Last Saturday Maud and Gabriëlle were at the National Eye Congress in Utrecht. This congress was organized by the Eye Association in collaboration with the Eye Fund.
In the morning, Prof. Rob Collin of Radboudumc spoke about personalized care for hereditary eye diseases. Then everyone got up from their chairs during the story of former long track skater Barbara de Loor about the impact of sports and exercise on your health.
💪🍏 We know of course that sufficient exercise and healthy eating are important. But prof. dr. Caroline Klaver of the Erasmus MC and Radboudumc made this extra clear in her presentation "You can influence the fate of eye diseases yourself". She said that there is no scientific evidence about the influence of exercise and healthy eating on the course of ADOA. But there is for the general health of your eyes and optic nerve.
Lifestyle advice
During the presentations, various lifestyle advices were discussed. In particular, sufficient exercise and healthy eating. The advices/guidelines are as follows:
Healthy dietary advice for the eyes
- Vegetables > 250 to 400 grams per day
- Fruit 2-3 pieces per day and berries 2-3 times per week
- Fatty fish 2 times a week
- Nuts > 90 grams per week
- Olive oil instead of animal fat
- Little or no red meat, sugary drinks, sweets and alcohol
- Fish oil (EPA 330 mg, DHA 250 mg) for all eye diseases
Sufficient exercise (adults and seniors)
- At least 150 minutes per week of moderate or heavy intensity exercise, spread over several days
- Muscle and bone strengthening activities at least twice a week, supplemented with balance exercises for seniors
- Avoid sitting still for too long
- Rule of thumb for the eye: 7 to 10 hours of moderate exercise per week
After lunch Maud also attended a parallel session by Dr. Jan Willem Pott and Dr. Tanja Lushchyk. Here attention was also paid to ADOA.
All in all, it was an interesting day and a great opportunity to connect with different healthcare professionals from all over the country.
💙 Thank you Oogvereniging and Oogfonds for organizing the conference!
