April 12, 2025 • 25 mins
We live in a world dominated by screens. From smartphones and tablets to laptops and televisions, screen time has become inescapable. Americans now average 7 to 9 hours of screen exposure daily, and the consequences are taking a toll on our vision - no matter your age. Digital eye strain has reached epidemic proportions, with symptoms of blurred vision, dry eyes, and headaches. More alarmingly, excessive screen use may be fueling a sharp rise in myopia (nearsightedness), particularly in children. Based on these trends, half the world’s population is expected to be nearsighted by 2050.
Integrative nero-ophthalmologist Dr. Rudrani Banik (Dr. Rani), founder and medical director of EnVision Health NYC visits with Mark Alyn to discuss eye health and to invite listeners to the upcoming free The Eye Health Summit (May 1 - May 7th).
The problem goes beyond discomfort. Increased screen exposure strains the eye’s focusing system, leads to poor blinking habits, and exposes us to high-energy blue light, which interferes with sleep cycles and may contribute to retinal damage.
Nearly 20 million Americans have age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with 1 in 10 adults over 50 showing early signs. Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness, affects 3 million Americans, often with no symptoms until severe damage occurs. With cataracts and other sight-threatening diseases on the rise, early detection and preventive care are more critical than ever.
The Eye Health Summit, a free, global event taking place on May 1–7 coinciding with National Healthy Vision Month. This summit, hosted by Dr. Rani, will feature more than 35 expert-led discussions on topics from eye strain and ocular nutrition to cutting-edge advancements in eye health. At this free summit, participants will learn practical strategies to help safeguard their vision now and for the future: https://theeyehealthsummit.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Integrative nero-ophthalmologist Dr. Rudrani Banik (Dr. Rani), founder and medical director of EnVision Health NYC visits with Mark Alyn to discuss eye health and to invite listeners to the upcoming free The Eye Health Summit (May 1 - May 7th).
The problem goes beyond discomfort. Increased screen exposure strains the eye’s focusing system, leads to poor blinking habits, and exposes us to high-energy blue light, which interferes with sleep cycles and may contribute to retinal damage.
Nearly 20 million Americans have age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with 1 in 10 adults over 50 showing early signs. Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness, affects 3 million Americans, often with no symptoms until severe damage occurs. With cataracts and other sight-threatening diseases on the rise, early detection and preventive care are more critical than ever.
The Eye Health Summit, a free, global event taking place on May 1–7 coinciding with National Healthy Vision Month. This summit, hosted by Dr. Rani, will feature more than 35 expert-led discussions on topics from eye strain and ocular nutrition to cutting-edge advancements in eye health. At this free summit, participants will learn practical strategies to help safeguard their vision now and for the future: https://theeyehealthsummit.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is Late Night Health. This is the radio show
that cares about the most important part of your life,
your health. During the next part of our show, in
about a half hour, we're going to spend some time
with one of the host and producers of Healing Quest,
which is a TV show that you can watch on PBS.
(00:34):
And I'm looking forward to talking to Judy Brooks. I've
known it for a couple of years. And we'll be
talking about Healing Quest about thirty minutes from now. Right now,
we're going to go to New York City, my favorite
place in the entire world. I don't know why, but
(00:55):
it just is. And we're going to spend some time
with doctor Ronnie, Doctor Ronnie Banick. I think I got
that close? Did I? Banick Bannock? Ban Banick? Okay, doctor Bannock.
She is a sport certified ophthalmologist. Her book is called
(01:17):
Beyond Carrots. I gotta ask. My wife eats carrots a
lot because she thinks it helps her eyes. Is there
a good thing to eat?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah? Well, carrots are absolutely good for our eyes. But
the myth is that it's not the only food that
we need to keep our eyes healthy. A lot of
my patients ask me, you know, doctor Ronnie, if I
just have carrots every day, does that mean I'll have
twenty twenty visions? And I tell them no, there's no guarantee.
But carrots are really the tip of the iceberg. You
(01:49):
need to eat a whole diversity of foods to help
support your eyes beyond carrots.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And but you have to be careful because if you
eat too many, it can tint your skin.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, yes, it has beta carotene, which can make your
skin a little orange colored. And also too much beta
carotine or when it gets converted into vitamin a by
our bodies. Too much beta carotin and vitamin a can
lead to toxicities. You don't eat too many of them.
