  and as you get older your risk of falling and at
• 46:55
  and not seeing where you're stepping actually goes up
• 46:58
  and that's associated believe it or not
• 47:00
  with a significant increase in mortality
• 47:03
  but there are things that you can do to prevent falls
• 47:06
  and one is keeping your brain healthy
• 47:08
  and your mind sharp so
• 47:10
  everything that I just talked about just now
• 47:13
  is also gonna help you lower your risk of
• 47:16
  of having a fall now
• 47:17
  of course paying attention
• 47:19
  and learning new ways of navigating through the world
• 47:22
  which is I think again
• 47:24
  a whole another discussion or lecture or webinar
• 47:27
  if you will is important
• 47:29
  but I just think it's important for me to always
• 47:32
  always mention
• 47:33
  that what you eat can actually help prevent falls
• 47:36
  in a in an indirect way
• 47:38
  and I would ask all of you that are
• 47:40
  are with us today to multiply the power of
• 47:44
  of anything that you've Learned here
• 47:45
  that you think is helpful
• 47:47
  talk to parents and grandparents
• 47:48
  and kids and grandchildren
• 47:50
  and tell them what you've Learned and
• 47:52
  and try to share that pathway to help
• 47:54
  that in and of itself
• 47:57
  I hope will give you some motivation and purpose
• 48:00
  an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
• 48:04
  and it's never too early to think about changing
• 48:08
  the way that you eat
• 48:09
  and this is something that I share with everyone
• 48:12
  and it's something that I truly try to live by
• 48:15
  as a doctor and a provider
• 48:17
  this is a term written in the oldest Chinese
• 48:20
  medical text superior doctors prevent the disease
• 48:23
  mediocre doctors treat the disease before evident
• 48:26
  and inferior doctors treat the full blown disease
• 48:29
  I don't wanna be that one
• 48:31
  here are some additional resources
• 48:33
  I would love to have a generative discussion
• 48:36
  and answer any questions that people have
• 48:39
  see what everyone has to say
• 48:40
  so thank you for listening yeah
• 48:42
  of course thank you Dorothy um
• 48:44
  this was fantastic those of you guys listening
• 48:46
  thank you for being here
• 48:47
  and I just want to make a minute
• 48:48
  or take a minute and thank our sponsors again
• 48:50
  for making this possible our webinars are
• 48:52
  one of the best ways that we
• 48:53
  are able to educate our patients
• 48:55
  we do record these so if you missed any parts
• 48:57
  or you just want to go back and listen
• 48:58
  we do have this um available on the recording
• 49:01
  and we hope that you'll share it with friends
• 49:02
  on our YouTube channel I have a couple of questions
• 49:05
  and then those of you guys in the chat
• 49:06
  we have about
• 49:07
  I'm gonna say about eight minutes for questions
• 49:10
  and if we um
• 49:12
  have any questions
• 49:12
  that we're not able to answer right away
• 49:14
  then we'll do our best to get those to Doctor
• 49:16
  Dorothy later
• 49:17
  so my first question is that if I have lost my eye
• 49:21
  or my vision in one eye
• 49:22
  but I've never needed glasses before
• 49:24
  is it still better and safer for me to wear glasses
• 49:28
  I think that's kind of
• 49:29
  just kind of one of those questions
• 49:30
  like I don't want to wear glasses
• 49:32
  like I don't need them
• 49:33
  so do I need to wear them to be safer
• 49:35
  and you know what
• 49:35
  what about glasses would protect my one eye
• 49:39
  my one good eye yeah
• 49:40
  so that's a great question the answer is yes
• 49:43
  there are so
• 49:44
  many studies
• 49:44
  that show that people who are wearing glasses
• 49:48
  are much more likely to not lose the other eye um
• 49:52
  even if they don't need glasses to see
• 49:54
  so you want to make sure that any glasses you buy
• 49:58
  have safety plastic in them
• 50:00
  called polycarbonate
• 50:01
  and that the frame and the lenses are properly made
• 50:05
  you know there's so much stuff available online now
• 50:08
  that's kind of crap if you will
• 50:10
  so I would say go to an optical that you can walk into
• 50:15
  and share with the the opticians
• 50:18
  the people that make glasses and fit you for glasses
• 50:21
  what your situation is or of course
• 50:23
  talk to your eye DOC
• 50:24
  you should be seeing your eye DOC say hey
• 50:26
  you know
• 50:26
  what's the best frame lens for me for my situation
• 50:31
  they're pretty much all gonna give you the same advice
• 50:33
  but the answer is yes yes and yes but you know
• 50:37
  you don't want something that it's gonna fall apart
• 50:40
