College of Optometrists launches amazing eye facts video

The College of Optometrists has launched a short video listing a range of amazing eye facts to mark the seventh annual National Eye Health Week. The video, which is available on the College’s Look After Your Eyes website, lists the fascinating eye facts listed below to explain the importance of the eye and encourage consumers to ensure they have regular sight tests:

1. We produce over one litre of tears every year to keep our eyes lubricated. This doesn’t include the emotional tears produced when we cry.
2. Your pupils dilate when you find a person attractive. Some studies suggest women’s pupils are widest during ovulation and this may be why men find partners with wide dilated pupils more attractive.
3. Our eyes are equivalent to a 74 mega pixel camera, but after our brains have processed the image, we can see at a level of detail equivalent to a 576 mega pixel camera, if one existed.
4. The surface of the cornea is the quickest healing part of the body.
5. On average, we blink 13,662 times each day. Using a computer for five hours a day can reduce this to around 10,350, which may make your eyes feel dry and tired.
6. Our iris is unique, just like a fingerprint.
7. The human eye can see at least 2.3 million colours. Some research suggests we can actually see up to 7 million!
8. We have around 4.6 million colour photoreceptors in the eye called cones that enable us to see colour and detail, and over 92 million black and white photoreceptors called rods that help us see in low light.
9. About 8 per cent of all males are colour deficient and perceive colours slightly differently to the majority of us.
10. Your retina is one of the highest oxygen-consuming tissues in your body.

Dr Susan Blakeney, clinical adviser to the College of Optometrists, said: “Our research has shown that 64 per cent of British people value their sight more than any other sense and National Eye Health Week presents us with an opportunity to talk about our amazing eyes and how to maintain your vision. As always, if you notice any changes in your vision, then you should book yourself in for a sight test. Regular eye examinations should form part of everyone’s health routine, after all looking after your eyes is just as important as looking after the rest of your body.”

More information about National Eye Health Week can be found at: www.visionmatters.org.uk/.