The researchers analyzed the DNA of more than 6,000 participants of the Rotterdam Study, a large population study among over 45s in the Rotterdam district of Ommoord. They compared the eye color of these people with data from 37 DNA markers previously found to be involved in eye color. The main conclusion is that only 6 DNA markers are needed to predict brown eye color with 93% accuracy and blue eye color with 91%.

Such markers cannot predict eye colors other than blue and brown as accurately, and more research will be needed to find new markers to better predict these colors. That blue and brown eye color can be predicted by a few DNA markers only, is of special interest to forensic scientists, who often have to work with limited amounts of DNA material.

This new research method works two ways for us: in the future, we will be able to predict the eye color of the person the trace material belongs to more accurately while needing a smaller amount of DNA material. This is very important to forensic investigations as we often work with traces that contain very little DNA. In fact, I expect that the NFI will be able to apply this new investigative method to trace material within a year. That will make us the first forensic institute in Europe that has this new investigative application at its disposal

There is also some kind of connection between eye color and paternity. Eye color follows a polygenic inheritance pattern, and is probably governed by 6 or more genes. Generally, these genes express themselves as one of 8 different eye colors. “Dark” is dominant at each of the 6 genes. The more dominant alleles present, the darker eye color appears.

Eye Color inheritance theory estimates paternity based on the assumption that lighter-eyed parents cannot have darker-eyed children. Consider the following examples:

- 2 ‘light blue’ eyed parents cannot have a ‘blue’ eyed (or darker eyed) child.
- 2 ‘blue’ eyed parents can have a ‘Blue-green’ (or lighter) eyed child, but not hazel or anything darker.
- 2 ‘blue-green’ eyed parents can have a ‘light brown’ (or lighter) eyed child, but not brown or anything darker.
- 1 ‘light brown’ eyed parent and 1 ‘blue-green’ eyed parent can have a child with any of the possible eye colors.
- 2 ‘dark brown or black’ eyed parents can have a child with any of the possible eye colors (but it is unlikely they will have a light eyed child, such as light blue or blue).

Eye color often appears much lighter at birth, and becomes its true color in 1 or 2 years after birth. Variations can also occur, randomly, causing deviations in perceived eye color. Thus, eye color cannot reliably predict paternity.

Everybody is aware of a great number of eye diseases, but some of them can be prevented. As we’ve written earlier, the first reason of blindness is macular degeneration, and this illness can be avoided due to natural methods.

Instead of our main advice, don’t forget about simple, but very important rules: don’t sit too close to the TV set or a computer, don’t spend much time at the screen (and if you have to, make some pauses doing eye exercises).

Always use sunglasses in summer and protective glasses while working with liquids and materials dangerous for human’s eyes. Be sure that your hands are clean before you rub or touch the eyes.

So, here we present you seven ways of improving your eyesight:

1. Vitamin E – it is a strong antioxidant. It was proven that it can slow the development of AMD (macular degeneration) via protection of our retina.

2. Fish oil – this thing has strong components which are able to prevent AMD and various eye diseases.

3. Mahonia Grape Extract – it is not a secret that extract from grape seeds can protect your eyes from UV sunrays and at the same time it increases the strength of retina’s capillaries. Mahonia itself strengthens the organism and slows the process of eye aging.

4. Zinc is an important mineral needed by all cells of our body. Moreover, zinc can strengthen the eye cells.

5. Vitamin C is well known for its medical qualities. It is also an antioxidant which in cooperation with Vitamin E will protect eye tissues.

6. Bilberry Extract – the thing is that these berries have got anthocyanosides which also decrease the level of AMD and can prevent other problems with retina too. Furthermore, bilberry defends our eye arteries and veins helping us to see at night.

7. And one more component – aspalathus. It is a strong plant from South Africa. It can be also called rooibos and can boast the same antioxidants as bilberry and can improve health of our eyes and enhance the immunity.

Then raises another question – if a person has to take all these things together in their combination, and how it will influence on the final effect.

The best thing is of course to take all these natural herbs and vitamins at the same time and here we’ll tell you why:

1. First of all if you are going to buy each component separately it will be rather expensive.
2. It is not safe to mix these things in a chaotic way, because then they can become really toxic.
3. And one more point is that they should be well balanced by a professional to have the best and the fullest effect.

So let’s look closer at the factors, which may cause macular degeneration (AMD):

Heredity. The truth is that really macula degeneration may be found in the genes. We mean that if parents had such a problem, than children are very likely to have it too. It is not a rule, but chances grow considerably. It also influences the form and behavior of the disease.

