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Re:Vision With Two Good Reasons to Go For 'Dry July'

Tuesday 9 July 2019, 2:11PM

By Beckie Wright

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The caring sharing folk at Re:Vision have come up with two good reasons why you should opt for taking part in Dry July, one being about how alcohol affects eye health, and secondly to learn more about ‘dry eye’, a condition that can be treated.

If you’re taking part in Dry July this year, you’ll reap more than just the financial benefits. Staying off the booze can also greatly impact eye health. Although it’s no secret that drinking to excess puts the body under strain and can lead to serious health implications, many are unaware their eyes could be at risk. Heavy drinking of alcohol may cause problems with your vision and overall eye health including the following.

Decreased visual performance: Your overall visual performance may be altered since drinking heavily impairs brain function. You may have blurred vision or double vision due to weakened eye muscle coordination. Although light consumption of alcohol probably won't cause any health problems, drinking alcohol excessively can have harmful effects on your body, including your eyes.

Slow pupil reactions: Alcohol tends to affect the speed at which your iris constricts and dilates. A driver that has been drinking alcohol cannot adapt as quickly to oncoming headlights.

Decreased peripheral vision: Drinking alcohol has also been shown to decrease the sensitivity of your peripheral vision. This may give you the effect or perception of having tunnel vision.

Decreased contrast sensitivity: Drinking too much alcohol can alter your contrast sensitivity, or how precise you can discern between shades of gray. Driving in rain or fog will be much more dangerous: all good reasons to give your eyes a break for a month.

Dry eye syndrome — also called dry eye disease (DED) — is one of the most common eye conditions worldwide and a primary reason for visits to the eye doctor, and is caused by a chronic lack of sufficient lubrication and moisture on the surface of the eye. Consequences of dry eyes range from subtle but constant eye irritation to significant inflammation and even scarring of the front surface of the eye.

Re:Vision are focused on making excellence in eye care accessible to everyone who needs it. Founded by leading NZ ophthalmologist Dr Trevor Gray and run by top eye surgeons, Re:Vision offers excellence in vision correction for laser eye surgery, cataract surgery, pterygium, ICL, RLE and much more, so for more information on laser eye surgery, corneal transplant surgery and cataract surgery cost please go to https://www.revision.nz/ .