  shatter into your eye and make things worse
• 50:43
  but most most lenses are made out of plastic
• 50:46
  they're very very strong plastic
• 50:48
  and absolutely will protect the eyes so
• 50:50
  and they're a fashion statement now
• 50:52
  so I mean if you need one
• 50:54
  why not get like five yeah
• 50:57
  especially if you can get yeah
• 50:58
  if you can get some decent ones that are um you know
• 51:01
  polycarbonate of course
• 51:02
  I think that was something that as a kid
• 51:04
  when I got glasses I was always like well
• 51:05
  why do I need those they're called glasses
• 51:07
  aren't they made of glass
• 51:08
  and yeah
• 51:09
  shattering in your eye totally makes sense
• 51:11
  we definitely wouldn't want that
• 51:13
  and you know
• 51:13
  polycarbonate
• 51:14
  plastic is what they put on airplane windows
• 51:16
  so like it's
• 51:17
  it's that strong um okay
• 51:19
  you talked about supplementing for
• 51:21
  if you're just not able to get an adequate amount of
• 51:23
  some of these you know
• 51:24
  recommended foods in your diet
• 51:25
  I know you mentioned one of the
• 51:26
  kind of top areas that a lot of people tend to be
• 51:29
  nutritionally um
• 51:30
  deficient in is the Omegas
• 51:33
  so do you have any specific supplement
• 51:34
  brands that you would recommend people look into
• 51:37
  I know that there's a lot out there
• 51:38
  in the supplement world and it can be really confusing
• 51:41
  and so anything that they should look into there
• 51:44
  or maybe what to look for on the ingredient label even
• 51:47
  mm hmm yeah
• 51:48
  so that's a great question
• 51:50
  and my advice has changed on this over the last
• 51:53
  probably 10 years or so to be really clear
• 51:57
  eating foods rich in Omega 3 is much
• 52:01
  much better
• 52:03
  and your body will absorb that fat much better
• 52:06
  if you eat the foods supplementing is a last resort
• 52:11
  and one thing that we've discovered in the studies
• 52:14
  over the last few years in particular
• 52:17
  is a lot of the pill form of Omega 3
• 52:20
  the fat becomes rancid
• 52:23
  and so that's why in a lot of cardiac studies
• 52:25
  and eye studies
• 52:27
  we we couldn't show
• 52:29
  after supplementing people with the pills
• 52:31
  that there was an impact to their vision
• 52:34
  or their health um
• 52:35
  but when you look at people that eat those foods
• 52:37
  it was quite dramatic so
• 52:40
  there are some brands out there
• 52:42
  that are probably better than others
• 52:44
  my No. 1 recommendation
• 52:46
  if you really don't want to eat fish
• 52:49
  for example is Carlson's cod liver oil
• 52:52
  and it comes in a green bottle
• 52:54
  and you put it in the fridge
• 52:56
  and the likelihood of that particular
• 52:59
  supplement going bad is a lot lower
• 53:02
  but if you can eat the foods
• 53:04
  eat the foods if you do not like fish
• 53:07
  or if you're a vegan or vegetarian
• 53:11
  chia seeds are one of my favorite Omega 3 foods
• 53:15
  and you can actually soak those overnight
• 53:17
  and add it to other food
• 53:19
  like yogurt or something else that you may eat
• 53:22
  same thing with walnuts even if you don't like walnuts
• 53:26
  you can crush those up into a powder
• 53:29
  and actually add it to other food
• 53:31
  and you will get similar benefits
• 53:34
  so you can make your own supplement at home really
• 53:37
  really cheap vitamins can be overpriced
• 53:41
  confusing to to understand
• 53:44
  the total milligrams that you're gonna look for
• 53:47
  on the bottle of DHA
• 53:50
  EPA should really be in the 1200 to 800 ratio
• 53:57
  DPA EHA
• 53:58
  those are the components of Omega 3 fat foods
• 54:02
  that you actually um
• 54:04
  should be exposed to at least every day
• 54:06
  so if you eat eat
• 54:07
  I know not everybody eats sardines
• 54:09
  I happen to really like them
• 54:10
  it was like this treat food when I was a kid
• 54:12
  I know that's weird I eat 52 cans a year
• 54:14
  like every Saturday that's my food
• 54:16
  you know find your food
• 54:17
  find something like that if you can
• 54:20
  but if not talk to your DOC
• 54:22
  talk to your nutritionist
• 54:24
  um talk to a trusted resource that is nationally known
• 54:29
  um Nordic Naturals
• 54:30
  is a brand that a lot of idocs love and recommend
• 54:34
  PRN is another brand that I docs love and recommend
• 54:38
  and they have good quality supplements
• 54:40
  but the old fashioned called liver oil
• 54:43
  and those of you who are a little bit
• 54:44
  maybe older than me may remember
• 54:46
  your mom giving you that'cause there's vitamin d
• 54:48
  and vitamin a and vitamin E in that oil
