How seeing helps us stay healthy
Realize what is really important
Thanks to our eyes, we do not fall off stairs, do not run against trees and do not approach a teeth-shedding dog. For the recognition of surprises and dangers - friend or foe? - The eyes are well equipped, because they react lightning fast to movements. The downside of this really vital feature: Our modern media with the many fast picture sequences also constantly demand attention. In the body, however, these fast movements can cause constant stress, because the organism is constantly put on alert.
The eyes are important not only for physical integrity, but also for our social survival: Within a tenth of a second, we can read moods and intentions in the faces of other people and find our way around the relationship jungle better. No wonder, then, that even babies are particularly interested in human faces and know very early on which components make up a face: dot, dot, comma, dash.
In fact, the sense of sight is a fairly reliable companion: it can recognize and distinguish forms, colors, distances and movements fairly accurately. Green is green, and a circle is a circle. Mostly that's true. Only sometimes the eye cheats trickily. In the middle of the retina, where the optic nerve emerges, we have no sensory cells - there is the so-called blind spot. But because we know that a solid line on a sheet of paper has no gap, the brain simply adds missing pieces. To see and to know is not the same thing; Experience, evaluations and feelings help us to classify visual impressions.
What affects seeing?
Too much light and boredom
Too bad for the eyes is too much sun: UV radiation irritates the conjunctiva, makes the lens age faster (cataracts) and damages the retina by the formation of aggressive oxygen radicals. Negative also affect one-sided viewing habits. Those who spend many hours a day at the same distance - watching TV, reading or using the computer - harm them in two ways: Not enough eyelids make them dry and irritable, and they lose the ability to flex flexibly over time to set different distances. Those who work almost exclusively at close range have a higher risk of myopia. Medications can also affect vision, such as antihistamines (for allergy symptoms) that can increase intraocular pressure and promote cataracts.
What does a green wall have to do with my mood?
How we can heal with the sense of sight
Bright yellow rape fields, over a bright blue sky, tender green spring leaves or gray concrete walls in suburban settlements: colors appeal to emotions and can influence moods and well-being. Experiments have shown that people in blue-painted rooms freeze faster than in rooms that are painted in "warm", brownish-red colors. British researchers just found out that reds women liked much better than men.
A light green move is perceived more quietly than a red one - Prof. Hugo Fastl and dr. Christine Patsouras from the Technical University of Munich in 2004 with test subjects. If you live on a main road, you may be able to gain more subjective peace with a lime green painted living room, even if the noise level remains objectively unchanged.
No wonder, then, that paints are also used therapeutically - from the earliest advanced civilizations to today. Many non-medical practitioners and anthroposophically oriented physicians try to influence the body and soul with colors: for example via colored lamps, colored clothing fabrics, color punctures (treating the acupuncture meridians with colors) or the color design of treatment rooms. There are few scientific evidence for efficacy, but therapists' experience has shown that such treatments may be useful for headaches, impaired concentration, rheumatism, sleep disorders, chronic tension, and psychological distress.
However, lack of reliable studies makes it difficult to distinguish promising methods from pure wishful thinking, as color psychologist Prof. Harald Braem admits: "I would advise against ominous therapies for diseases, but colors do indeed play a very important role in wellbeing Sitting a stressed-out manager in a blue-painted room for an hour makes him feel rested and calm, and orange-colored lenses have been shown to lift the mood.
"A second remedy is light - which works at least as effectively as an antidepressant in a deprived by true winter depression.Until recently, it was thought that light would only suppress the formation of the supposedly depressive hormone melatonin in the brain. Recent research suggests, however, that the suppression of melatonin formation, the internal clock is correct again. Because this is obviously wrong with winter depressive people - this is also recognizable by the fact that they almost always suffer from sleep disorders. The simplest method against winter depression: consistently go out for half an hour every day while it is light. In addition: instead of dim light turn on bright lamps in the apartment. And with a sustained mood low maybe buy a special, very bright light therapy lamp.
What if the senses are disturbed?
Flickering, flickering, staining: when to take such signals seriously
Vision problems can have many causes. Often they are harmless: if, for example, the world blurs before our eyes, we may just need a moment's rest. In addition, almost all people occasionally see so-called mouches floaters: points, spots and threads in the field of vision, which are caused by small clouding of the vitreous body. In some patients, however, the visual disturbance is so strongly in the focus of perception that it becomes a burdening disease. Anyone who sees more and more stains, streaks or flashes of light or suffers from other irritating blurred vision, should check with the doctor, if there is a need for treatment behind it. We see double images when an eye suddenly begins to squint, for example, in case of great fatigue or under the influence of alcohol. However, if the problem is persistent, more serious disorders may be the cause - a medical check-up is advisable. Incidentally, people notice much later than these misperceptions when their visual field gradually narrows from the edges. Therefore, the green star (also called glaucoma), which arises from a mismatch of intraocular pressure and retinal blood flow, usually unrecognized for a long time.
The result: When diagnosed, the optic nerve can already be significantly damaged. In Germany, about one million people suffer from this disease, and 50,000 are blinded. Since the green star can often be effectively treated at an early stage, experts advise risk groups such as diabetics and anyone over the age of 40 to undergo an optic nerve check with the ophthalmologist. Anyone who sometimes perceives a flicker or spike slowly moving outward from the center of the field of vision should know that these optical phenomena indicate a migraine that can occasionally even occur without a headache or nausea. Such visual disturbances are usually temporary - they rarely last longer than half an hour. If visual disturbances occur very suddenly and massively change your habitual perception (for example, visual field defects), you should seek medical help immediately. Because in rare cases, such symptoms may be signs of a stroke or a retinal detachment.
How to keep your eyes fit
Good for the eyes is variety: let the gaze wander into the distance, then again fix objects in different distances. The eye muscles - for the Nah- and Ferneinstellung and the mobility in all directions - can be just as strong as all other muscles. Individual eye training for vision problems is offered by opticians who specialize in so-called optometric vision training. - A GOOD EYE EXERCISE GOES: Hold an eye, extend your arm to the side of your open eye, and keep your thumb firmly in view as the arm moves slowly from top to bottom and from side to side. The head does not move.
- RELAX: Eye exercises can also help with neck tension through various neural connections with the neck muscles. Good is the so-called Palmieren: put the arched palms in front of the open eyes, it should penetrate as little light. Then look for several minutes at an imaginary horizon.
- DECREASE PRINTING: Relaxation exercises for the whole body can be positive for the eyes, says the holistic eye and eye trainer Kerstin von Langsdorff. Her experience: "Anyone who has too high intraocular pressure, is usually under pressure in life."
- HIGH MOISTURE: drink a lot, indoor plants and humidifiers, walks in the rain - that's good.
- EATING FOR HEALTHY EYES: These are not just carrots, but also kale, pumpkin, peppers or tomatoes - all suppliers of the radical scavengers Lutein and Zeaxanthin. Zinc in beef, liver and cheese is also good for the eyes.
- FAST HELP FOR TIRED EYES: Ear Acupressure. Just press the center of the earlobe vigorously for a few minutes and knead.
