A birthday party soured into a nightmare for a 15 yrs. old girl; Malika Arora* (name changed) when the ceiling fan came crashing down. She was rushed to the hospital where the team of doctors examined her and treated her for her injuries, she came back home with a few stitches on forehead.

The sun shines bright, the sky attaining a perfect blue, flowers blooming and birds chirping; brings us closer to another summer. A time to hit the beach, feel the ocean breeze, the salty hot air and indulge in refreshments. Amidst all the fun and frolic we ignore the most important part of the body- eye. We are reminded about skin care rituals during summer but tend to neglect our eyes when in reality they need special attention.

Have you ever stopped for a while and wondered how fruits could be the secret to good vision? Here are some interesting fruit facts and diseases that they can prevent.

Glaucoma can be a devastating disease if not taken care of in time. We bring to you Mr. Prakash* ( name changed) eho had visited AEHI eye hospital at Sanpada for his eye problems. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and was treated by Dr. Rajesh Mishra. Heres what he has to say while describing his journey to AEHI eye hospital and his glaucoma:

If one happens to live in a city or town, they may not be that concerned about their eye sight. One can always hop on to any eye hospital and get the necessary treatment. But that wasn't the case for Mr. Akshay Korke*(name changed), 55years old male who lives in the remote village of Maharashtra. When he started having problems with vision, things went downhill for him.

To have gone blind and regain vision is a miraculous recovery thanks to the efforts of one of the best eye hospitals in India.Reincarnation of healthy vision in my existing life because of corneal transplant is one I won’t forget.

For decades my life felt meaningless and purposeless. I was handicapped for almost 30 years due to my eye problems. My left eye had white spots which worsened over a period of time and finally I was deemed blind by my left eye. For about 10 years, I have been consulting various eye doctors, eye specialist but all they did was tell me that I am growing old. Constantly during the consults I was asked as to why I felt the need to treat my left eye. All they did was give me eye drops and disappointment. My hopes shattered always. My existence seemed to fade. I had suicidal thought and this worried my kids who would constantly be around to make sure I was happy. This was saddening as I felt I was stealing their comfort, peace and happiness.

I am a retired mechanical engineer but always believed in staying active. That is my mantra of well-being. With my son living in London, I keep commuting between Mumbai and London time to time. In recent times, besides my social charity work I developed an interest in gardening. I used to love gardening which led me to my passion of being a volunteer to beautify our environment.

Myopia also known as short sightedness is the new silent pandemic. The prevalence of Myopia is increasing drastically over past few decades. According to Brien Holden Vision Institute, Australia; approximately half of the world population would be myopic in the next 35 years to come. Some countries like US have displayed a 40% increase in myopia in children. Unfortunately, India is not far behind and has shown radical increase in myopia in children.

My problems started with blurring of vision 4 months ago. The blurring was so bad that it hampered my day to day activities. I have been staying in Navi Mumbai since the early 1980s and knew most of the hospitals in the area. Due to my increasing blurring problems I knew I had to consult an eye surgeon and told my son to decide which hospital would be best for eye surgeries.

The scare of Diabetic Retinopathy (retina damage due to diabetes) is increasing day by day. It has already become the third most common cause of blindness in urban areas. As for all other major diseases, prevention is better than cure; similarly, for diabetes related eye damage – the best approach to prevent blindness is to undergo routine eye checks and detect/treat diabetic retinopathy in early stages.