But again it's one of the many, many foods that
(02:23):
people can include in their diet to promote their eye health.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
What about some of the purple carrots?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Actually, I haven't seen that yet, but so it's interesting.
Carrots come in many colors. You know, we think of
orange as the typical color, but there's also purple, yellow, white, red, black,
So there's a range of carrots in each color. Of
these various varieties provides unique nutrients for our eyes. So
(02:53):
I would say, if you have the opportunity, mix it
up a little bit, have different colors of carrots and
different colors of all kinds of foods in your diet.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
We've been getting carrots from Melissa's Produce, which provides produce nationwide,
and their carrots are so sweet and they're big. Normally
I would pick a skinnier carrot it's easier to eat,
but these are fabulous carrots. Anyway, Like most Americans today,
(03:26):
I personally, and I know that Daryl is as well,
we're glued to our computer screens and at night, I
know you're going to tell me not to read in
bed with my iPad, but I turn on the nighttime filter.
Are computer screens bad for our eyes?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, that's a great question mark, and you're absolutely right.
Most of us are spending many hours a day on screens,
both adults and children alike. But you know, the good
news is screen time can cause short term side effects,
but no long term eye issues. So if people are concerned,
is it going to lead to macular degeneration or glaucoma
(04:11):
or cataracts? But no, there's no link between screen time
and any of those serious eye conditions. But there is
this condition we called digital eye strain that can be
problematic and people who spend a lot of time on screens.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
The fact is that, I mean I'm editing, Darryl is
editing audio, I do video, people are reading. My wife
is on her iPhone all the time reading news articles
that of course telling me about each one. But were
(04:49):
our eyes healthier before computers? Do you know? I mean
you're young, so you probably don't even remember before computer.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I'm not that young, Mark, but thank you for saying that. No,
I'm in my mid fifties, so I have had my
share of computer use, and I'm similar to you. You know,
I do have some maybe unhealthy eye habits at bedtime.
I use my computer late into the night and you know,
being exposed to that blue light. We don't know if
(05:19):
if there's been a difference, you know, pre kind of
screen time era and post screen time era. But what
I can can tell you is that there is this
condition digital ice train, and many of us experience it.
It has many symptoms like blurry vision, trouble focusing, dry eyes,
sometimes even light sensitivity, headaches, next strain. So that's all
(05:42):
under the umbrella term of digital ice train. So yes,
it can happen, but again, the good news is it
doesn't cause long term issues.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You know, being outside in the sun with the blue
light from the sun. My understanding is where some because
it can exacerbate things like cataracts, which we were talking
about before we went on the air. What about cataracts?
Can the blue light from my very big computer screen
(06:15):
cause cataracts if I overuse it?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah? So luckily the answer is no, there's no evidence
to support that. And the truth is, you know, we're
all talking about blue light coming from our screens. The
majority of the blue light we get is actually from
the sun. Even though we're on our screens for hours
and hours and hours a day, the majority still comes
from the sun. And that blue light is important. It
helps to regulate our sleep, wake cyclers or Katie and rhythm,
(06:42):
so we do need some sunlight. And you know it's again,
blue light is not going to cause permanent issues. It
may make it harder to fall asleep if you're on
screens you know, late into the night, but no permanent damage.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
When the blue light is a prettier light to me,
if I'm shooting video, I want a blue light rather
than a yellow light because a lot of times are amber,
and it just it looks more natural. Is that Is
(07:16):
that true from the eye the eye professional.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, so blue light is definitely a cooler tone, and
during the daylight hours, our eyes are used to that.
But I would say you may notice that if you
shoot in blue light in the evening hours, especially after
the sun has set, it may be a little bit
uncomfortable for your eyes because your eyes are more used
to more warm tones or you know, reds and oranges
(07:45):
and ambers later in the day. So I would say
during the day it's fine, but after sunset, maybe choose
some of the warmer colors.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And some of the warmer colors have been incorporated into
eyes saving eye making quote marks. By the way, you
can't see that, but ice saving colors do they work?
In other words, the nighttime.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Filters, yeah, I think you're referring to. You know, they
have these like night vision goggles or night driving goggles
that are kind of this warmer tint like orange or amber,
and the whole purpose of it is to really cut glare.
So if someone's driving at night, you know, on the
highway there's a lot of glare, it can help with that.