• 54:51
  as well hope that helps
• 54:53
  yeah of course
• 54:54
  so you talked a lot about diabetic retinopathy
• 54:57
  uh we in the ocular melanoma community
• 54:59
  if we have plaque
• 55:00
  brachytherapy or anything radiation wise to the eye
• 55:03
  we end up with something called radiation retinopathy
• 55:06
  um do you have any kind of knowledge of
• 55:09
  kind of studies out there that are
• 55:10
  maybe emerging to show if doing things
• 55:12
  you know with your food
• 55:13
  with your diet can help in preventing maybe the
• 55:16
  the speed of radiation retinopathy
• 55:18
  because
• 55:19
  fighting against radiation is a little bit trickier
• 55:22
  it is but everything that I talked about in the
• 55:26
  lecture today will help support
• 55:29
  and reduce
• 55:31
  or mitigate the effects of radiation retinopathy
• 55:34
  so it's exactly the same advice
• 55:37
  is there anything additional or special
• 55:40
  not really you know
• 55:42
  having that really good Omega 3 base
• 55:47
  you know is super
• 55:48
  super important as are all the other nutrients
• 55:51
  so Mediterranean diet for prevention of radiation uh
• 55:54
  retinopathy for sure okay
• 55:56
  I love that and I think it's so important to note that
• 55:58
  because I know a handful of patients in actually
• 56:01
  I know a patient who she's in another
• 56:03
  another country but she primarily focused on her diet
• 56:07
  after her initial diagnosis almost
• 56:09
  I want to say it was like 20 or so
• 56:11
  like close to 20 years ago
• 56:13
  and she had a a period of time and I'm
• 56:16
  I'm sharing this as a story um
• 56:18
  with you know
• 56:19
  the intent of sharing some hope here
• 56:20
  that if you've maybe lost some level of vision
• 56:22
  and you um
• 56:24
  haven't lost all of it
• 56:25
  cause I think if if you go completely blind
• 56:26
  I don't know that there's any coming back from that
• 56:29
  but she had lost maybe you know
• 56:30
  she would have blurry vision
• 56:31
  double vision some of those kinds of things
• 56:33
  and she focused really heavily on improving her diet
• 56:35
  over you know
• 56:36
  the course of a decade
• 56:37
  and she actually was able to gradually improve
• 56:40
  her vision in her irradiated eye
• 56:42
  despite having a pretty hefty dose of radiation
• 56:44
  I think twice to her eye she didn't just have it once
• 56:47
  she had it twice and she had uh
• 56:50
  multiple different scans and things that she shared
• 56:52
  showing that her uh
• 56:53
  her tumor had improved
• 56:54
  and also the health of her eye had improved
• 56:56
  despite the radiation so I think
• 56:59
  I was talking to my kid last night after his swimming
• 57:00
  and one of the big things that we talked about is like
• 57:03
  mind matters like
• 57:04
  your mentality and what you believe is possible
• 57:06
  makes a huge difference so if you
• 57:09
  as a person believe that
• 57:10
  your only possibility here
• 57:12
  is that you're gonna eventually go blind
• 57:13
  from radiation damage that will probably happen
• 57:16
  because the body follows what the brain believes
• 57:18
  but if you have you know
• 57:19
  hope and and intent and you have
• 57:22
  you know
• 57:22
  the empowered knowledge that Dr Dorothy just gave us
• 57:24
  and how to eat
• 57:25
  and you just gradually make those changes
• 57:27
  then there's a huge amount of hope
• 57:29
  that you could preserve vision or
• 57:30
  you know maybe even improve what you have
• 57:33
  yeah I couldn't agree with that more
• 57:35
  true hope
• 57:36
  and a feeling of being with people
• 57:39
  lowers your cortisol levels
• 57:41
  and it reduces disease
• 57:42
  and that's an oversimplification
• 57:44
  but there's so many physiological things
• 57:47
  that we can measure
• 57:49
  that corroborate exactly what you just said
• 57:53
  well you guys here who are on this call
• 57:55
  and who have been chatting away a little bit in the
• 57:58
  in the chat
• 57:59
  I think virtual connection and hope counts as well
• 58:02
  so I think you know
• 58:03
  let's just be glad that we gave ourselves a little
• 58:05
  extra dose of hope today
• 58:06
  I think I had one other question
• 58:08
  like this is obviously you know
• 58:10
  diet changes I think
• 58:12
  I think for a lot of us
• 58:13
  can be one of the most overwhelming things to change
• 58:16
  like diet and physical activity
• 58:18
  um there's so much
• 58:19
  like you said there's so many fad diets out there
• 58:21
  there's so many people telling you
• 58:22
  what you should and shouldn't do
• 58:23
  it can be really overwhelming
• 58:25
  and if you are someone who wants
