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Wellness: The Eyes Have It

Make the connection between the eyes and overall health work for you

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Jim Thomas

Wellness has taken its share of lumps lately. As Dr. Scot Morris notes in “O.D. to O.D.” this month, there are those in health care who view the concept of wellness as alternative medicine. Critics have labeled employer-sponsored wellness programs as costly, ineffective and intrusive to participants’ privacy.

There are reasons to reserve judgment on such plans. A 2012 report by the Rand Corporation, sponsored by the Dept. of Labor and the Dept. of Health and Human Services, concludes, “At this point in time, there is insufficient objective evidence to definitively assess the impact of workplace wellness on health outcomes and costs.” This makes sense: Most immediate changes in behavior, say smoking cessation, yield results that must be studied through time to be fully understood.

Defining wellness

But let’s keep “wellness programs” separate from the concept of wellness. In that regard, it’s curious that some still dismiss the concept as alternative, as though it’s synonymous with overblown claims about ginkgo biloba or misleading statements about vitamins and “night vision.” Hopefully, we’re arguing about the definition of wellness, rather than the value of “an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life,” a definition of wellness that can be found on the University of California Davis student affairs website.

The connection between overall wellness and the eyes continues to grow stronger. A recent study in Ophthalmology shows that an integrated low vision/mental health approach can reduce the incidence of depression by half among people who have low vision due to AMD. We know that any number of diseases — including certain cancers, hypertension and inflammatory conditions — can be detected through the eyes. Other studies reveal that nutrition and lifestyle choices impact the whole body, including the eyes.

Two healthy choices

An awareness of wellness presents three options for optometric practices. First, the doctors and staff can become actively involved in providing appropriate wellness-related services and education to patients. Second, the practice can refer patients to resources that provide these services. Finally, practices have the choice to do nothing, but they do so at the risk of jeopardizing not only the wellness of their patients, but also the wellness of their practices. OM