(08:33):
But the truth is that those glasses decrease the amount
of light getting into a patient someone's eyes and it
decreases contrasts. I'm not a big fan of them unless
someone is really really suffering from glare and light sensitivity
at night.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And but what about on the computers, because they do
have those nighttime filters. Do they help or do they hinder?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, so most most devices do have like the night
mode or night shift mode. I think that's what you're
referring tomorrow. And yes, it cuts the blue light coming
from your screen, and it helps people perhaps sleep a
little bit easier, be less light sensitive. But the truth is,
rather than all these filters that we have this digital technology,
(09:19):
we have to put the filters on our devices, it's
actually better to support our eyes via nutrition because there
are certain nutrients that can help our eyes that none
of these filters have been shown to do. But nutrition
has been shown to help our eyes with blue light.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And we're going to find out more about nutrition and
your eyes as Late Night Health continues. The question, of
course will be is what's up, doc, And we'll talk
about carrots again and some nutrition to support your eyes.
Be sure to join us at Latenighthealth dot com. That's
(09:58):
Latenight Health dot I'm Mark Allen along with the insane
Daryl Wayne, and we are talking about eyes with doctor Ronnie.
Don't go away as Late Night Health continues. Late Night
Help is proud of our partnership with the EBC, the
(10:22):
Evolutionary Business Council. Check them out at Ebcouncil dot com.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
You're listening to Late Night Health with Mark Allen. The
show continues in a moment.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
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Speaker 3 (11:37):
If you're listening to Late Night Health right now, you're
part of the growing target of baby boomers. Worth serving Hi.
I'm Darryl Wayne, producer of Late Night Health, inviting you
to join the Late Night Health family. If you have
any business targeting the growing boomer market, Late Night Health
is the ideal advertising vehicle for you. From vitamins to insurance,
alternative help, the Western style medicine, Late Night Health caters
(11:59):
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This vibrant demographic has expendable income to fight aging, purchase travel,
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(12:22):
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Night Help as we empower people to take charge of
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(12:42):
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Speaker 1 (12:47):
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Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's time to tackle a tough topic, one that affects
us all. We're talking about sexism in the workplace. The
award winning Identifying the Elephant in the Room series is
back and ready to tackle some complicated communications issues again.
This spring, we're focusing on critical communication strategies in the
face of sexism. Join us as we hear from professionals
(13:29):
in the natural products industry who have valuable career lessons
to share and real world experience to discuss from all
sides of the elephant. It's time to have an honest
and open conversation about the impact of sexism in the
workplace and how we can make it better for everyone.
Identifying the Elephant in the Room series starts March sixteenth.
(13:50):
Register today at nisibox dot vfares dot com. That's I
ni ci vox dot v fairs dot com and join
the conversation to be part of the solution. Late Night
Health continues. I'm Mark Allen along with the insane Daryl Wayne.
(14:11):
Our guest is actually a neurro ophthalmologist. I didn't know that,
and so she works with the brain as well as
with the eyes, because, as you said earlier, doctor, during
our break, that we actually see with our brains, we'll
find out about that. I want. Our guest is doctor Ronnie,
(14:34):
and we want to talk about the Iehealth Summit that's
coming up and also a little bit about nutrition. So
tell us about the free Eyehealth Summit.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Absolutely. So, there is an online conference that's taking place
in May called the Iehealth Summit, and it's a completely
free online conference. We have over thirty five IE health experts,
both ophthalmologists, optometrists. We also have some neurologists, integrated medicine experts,
all talking about their areas of expertise. And if you join,
(15:09):
hopefully you will join us. You will learn so much
about keeping your eyes healthy. Topics like dry eye, digital eyestrain,
which we just talked about, prevention of cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma,
even kids eyehealth. So really there's a topic for everyone
in the Eyehealth Summit. So please visit our website and
(15:29):
register for free. I hope to see you there. It's
taking place over seven days, but you can always register.
Even if you can't make it live, you can always
watch the recordings.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And what is the website.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Theihealthsummit dot com, so Wwwthihealthsummit dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
That's pretty easy. Ehealthsummit dot Yes, yeah, that's good. You
mentioned dry eye. That's something that is very common right now.
