Children’s Headaches Rarely Indicate A Need For Eyeglasses

A new study provides the first clear evidence that vision or eye problems are rarely the cause of recurring headaches in children, even if the headaches usually strike while the child is doing schoolwork or other visual tasks. Many parents assume that frequent headaches mean their child needs glasses, so they ask their doctor to refer their child for an eye exam. This study was conducted by pediatric ophthalmologists who wanted to find reliable answers for parents, family doctors and pediatricians facing this common health question. The research was presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, conducted jointly this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

In this retrospective study, which was conducted at the ophthalmology clinic of Albany Medical Center in New York state, researchers reviewed the medical records of 158 children under age 18 who were seen at the clinic for frequent headaches from 2002-11. All of the children received complete eye exams by the clinic’s ophthalmologists.

No significant correlation was found between their frequent headaches and a need for vision correction. The researchers reached this conclusion by comparing the results of the clinic’s exams of the children with headaches to the records of their previous eye exams and other relevant medical care. Eye health and vision test results remained unchanged from earlier exams for 75 percent of the children. Also, children who already had eyeglasses were not found to need new prescriptions at the time they were seen at the clinic for headaches. Although about 14 percent of the children reported that their headaches occurred while doing visual tasks like homework, and about nine percent reported visual symptoms associated with their headaches, a need for vision correction did not appear to be the primary cause or a significant factor in any of these cases, according to the study.

The researchers considered it positive that most of the children’s headaches resolved over time. Follow up reports from parents showed that headaches improved in 76.4 percent of all study subjects, including those who did and those who did not receive new vision correction prescriptions. Children who received new prescriptions were not more likely than others to have their headaches improve. Assessing the causes of the headaches and addressing the children’s long-term outcomes were beyond the scope of this study.

“We hope our study will help reassure parents that in most cases their children’s headaches are not related to vision or eye problems, and that most headaches will clear up in time,” said Zachary Roth, M.D., who led the research team. “The information should also be useful to family doctors and pediatricians in caring for children and parents who have this common health concern.”

About thirty percent of the children in the study had eye conditions that went beyond the need for vision correction, including strabismus (misaligned eyes) amblyopia (“lazy eye”) or other rarer, more serious conditions. Seventeen percent had a family history of migraine. Because this was a retrospective study, the researchers were unable to connect these factors with headache causes.

Feed Your Eyes: Nutrition for Eye Health

When we think of eating for our health, we’re usually watching our waistline, not our eyesight. But it’s just as important to eat for your eyesight, doctors and researchers say.

Macular degeneration and cataracts are two diseases that may be prevented if you eat the right foods. Among foods considered good for your eyes are:

1. Beta-carotene foods: Carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, cantaloupe, apricots, and cherries
2. Vitamin C: Bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, oranges, strawberries, and kiwis
3. Vitamin E: Wheat germ, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, peanut butter, and avocados
4. Rich in zinc: Oysters, ostrich (a very lean meat), turkey, pumpkin seeds, and chick peas
5. Rich in lutein and zeaxanthin: Spinach, Swiss chard, watercress, corn, and persimmons
6. Omega-3 foods: Wild salmon, sardines, Atlantic mackerel, and omega-3-fortified eggs

Vitamin D May Prevent Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 60, is a late-onset disease that results in degeneration of the central portion of the retina that allows you to have focused, precise vision. It currently affects about 8.5 million Americans aged 40 and older, and another 7.3 million people have an early form of the disease.

Studies have shown that fatty fish, as well as Vitamin D, seem to ward off age-related macular degeneration. A University of Buffalo study found that women under the age of 75 who got sufficient Vitamin D had a 59% reduced risk of developing this disease. The top sources of Vitamin D among the women studied were milk, fish, fortified margarine, and fortified cereal.

Fatty Fish and Macular Degeneration

Two other studies have found that eating fatty fish rich in omega-3 also reduced the risk of developing macular degeneration.

In one study, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, women who got the highest amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, were 38% less likely to develop macular degeneration. And those women who ate one of more servings of fatty fish per week (such as canned tuna and dark-meat fish) were 42% less likely to be diagnosed with the disease than women who ate fish less than once a month.

Another study at the Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine also had similar findings. More than 2,300 people who lived along Maryland’s eastern shore were followed for over a one-year period. Later, they were evaluated for macular degeneration; 227 were in the early stages of the disease, 153 had intermediate-stage disease, and 68 were in an advanced stage. Researchers found that those with advanced macular degeneration were significantly less likely to eat fish and shellfish rich in omega-3.