• 58:27
  you know if I'm someone who wants to make these changes
• 58:29
  or maybe I just have kind of
• 58:30
  fallen out of some good habits
• 58:31
  and back into some poor ones
• 58:33
  what would your advice be
• 58:34
  to someone who's feeling that overwhelm
• 58:36
  1 make one change
• 58:39
  just one change find one food that you like
• 58:42
  and incorporate into your diet
• 58:44
  it would be great
• 58:45
  if it was one of the foods that I mentioned here
• 58:49
  look up recipes on how to use that food
• 58:52
  and just one thing it could be blueberries
• 58:56
  it could be walnuts it could be dark chocolate
• 59:00
  it could be dark chocolate and walnuts
• 59:02
  but you know
• 59:02
  just one food hahaha
• 59:05
  one food just one food
• 59:07
  one minute of meditation
• 59:09
  and a couple of minutes of getting off your chair
• 59:13
  and disengaging from social media
• 59:17
  those those are just a couple in just a little bit
• 59:20
  just for one week seven days
• 59:22
  commit to one thing different
• 59:25
  and that they say becomes a habit
• 59:27
  so yeah
• 59:29
  well and I can
• 59:30
  I can speak to this
• 59:30
  I made a lot of changes back in 2022
• 59:33
  and it was initially really overwhelming
• 59:34
  but that's what I did I focused on one thing
• 59:37
  and I told I because I'm
• 59:38
  I'm one of those all or nothing people
• 59:39
  and I don't know if any of you
• 59:40
  guys out there are like me
• 59:41
  but I am one of those all or nothing people
• 59:44
  I wanna do it all I wanna do it all right
• 59:46
  I have you know
• 59:47
  high expectations of myself
• 59:48
  but that can be really debilitating
• 59:50
  especially if you're going through a stressful thing
• 59:51
  like a cancer diagnosis
• 59:53
  or you're recovering from your procedure
• 59:55
  things like that and so
• 59:57
  I really had to work on the mindset of just
• 59:58
  choosing to believe that it didn't matter
• 1:00:00
  which one thing I chose to do
• 1:00:02
  but that it would be beneficial in the long run
• 1:00:04
  and I think that you know
• 1:00:05
  that what Doctor Dorothy said um
• 1:00:07
  just picking that one thing
• 1:00:08
  will feel far less overwhelming
• 1:00:09
  it'll feel far more doable
• 1:00:11
  and it will make the world of a difference
• 1:00:13
  in building your confidence
• 1:00:14
  in making those new habits
• 1:00:17
  yeah and employ help
• 1:00:18
  if you're if you have people around you
• 1:00:21
  and you have a good support system
• 1:00:23
  tell them what you're trying to do and say hey
• 1:00:26
  can you bring me something with this
• 1:00:27
  or have you heard of this food
• 1:00:29
  do you know how to make this
• 1:00:32
  people want to help you
• 1:00:34
  when you share that you have a cancer diagnosis
• 1:00:39
  whether it be your family or your friends
• 1:00:41
  and I know some people have to walk through this alone
• 1:00:43
  and I I actually see that in the community that I'm in
• 1:00:46
  and I think that that makes it hard
• 1:00:48
  but reach out to communities like this
• 1:00:51
  that's No. 1 if you don't have family and friends
• 1:00:53
  because there are people who care
• 1:00:56
  even if you don't know them
• 1:00:57
  and that understand because of a shared experience
• 1:01:02
  but definitely
• 1:01:03
  tell people that you need to eat more healthy foods
• 1:01:07
  tell them what those are and see if
• 1:01:09
  and see if they'll help you
• 1:01:10
  help is good
• 1:01:12
  I love it well
• 1:01:14
  Doctor Dorothy thank you so much for your time today
• 1:01:16
  and thank you
• 1:01:16
  those of you who participated in our webinar
• 1:01:18
  and who gave us some feedback ideas questions
• 1:01:21
  we are so grateful for your participation
• 1:01:22
  and like I said before
• 1:01:23
  please make sure to share this recording
• 1:01:25
  when you see it pop up on our social media channels
• 1:01:28
  and share it again with any of your family
• 1:01:30
  your friends this is something of course
• 1:01:32
  that's gonna be helpful to those of us with ocular
• 1:01:33
  melanoma but like Doctor Dorothy said
• 1:01:35
  this is beneficial to everyone in our lives
• 1:01:37
  so you know
• 1:01:38
  teaching our kids
• 1:01:39
  teaching our our your grandkids if you have grandkids
• 1:01:42
  just sharing this information
• 1:01:43
  is gonna make the world of a difference
• 1:01:44
  in making sure that we can have awareness around
• 1:01:47
  what can we do to keep our vision healthy
• 1:01:50
  but thank you again for being here
• 1:01:51
  thank you again to our sponsors
• 1:01:52
  and we will see you guys next time
• 1:01:54
  yes thank you
• 1:01:55
  yes bye bye