And I see people, you know, they're parked on the
freeway waiting or on the street waiting for red eye
(16:09):
and their squishing eye stuff into their their eyes. Is
hy eye a major issue right now?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
It is? Yeah, And you know, it's interesting. You know,
we've seen it, you know, for in many of our patients,
but especially in kids and teenagers, we're seeing a lot
more dry eye, and we think it may have to
do with their lifestyle, you know, screen time, et cetera.
But anyone can get dry eye, and probably during everyone's lifetime,
you will experience dry eye at some point, which is
(16:39):
kind of like an uncomfortable sensation. You may feel like
there's sand or gravel in your eye, feels a little gritty.
That's dry eye. And the typical, like mark, like what
you said, the typical treatment is to put in lots
of lubricating drops or white mins, similar to we know,
when you get dry skin, you have to moisturize. When
you have dry eye, you have to moisturize your eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's it's interesting because I don't I don't have dry eye,
but every now and then I'll wake up in the
middle of the night and put tears in.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And you do that because your doctor told you, or
because you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I feel uncomfortable and the doctor did not. I didn't
even mention it to the doctor. It happens so infrequently
for me.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, well, probably if you're feeling uncomfortable, it is that
your eyes are drying out at night. Normally our tears lubricatorized,
but when we're sleeping, our eyes, our eyelids aren't blinking,
so that lubrication is not getting kind of to the
surface properly, it's not spreading, and so our eyes can
dry out. So you're doing the right thing, even though
your doctor didn't tell you.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And the and we all know about how self medication is.
You're not supposed to do that. But I don't moisturize
my skin either. I know I should do that. But
should we moisturize our eyes regularly even if we don't
have dry eye.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yes, because even though you may not have symptoms, you
may have dryness or in the future again, you may
have intermittent dryness that comes and goes depending on the
season or the time of day, especially being on screen.
So you can combat that by moisturizing, but also blinking
a lot, making an conscious effort to blink frequently, that
(18:30):
will help to lubricate. And also going back to the
topic of nutrition mark which it's my favorite topic when
it comes to eye health. Nutrition can play a big
role in preventing dry eye, especially having lots of omegas
in one's diet.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And so we're talking about eating those carrots again and
you said omegas.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yes, yes, So we've heard about omega threes for our
heart health, for our skin health, or our immune system.
They also have been shown to help with dry eye.
Have a good source of omega threes in your diet,
whether that be fatty fish two or three times a week,
or lots of nuts and seeds that also have healthy
omegas that also can help. But definitely it's a combination
(19:13):
of nutrition plus lifestyle that can help to relieve a
lot of people's dry eye.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
There are a number of supplements that are marketed as
IE health supplements. Some of them are quite expensive. Are
those something that and their pills or capsules or is
that something that people should look into as well.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yes, I'm a big advocate of first diet, but then
supplementation to fill in the gaps if you feel like
your diet's not adequately covering all your bases. So there
are plenty of studies to show that supplementation can be
very effective for conditions like dry eye, prevention of macular degeneration,
and also for eye strain like at the computer eye
(19:55):
strain that the computer and light sensitivity can be helped
by supplements. I do have my own supplement line as well,
So again I'm a big, big advocate of it because
I've seen the research and I know that it can
make a big difference in my patient's lives.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
And you can find that out by going to your website. Correct.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yes, yes, www, doctor Ronniebannick dot com. So r A
n I b A n ik dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Good. You mentioned something that is the most that's very scary,
and that is macular degeneration. We see commercials for wet
and dry macular degeneration. It seems to me the older
we get, the more we hear about friends or relatives
(20:43):
getting this. Is this just a symptom of aging or
can young people get it as well?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
It typically tends to happen to people who are older
in age, so for example, at the age of fifty,
it only affects about one two percent of people, but
then as people get older into their seventies, eighties, et cetera,
that number goes up significantly. It is age related. As
the name implies, there are changes that happen in the
back of the eye. The interesting thing is, you know
(21:10):
those commercials you see on TV for both dry and
wet macular degeneration, those are the end stages of the disease.