These omega-3 fatty acids can also be found in salmon, trout, and sardines. It’s not exactly known how omega-3 reduces the risk of disease, but some research indicates that chronic inflammation may help cause macular degeneration. Omega-3 fish oils have anti-inflammatory properties.

How Vegetables Reduce the Risk of Cataracts

Vegetarians are less likely to develop cataracts, another disease that leads to blindness, than meat-eaters, another study found. Cataracts form when the eye’s lens becomes cloudy, leading to blurred vision and even vision loss. About 21 million Americans have cataracts in at least one eye, and the number is expected to increase to 30 million by 2020.

A study at the University of Oxford in England found that vegetarians and vegans were 30% to 40% less likely to develop cataracts than people who eat a lot of meat. The more meat people ate, the greater their risk of developing cataracts, the research found.

In addition, other research has found that green leafy vegetables and colored fruits are good for the eyes. These foods contain carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which have a positive impact on the retina. They help reduce discomfort from glare, enhance contrast, and may increase visual range. The pigments in carotenoids help protect the retina and lens, and may even protect against macular degeneration and cataracts, researchers say. Foods especially rich in lutein and zeaxanthin are kale and spinach.

Comfort For Bespectacled Kids – Eyeglasses Make Them Look Smart According To Their Peers

Young children tend to think that other kids with glasses look smarter than kids who don’t wear glasses, according to a new study.

Children between the ages of 6 and 10 who were surveyed for the study also thought that kids wearing glasses looked more honest than children who don’t wear glasses.

Otherwise, the survey suggested that children don’t tend to judge the attractiveness of their peers who wear glasses when asked about their appearance, potential as a playmate or likely athletic abilities.

The findings might give children some comfort when they are fitted with their first pair of eyeglasses, said lead study author Jeffrey Walline, assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State University.

“If the impression of looking smarter will appeal to a child, I would use that information and tell the child it is based on research,” Walline said. “Most kids getting glasses for the first time are sensitive about how they’re going to look. Some kids simply refuse to wear glasses because they think they’ll look ugly.”

The study is published in the May issue of the journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.

Walline surveyed children in this age range because they are more likely to be prescribed eyeglasses than contact lenses. Generally, children with nearsightedness are diagnosed with myopia and receive their first corrective lenses at around age 8. Teen-agers were not surveyed because they are routinely fitted with contact lenses if they want them.

For the study, Walline and colleagues assembled a series of 24 pairs of pictures of children for comparison. The children in each pair differed by gender and ethnicity, and each pair included one child with glasses and one child without glasses.

Eighty young children – 42 girls and 38 boys – were surveyed. Of those, 30 kids (38 percent) wore glasses, 34 had at least one sibling with glasses and almost two-thirds had at least one parent who wore glasses.

The questionnaire featured six questions, many based on similar studies in adults. When presented with each pair of photos, the participants were asked which of the two children pictured: would you rather play with; looks smarter; looks better at playing sports; do you think is better looking; looks more shy; and looks more honest?

On average, two thirds of the participating children said they thought that kids wearing glasses looked smarter than kids not wearing glasses. And 57 percent of the participants said they thought kids with glasses appeared to be more honest. Both kids with and without glasses thought other kids wearing glasses looked smarter.

Walline said the findings suggest that media portrayals associating spectacles with intelligence may be reinforcing a stereotype that even young children accept.

In the case of the other four questions in the survey, the answers were not consistent enough to suggest that glasses made a difference in how the kids felt about the pictures they were examining.

Other trends emerged, however, that had nothing to do with whether the kids in the pictures were wearing glasses and which supported conventional wisdom about kids’ opinions. Both boys and girls said they thought that boys appeared to be better at playing sports. Boys indicated they would rather play with boys, and girls said they would prefer playing with girls. Both boys and girls thought the opposite gender looked more shy. Girls also were more likely than boys to pick their own gender when asked which child looked more honest.

The fact that the question of attractiveness yielded no significantly different answers for children with or without glasses suggests that kids don’t automatically consider kids with glasses to be unattractive, Walline said.

“The concern about attractiveness with glasses seems to be more internal to a particular child rather than an indicator of how they’ll feel about other people who wear glasses,” Walline said.

Walline conducted the study with Loraine Sinnott, Anita Ticak, Sylvia Jones and Lisa Jones of Ohio State’s College of Optometry, and Erica Johnson of the Southern California College of Optometry.