EYE SIGHT is undoubtedly a precious gift and World Sight Day organised by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness aims to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment.

This year the event held last Thursday (October 8) was to raise awareness of sight care for everyone but it is widely recognised by professionals in the field of eye care that many people think their eyes will look after themselves.

But the fact is that a lot of people suffer from visual impairment and more than 50 per cent of sight loss is preventable.

Sixty five per cent of the 285 million people worldwide who suffer from a visual impairment are aged over 50 and the most common causes are age-related macular degeneration (the UK’s leading cause of vision loss), glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.

There are a number of things that can be done to maintain healthy eyes and prevent sight loss. According to Sight Concern Worcestershire the most important thing people can do is go to the opticians for a full eye examination on a regular basis – the recommended frequency is every two years for people under 70 and every year after that.

The Worcester-based charity’s chief officer Jenny Gage said: “An eye examination is not just about whether you need new glasses – it is an eye health check up. You can have the early stages of an eye condition without knowing anything about it. An eye examination will detect this and enable you to get the treatment you need.”

UK medical director of Optical Express David Teenan said: “Many sight-threatening conditions can now be treated successfully if detected early. Glaucoma, for example, causes irreversible blindness but 90 per cent of cases could be prevented if diagnosed early enough.”

He said that eye tests can also detect other serious health conditions including diabetes, high cholesterol, strokes and brain tumours.

Sight Concern Worcestershire adds that smoking can have a damaging effect on the eyes. “There is a strong link between smoking and eye health. In particular, smokers are twice as likely to develop age-related macular degeneration - the leading cause of sight loss in the UK,” said Jenny.

According to the Royal National Institute for the Blind, smoking is the number one threat to eye health.

Sight Concern Worcestershire points out that a healthy diet and a healthy weigh can reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, which can also affect people’s eyes. Twenty per cent of people with type 2 diabetes will develop diabetic retinopathy while 40 per cent of people with type 1 diabetes will also be affected by diabetic retinopathy.

Anyone with diabetes can reduce their chances of developing diabetic retinopathy by maintaining healthy blood sugar and blood fat levels and going to their annual diabetic retinopathy screening appointments.

Jenny added: “Most people are not aware that there is a very strong link between diet and some eye conditions. You can reduce your chances of getting age-related macular degeneration by including certain foods in your diet.

“Cataracts which, unlike other eye conditions, are treatable and are also affected by what you eat. Forty per cent of people with type 1 diabetes and 20 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes will develop diabetic retinopathy.

“Maintaining a healthy diet and weight will reduce your chances of developing type 2 diabetes so could save your sight as well.”

The following fruits and vegetables contain the essential vitamins A, C and E and the anti-oxidents which are so important in maintaining healthy eyes. It is worth remembering that people don’t always have to have fresh fruit and vegetables - although these are the best. Frozen, tinned and dried are good too.

• Tomatoes. Red Peppers

• Oranges, Carrots, Peaches, Sweet Potatoes, Apricots, Mango

• Bananas

• Kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, cabbage, kiwi fruit, green grapes

• Blueberries

• Aubergines

Other eye health super foods include oily fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon as well as egg yolks.

Sight Concern recommends people should have at least one of the fruit and vegetables listed every day and the oily fish and egg yolks at least once each week.

“If you don’t eat fish and/or eggs, try to include more nuts and pulses into your diet,” Jenny said.

She added: “It is also really important to protect your eyes in the sun or when doing sports and DIY.

“Make sure you wear sunglasses that really protect your eyes and always use the recommended protective equipment when you are doing any activity where you could damage your eyes.

“If you have been issued with eye protection for some part of your job role, make sure you wear it and if you think you need eye protection at work but don’t have it, raise it with your employer. DIY accidents cause 20,000 eye injuries every year.

“Your sunglasses should block out 75-90 per cent of visible light and 99-100 per cent of UV rays. If they are not this efficient, you could be doing serious damage to your eye sight.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) estimates that being hit in the eye by a squash ball alone is responsible for 2,000 hospital admissions in the UK each year.