What people don't realize is that in the earlier stages
you can do a lot of things with diet, with supplementation,
with lifestyle to prevent it ever getting to that end
stage where you may lose vision. So my biggest you know,
(21:32):
my biggest mission is to educate people on how to
prevent conditions like macular degeneration. And again the is Sumit
is a great place to learn. So if you haven't
registered yet, you can register learn all about how to
prevent it from getting to that wet stage. And you
know the treatments that work, that are that are promoted
in those commercials, they do work, they're helpful, but in
(21:54):
my opinion, it's best to prevent it before it gets
to that stage.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You mentioned prevention. You can prevent macular degeneration or slow
it down.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can prevent it and slow it down if it's
already started. So i'll share this this really important study
with you. Mark that the Mediterranean diet or following a
Mediterranean style diet has been shown to reduce the rate
of macular degeneration by forty over forty percent. So you
can decrease your risk of losing vision from AMD by
(22:29):
forty percent by following a Mediterranean style diet. It's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, that really is. People don't know that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
No, no, And you know, we always hear about the
Mediterranean diet for its many health benefits, but people don't
oftentimes hear about the eye benefits of following that type
of diet.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
So, right, and what about exercise would that help to.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yes, well, we know exercise is good for so many things, right, Mark, So,
but studies have shown that people who have more of
a sedentary lifestyle have a higher risk of AMD versus
people who have even like to moderate activity can reduce
their risk of losing visions. So try to incorporate a
little bit more activity, whether it's you know, just going
for a walk, maybe doing a little bit of aerobic activity,
(23:15):
doing some yoga, even some deep breathing to get you know,
the blood flowing in your muscles moving can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Doctor. We really appreciate your coming on. We look forward
to hearing more about the the seminar coming up, the
Health Health Summit and just look that up ihealthsummit dot
(23:44):
com and it's free and thirty five different healthcare practitioners.
That's terrific. And look forward to.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Having you come back like I would love to.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yeah, maybe we'll talk about atacts and upsets and things
in Marks life. Anyway, this is late and I held.
I'm Mark Allen along with the abscene Dar Alway
This is Late Night Health. This is the radio show
that cares about the most important part of your life,
your health. During the next part of our show, in
about a half hour, we're going to spend some time
with one of the host and producers of Healing Quest,
which is a TV show that you can watch on PBS.
(00:34):
And I'm looking forward to talking to Judy Brooks. I've
known it for a couple of years. And we'll be
talking about Healing Quest about thirty minutes from now. Right now,
we're going to go to New York City, my favorite
place in the entire world. I don't know why, but
(00:55):
it just is. And we're going to spend some time
with doctor Ronnie, Doctor Ronnie Banick. I think I got
that close? Did I? Banick Bannock? Ban Banick? Okay, doctor Bannock.
She is a sport certified ophthalmologist. Her book is called
(01:17):
Beyond Carrots. I gotta ask. My wife eats carrots a
lot because she thinks it helps her eyes. Is there
a good thing to eat?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah? Well, carrots are absolutely good for our eyes. But
the myth is that it's not the only food that
we need to keep our eyes healthy. A lot of
my patients ask me, you know, doctor Ronnie, if I
just have carrots every day, does that mean I'll have
twenty twenty visions? And I tell them no, there's no guarantee.
But carrots are really the tip of the iceberg. You
(01:49):
need to eat a whole diversity of foods to help
support your eyes beyond carrots.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And but you have to be careful because if you
eat too many, it can tint your skin.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, yes, it has beta carotene, which can make your
skin a little orange colored. And also too much beta
carotine or when it gets converted into vitamin a by
our bodies. Too much beta carotin and vitamin a can
lead to toxicities. You don't eat too many of them.
But again it's one of the many, many foods that
(02:23):
people can include in their diet to promote their eye health.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
What about some of the purple carrots?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Actually, I haven't seen that yet, but so it's interesting.
Carrots come in many colors. You know, we think of
orange as the typical color, but there's also purple, yellow, white, red, black,
So there's a range of carrots in each color. Of
these various varieties provides unique nutrients for our eyes. So
(02:53):
I would say, if you have the opportunity, mix it
up a little bit, have different colors of carrots and
different colors of all kinds of foods in your diet.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
We've been getting carrots from Melissa's Produce, which provides produce nationwide,
and their carrots are so sweet and they're big. Normally
I would pick a skinnier carrot it's easier to eat,
but these are fabulous carrots. Anyway, Like most Americans today,
(03:26):
I personally, and I know that Daryl is as well,
we're glued to our computer screens and at night, I
know you're going to tell me not to read in
bed with my iPad, but I turn on the nighttime filter.
Are computer screens bad for our eyes?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, that's a great question mark, and you're absolutely right.
