LIGHTHOUSE INTERNATIONAL URGES adults to consider going for a low vision examination, even if they have regular eye exams yearly.
People are considered to have "low vision" when their eyesight cannot be corrected by glasses, contact lenses, medication or surgery.
Lighthouse International suggests a low vision examination may be in order if you have difficulty with any of the following: reading the newspaper or other fine print, even while wearing glasses; seeing traffic signals or highway signs; seeing the curb when walking; adapting to light when going indoors; coping with glare all the time.
Conducted by specially trained optometrists and ophthalmologists, the low vision examination evaluates how one's vision functions in day-to-day living. It is not only about how well you see an eye chart, but also how well you see faces, street signs and all the other visual clues that guide you through the day.
If you need to find a doctor specializing in low vision, call the Lighthouse International's toll-free number, 1-800-829-0500, or visit the Web site at www.lighthouse.org
AS TERRIFYING AS THEY may seem at the time, small babies' fevers could make them healthier down the road.
Researchers from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit reviewed the medical records of 835 children enrolled at birth in the Childhood Allergy Study and noted any illnesses with documented fevers - defined as a temperature of at least 101 degrees - in their first year of life. When the children were ages 6 or 7, researchers tested about half of them for reactions to dust mites, cats, dogs, bluegrass and ragweed.
Among children who had no fevers in their first year, 50 percent showed allergies or skin sensitivity to at least one of the allergens. Having at least one fever dropped the percentage to 46.7 percent, while having two or more fevers in infancy dropped the percentage to 31.3 percent.
The finding adds more weight to the unproven "hygiene hypothesis," which says that kids who are exposed to dirt, bacteria and animals early in life are less prone to allergies and asthma later on, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement.
The research appears in the February Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
PEOPLE WHO EAT FISH rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon and tuna, appear to have less hostility than those who don't eat such fish.
Dr. Carlos Ibarren, a researcher with Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., and colleagues at several medical centers analyzed eating habits and psychological tests of 3,581 urban adults, ages 18 to 30, who participated in a federal heart study. After the researchers adjusted for such factors as age, sex, race, education, employment, smoking, drinking and weight, they found that eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids was an independent predictor that someone would score lower on measurements of hostility, including cynicism and mistrust of others, anger and aggression.
The findings, published in the January issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, follow Japanese research from 2000 that found fish oil supplements lowered aggression in students dealing with the stresses of final exams, and a 1992 U.S. study that found a cholesterol-lowering high-fish diet reduced hostility and depression in adults.