Smoking. Are you surprised? Please, don’t. As it was proved by British scientists, smoking is a very important factor which can influence the development of the macula degeneration (approximately 25% of all cases are caused by it) and the result is loss of vision. So, give in smoking and don’t double the risk to get AMD.

Old age. This disease depends much on the age of the patient. These words are based on different studies that show: an opportunity to get AMD grows from about 1 percent among people of 60 to approximately 15 percent of people who are 90.

Hypertension or high blood pressure. Sure, it is not the leading reason but it should be also taken into account. According to the information from scientists (the Netherlands) high blood pressure, which is also known as Hypertension can easily cause the development of AMD.

Small activity and obesity. Overweight is really a great problem. The same we can say about eye diseases. So, the cases of macular degeneration can be met more frequently among people with overweight than between people of normal body. As for active lifestyle, physically active people aren’t only healthier in comparison with inactive friends but also have less problems with eyes.

Drug Side Effects. There are drugs which may be considered dangerous for our organism. Some of them may also be a factor that causes macular degeneration. These drugs are following: Stelazine (trifluoperazine), Aralen (chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug) or phenothiazine that belongs to the group of anti-psychotic pills. The same we say about Prolixin (fluphenazine), Thorazine (which is prescribed in case of vomiting, nausea or frequent hiccups), Trilafon (perphenazine) and some others.

Light color of the eyes. May be it would seem funny, but this problem happens oftener among people with fair skin and lighter eyes. It is considered that dark pigments of the color of eyes serve like protective factors. But there are no serious evidences to confirm this factor.

Square
If you’ve got a square face with a wide forehead and a powerful jaw (especially when the length and width are practically the same). Our task is to make such a face visually longer and to make the angles softer. Give your preference to narrow frames, or those which are wider than deeper, for instance, narrow ovals.

Oval
As you know, an oval shape of the face is believed to be ideal because it is very proportional. Not to destroy this natural harmony choose the glasses with wide frames (may be even wider than your own face, or the frames in the form of the face, or walnuts that aren’t too narrow or extremely deep.

Round
Under a round face we mean a face that has the same proportions in the length and width without sharp angles. We want a round face to look like an oval, or at least longer and thinner . Prefer narrow, angular spectacles in order to elongate the face. Use glasses with a clear bridge to widen the eyes and also deep frames, for instance rectangular form.

Long
There are long faces (when it is longer than wider) usually with long and straight line of the cheeks, and a long nose. It is better to make face visually shorter and proportional. That’s why it is better to choose frames with a top-to-bottom depth, additional decorative elements or those that create contrast while adding some width to a long face. Or choose low bridges to make a nose shorter.

Diamond
Such kind of face is rarely met. It can be described in the following way: rather narrow, with high cheekbones, that creates a dramatic effect. Our task is to bring out the cheekbones and highlight the eyes. So, buy rimless glasses or of cat-eye and oval shapes.

Base-Up Triangle
The triangular face of such type has small bottom third and too wide top third. We are going to minimize the wide top part with the help of frames which are rather wide at the lower part. Choose light materials and colors, or even rimless models to create an airy feeling.

Base-Down Triangle
Another type of triangle face with a narrow forehead, which becomes wider at the cheek line, and chin. Here we use another tendency – we choose models that will accent the narrow upper third of the face. Give your preference to the glasses of bright and visible color and great amount of details.

One of the usual things with people who have vision problems is sensitivity to light and gaze. It’s especially common for those, who has or had cataracts, diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration.

There are special lenses for wearing outdoors which have blue-blocking effect and reduce glare. You can use them in sunny or cloudy weather. The colors of such lenses are normally light and dark gray, orange, yellow and different shades of amber.

Let’s look closer at photochromic lenses. They can either darken or lighten. It depends on the power of the sunlight in the place where you are. Among this variety of choice it’s rather difficult to select the best variant. That is why it’s highly recommended to consult an oculist, who will surely help you to choose the best lenses especially for you.

Lenses with glare-reducing effect that also absorb blue light may be prescribed together with your sunglasses. There also clip-ons which may be worn with your usual eyeglasses or side-shielded fit-over styles which you can use with the spectacles or alone.

Of course we can present you some other devices for you to feel more comfortable outdoors. Under various devices we mean binoculars that are used for both eyes and a handheld monocular telescope that can be used for one eye only. Such devices should be prescribed by eye practitioner for you to wear them effectively.