Most of us are spending many hours a day on screens,
both adults and children alike. But you know, the good
news is screen time can cause short term side effects,
but no long term eye issues. So if people are concerned,
is it going to lead to macular degeneration or glaucoma
(04:11):
or cataracts? But no, there's no link between screen time
and any of those serious eye conditions. But there is
this condition we called digital eye strain that can be
problematic and people who spend a lot of time on screens.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
The fact is that, I mean I'm editing, Darryl is
editing audio, I do video, people are reading. My wife
is on her iPhone all the time reading news articles
that of course telling me about each one. But were
(04:49):
our eyes healthier before computers? Do you know? I mean
you're young, so you probably don't even remember before computer.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I'm not that young, Mark, but thank you for saying that. No,
I'm in my mid fifties, so I have had my
share of computer use, and I'm similar to you. You know,
I do have some maybe unhealthy eye habits at bedtime.
I use my computer late into the night and you know,
being exposed to that blue light. We don't know if
(05:19):
if there's been a difference, you know, pre kind of
screen time era and post screen time era. But what
I can can tell you is that there is this
condition digital ice train, and many of us experience it.
It has many symptoms like blurry vision, trouble focusing, dry eyes,
sometimes even light sensitivity, headaches, next strain. So that's all
(05:42):
under the umbrella term of digital ice train. So yes,
it can happen, but again, the good news is it
doesn't cause long term issues.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You know, being outside in the sun with the blue
light from the sun. My understanding is where some because
it can exacerbate things like cataracts, which we were talking
about before we went on the air. What about cataracts?
Can the blue light from my very big computer screen
(06:15):
cause cataracts if I overuse it?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah? So luckily the answer is no, there's no evidence
to support that. And the truth is, you know, we're
all talking about blue light coming from our screens. The
majority of the blue light we get is actually from
the sun. Even though we're on our screens for hours
and hours and hours a day, the majority still comes
from the sun. And that blue light is important. It
helps to regulate our sleep, wake cyclers or Katie and rhythm,
(06:42):
so we do need some sunlight. And you know it's again,
blue light is not going to cause permanent issues. It
may make it harder to fall asleep if you're on
screens you know, late into the night, but no permanent damage.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
When the blue light is a prettier light to me,
if I'm shooting video, I want a blue light rather
than a yellow light because a lot of times are amber,
and it just it looks more natural. Is that Is
(07:16):
that true from the eye the eye professional.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, so blue light is definitely a cooler tone, and
during the daylight hours, our eyes are used to that.
But I would say you may notice that if you
shoot in blue light in the evening hours, especially after
the sun has set, it may be a little bit
uncomfortable for your eyes because your eyes are more used
to more warm tones or you know, reds and oranges
(07:45):
and ambers later in the day. So I would say
during the day it's fine, but after sunset, maybe choose
some of the warmer colors.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And some of the warmer colors have been incorporated into
eyes saving eye making quote marks. By the way, you
can't see that, but ice saving colors do they work?
In other words, the nighttime.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Filters, yeah, I think you're referring to. You know, they
have these like night vision goggles or night driving goggles
that are kind of this warmer tint like orange or amber,
and the whole purpose of it is to really cut glare.
So if someone's driving at night, you know, on the
highway there's a lot of glare, it can help with that.
(08:33):
But the truth is that those glasses decrease the amount
of light getting into a patient someone's eyes and it
decreases contrasts. I'm not a big fan of them unless
someone is really really suffering from glare and light sensitivity
at night.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And but what about on the computers, because they do
have those nighttime filters. Do they help or do they hinder?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, so most most devices do have like the night
mode or night shift mode. I think that's what you're
referring tomorrow. And yes, it cuts the blue light coming
from your screen, and it helps people perhaps sleep a
little bit easier, be less light sensitive. But the truth is,
rather than all these filters that we have this digital technology,
(09:19):
we have to put the filters on our devices, it's
actually better to support our eyes via nutrition because there
are certain nutrients that can help our eyes that none
of these filters have been shown to do. But nutrition
has been shown to help our eyes with blue light.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And we're going to find out more about nutrition and
your eyes as Late Night Health continues. The question, of
course will be is what's up, doc, And we'll talk
about carrots again and some nutrition to support your eyes.
Be sure to join us at Latenighthealth dot com. That's
(09:58):
Latenight Health dot I'm Mark Allen along with the insane
Daryl Wayne, and we are talking about eyes with doctor Ronnie.
