If death was not bad enough, now blindness is a possible complication of obesity and it’s treatment. A series of patients have recently been identified who presented with Vitamin A deficiency from several months to 18 years after gastric bypass surgery. With the increasing frequency of the procedure, both patients and healthcare providers need to be aware of the potential for Vitamin A deficiency in patients who have had any number of surgeries for obesity as well as other surgeries such as liver transplants. I myself identified a young man with severe Vitamin A deficiency after a liver transplant. It would appear that the complaint of night blindness is the most common presentation as it was in this patient as well as the four patients recently reported by researchers from Texas.
So, another good reason to look carefully at one’s diet and lifestyle, avoid the Metabolic Syndrome X, gastric bypass surgery,and purpose to maintain an ideal body weight.
Michael Mong, M.D.
Grapevine, Texas
Yet another report that shows a 70% decrease in the progression of macular degeneration in patients who report even modest levels of routine exercise. Imagine that, the mere fact of regular exercise was shown to reduce the chance of serious vision loss in a group of several thousand patients. Exercise may help protect against age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to the results of a large cohort study published online in the October 31 issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
"These data show a protective effect of physical activity for incident exudative AMD, independent of body mass index and other confounders," the authors write. "These data suggest a possible modifiable behavior that might be protective against developing AMD."
Longer life, less diabetes, fewer Metabolic Syndrome X symptoms, and now less vision loss, are all associated with increased physical activity and increased muscle mass. Now, purpose to exercise 4 to 5 times a week regularly as your health allows. For those of you that are diabetics, I would strongly suggest checking out resources on this blog from Dr. Richard K. Bernstein. He has excellent materials you can view here. Listen to informative audio programs from him here.
Michael Mong, M.D.
Ophthalmologist
Grapevine, Texas