Don't go away as Late Night Health continues. Late Night
Help is proud of our partnership with the EBC, the
(10:22):
Evolutionary Business Council. Check them out at Ebcouncil dot com.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
You're listening to Late Night Health with Mark Allen. The
show continues in a moment.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
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Speaker 3 (11:37):
If you're listening to Late Night Health right now, you're
part of the growing target of baby boomers. Worth serving Hi.
I'm Darryl Wayne, producer of Late Night Health, inviting you
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(11:59):
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Night Help as we empower people to take charge of
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Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's time to tackle a tough topic, one that affects
us all. We're talking about sexism in the workplace. The
award winning Identifying the Elephant in the Room series is
back and ready to tackle some complicated communications issues again.
This spring, we're focusing on critical communication strategies in the
face of sexism. Join us as we hear from professionals
(13:29):
in the natural products industry who have valuable career lessons
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Identifying the Elephant in the Room series starts March sixteenth.
(13:50):
Register today at nisibox dot vfares dot com. That's I
ni ci vox dot v fairs dot com and join
the conversation to be part of the solution. Late Night
Health continues. I'm Mark Allen along with the insane Daryl Wayne.
(14:11):
Our guest is actually a neurro ophthalmologist. I didn't know that,
and so she works with the brain as well as
with the eyes, because, as you said earlier, doctor, during
our break, that we actually see with our brains, we'll
find out about that. I want. Our guest is doctor Ronnie,
(14:34):
and we want to talk about the Iehealth Summit that's
coming up and also a little bit about nutrition. So
tell us about the free Eyehealth Summit.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Absolutely. So, there is an online conference that's taking place
in May called the Iehealth Summit, and it's a completely
free online conference. We have over thirty five IE health experts,
both ophthalmologists, optometrists. We also have some neurologists, integrated medicine experts,
all talking about their areas of expertise. And if you join,
(15:09):
hopefully you will join us. You will learn so much
about keeping your eyes healthy. Topics like dry eye, digital eyestrain,
which we just talked about, prevention of cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma,
even kids eyehealth. So really there's a topic for everyone
in the Eyehealth Summit. So please visit our website and
(15:29):
register for free. I hope to see you there. It's
taking place over seven days, but you can always register.
Even if you can't make it live, you can always
watch the recordings.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And what is the website.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Theihealthsummit dot com, so Wwwthihealthsummit dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
That's pretty easy. Ehealthsummit dot Yes, yeah, that's good. You
mentioned dry eye. That's something that is very common right now.
And I see people, you know, they're parked on the
freeway waiting or on the street waiting for red eye
(16:09):
and their squishing eye stuff into their their eyes. Is
hy eye a major issue right now?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
It is? Yeah, And you know, it's interesting. You know,
we've seen it, you know, for in many of our patients,
but especially in kids and teenagers, we're seeing a lot
more dry eye, and we think it may have to
do with their lifestyle, you know, screen time, et cetera.
But anyone can get dry eye, and probably during everyone's lifetime,
you will experience dry eye at some point, which is
(16:39):
kind of like an uncomfortable sensation. You may feel like
there's sand or gravel in your eye, feels a little gritty.
That's dry eye. And the typical, like mark, like what
you said, the typical treatment is to put in lots
of lubricating drops or white mins, similar to we know,
when you get dry skin, you have to moisturize. When
you have dry eye, you have to moisturize your eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's it's interesting because I don't I don't have dry eye,
but every now and then I'll wake up in the
middle of the night and put tears in.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And you do that because your doctor told you, or
because you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I feel uncomfortable and the doctor did not. I didn't
even mention it to the doctor. It happens so infrequently
for me.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, well, probably if you're feeling uncomfortable, it is that
your eyes are drying out at night. Normally our tears lubricatorized,
but when we're sleeping, our eyes, our eyelids aren't blinking,
so that lubrication is not getting kind of to the
surface properly, it's not spreading, and so our eyes can
dry out. So you're doing the right thing, even though
your doctor didn't tell you.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And the and we all know about how self medication is.
You're not supposed to do that. But I don't moisturize
my skin either. I know I should do that. But
should we moisturize our eyes regularly even if we don't
have dry eye.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yes, because even though you may not have symptoms, you
may have dryness or in the future again, you may
have intermittent dryness that comes and goes depending on the
season or the time of day, especially being on screen.
So you can combat that by moisturizing, but also blinking
a lot, making an conscious effort to blink frequently, that
(18:30):
will help to lubricate. And also going back to the
topic of nutrition mark which it's my favorite topic when
it comes to eye health. Nutrition can play a big
role in preventing dry eye, especially having lots of omegas
in one's diet.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And so we're talking about eating those carrots again and
you said omegas.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yes, yes, So we've heard about omega threes for our
heart health, for our skin health, or our immune system.
They also have been shown to help with dry eye.
Have a good source of omega threes in your diet,
whether that be fatty fish two or three times a week,
or lots of nuts and seeds that also have healthy
omegas that also can help. But definitely it's a combination
(19:13):
of nutrition plus lifestyle that can help to relieve a
lot of people's dry eye.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
There are a number of supplements that are marketed as
IE health supplements. Some of them are quite expensive. Are
those something that and their pills or capsules or is
that something that people should look into as well.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yes, I'm a big advocate of first diet, but then
supplementation to fill in the gaps if you feel like
your diet's not adequately covering all your bases. So there
are plenty of studies to show that supplementation can be
very effective for conditions like dry eye, prevention of macular degeneration,
and also for eye strain like at the computer eye
(19:55):
strain that the computer and light sensitivity can be helped
by supplements. I do have my own supplement line as well,
So again I'm a big, big advocate of it because
I've seen the research and I know that it can
make a big difference in my patient's lives.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
And you can find that out by going to your website. Correct.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yes, yes, www, doctor Ronniebannick dot com. So r A
n I b A n ik dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Good. You mentioned something that is the most that's very scary,
and that is macular degeneration. We see commercials for wet
and dry macular degeneration. It seems to me the older
we get, the more we hear about friends or relatives
(20:43):
getting this. Is this just a symptom of aging or
can young people get it as well?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
It typically tends to happen to people who are older
in age, so for example, at the age of fifty,
it only affects about one two percent of people, but
then as people get older into their seventies, eighties, et cetera,
that number goes up significantly. It is age related. As
the name implies, there are changes that happen in the
back of the eye. The interesting thing is, you know
(21:10):
those commercials you see on TV for both dry and
wet macular degeneration, those are the end stages of the disease.
What people don't realize is that in the earlier stages
you can do a lot of things with diet, with supplementation,
with lifestyle to prevent it ever getting to that end
stage where you may lose vision. So my biggest you know,
(21:32):
my biggest mission is to educate people on how to
prevent conditions like macular degeneration. And again the is Sumit
is a great place to learn. So if you haven't
registered yet, you can register learn all about how to
prevent it from getting to that wet stage. And you
know the treatments that work, that are that are promoted
in those commercials, they do work, they're helpful, but in
(21:54):
my opinion, it's best to prevent it before it gets
to that stage.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You mentioned prevention. You can prevent macular degeneration or slow
it down.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can prevent it and slow it down if it's
already started. So i'll share this this really important study
with you. Mark that the Mediterranean diet or following a
Mediterranean style diet has been shown to reduce the rate
of macular degeneration by forty over forty percent. So you
can decrease your risk of losing vision from AMD by
(22:29):
forty percent by following a Mediterranean style diet. It's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, that really is. People don't know that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
No, no, And you know, we always hear about the
Mediterranean diet for its many health benefits, but people don't
oftentimes hear about the eye benefits of following that type
of diet.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
So, right, and what about exercise would that help to.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yes, well, we know exercise is good for so many things, right, Mark, So,
but studies have shown that people who have more of
a sedentary lifestyle have a higher risk of AMD versus
people who have even like to moderate activity can reduce
their risk of losing visions. So try to incorporate a
little bit more activity, whether it's you know, just going
for a walk, maybe doing a little bit of aerobic activity,
(23:15):
doing some yoga, even some deep breathing to get you know,
the blood flowing in your muscles moving can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Doctor. We really appreciate your coming on. We look forward
to hearing more about the the seminar coming up, the
Health Health Summit and just look that up ihealthsummit dot
(23:44):
com and it's free and thirty five different healthcare practitioners.
That's terrific. And look forward to.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Having you come back like I would love to.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yeah, maybe we'll talk about atacts and upsets and things
in Marks life. Anyway, this is late and I held.
I'm Mark Allen along with the abscene Dar Alway
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