Manufacturers are ready to introduce to your attention new head-mounted electronic magnifying eyeglasses that can provide better and at the same time automatic focusing, no matter what vision you need – distant, intermediate or near.

You will be able to find various electronic devices that will make your life easier and more comfortable. Such eyeglasses deal with a portable control system and a battery which you’ll be able to recharge. They open wonderful opportunities for impaired people.

To sum up, we need also to mention the canes which can be used for help by blind people or those who have problems with walking. In such cases when people have no or partial side (peripheral) vision, canes may help to find orientation and to navigate better, keeping the balance.

Actually a lot of refractive problems can be corrected with the help of contact lenses — even such a problem as astigmatism. There will be no difference for their eyes if they wear lenses and not the spectacles. Moreover, contact lenses provide better and sharper vision and less perversion than eyeglasses. It is connected with the fact that lenses are exactly on the eyes.

For those teenagers who go in for sport, contact lenses will surely become a wonderful choice! It will be easier for them to see better and clearer while doing various activities. It’s rather comfortable as they needn’t worry about breaking eyeglasses.

You know that there is one more advantage: when teens use contact lenses instead of usual spectacles they wear sunglasses oftener. It is very important to use sunglasses and protect your eyes from the harmful sun-rays, especially if you have vision problems.

Some parents worry about things related to care connected with wearing contact lenses. But modern lens systems are rather simple to be kept. Furthermore a great number of lenses are disposable, and don’t need a lot of time. You can keep two pairs at home if something happens with those your child wears.

Would they like to change color of the eyes?

The point is that some lenses will allow your teen to change the color of his\her eyes. There are different types of contact lenses: those which are hardly tinted can slightly change your own color. For example, if you have light blue eyes, they’ll become brighter or darker. There are also lenses which may change the color absolutely: from brown to green or from blue to violet, for instance.

Nowadays you can even find such contact lenses that will make your eyes look like vampire’s or cats’ for different parties or just for fun.

As for colored lenses – they are quite safe, healthy and not very expensive at present (it is cheaper to change one broken lens than to buy new eyeglasses). Even people and teenagers who have no problems with eyes can wear such lenses, but first of all it is better to consult an eye physician, who’ll examine your eyes in order to prevent possible problems, if they aren’t so healthy. This is necessary, because lenses are considered to be a medical device.

According to the statistics, 70% of American people get cataracts which lead to problems in daily life, till they are 75. On more reason can be diabetes, which can cause even blindness in grown-ups in the age starting from 20 to 74.

Together with diabetes comes also obesity – both problems are connected with early forms of cataract. It may be connected with sorbitol, a great amount of which is in the blood of diabetics. It can store in the lens of the eye and encourage the appearance of cataracts. In such a way, the risk is probably bigger if a person is overweight or it doubles if people are obese.

No doubts that risk of getting cataract is closely connected with our lifestyle, behaviors and habits (here we mean first of all smoking and alcohol abuse). The explanation is simple: there are many free radicals in a smoker’s organism. One more fact is that a smoker’s body can’t transform enough nutrients to the lens, and as time passes and the necessary vitamins and minerals are absent, the lens starts to worsen.

One more factor is the long use of corticosteroids. As it was found, 80% of people who took an oral prednisone of 15 mg every day have got soon cataracts. So, those, who were prescribed corticosteroids must be very attentive and consult their doctors.

Moreover, such things as corticosteroid eye drops can also raise the risk of formation cataracts over the time.

Things like eye injuries or various traumas have also influence on the risk of developing cataracts; the same is with the use of alkaline chemicals. In some cases cataracts begin to develop right after the injury, but sometimes they appear only over some time. Prior eye surgery is also an important factor which can lead to appearance of cataracts.

Another problem is genetics. If your parents and relatives had such a problem, you’re also in a group of risk. Those who had developmental delays in childhood, or were premature at birth are also under the bigger risk. HIV positive people and even Afro-Americans have more chances to get cataract in comparison with other people.

Radiation cataracts may appear in cases of prolonged exposure to UV light from sunlight or even from x-rays, that’s why it is highly recommended to use sun-glasses of a good quality.

1. The first and the most important reason is that we should always be aware of the state of our eyes and the whole organism. Our sight is extremely important, that’s why we should not forget about it and visit an oculist. How often? At least once in two years, in case you have no complaints.
2. Don’t forget that your oculist is able to give you good and useful recommendations and examine your eyes carefully.
3. While examination of your eyes it is possible to reveal the first unnoticeable symptoms that indicate serious illnesses.

4. If there are some refraction errors your eye physician will be able to correct them easily. The ways of correction are not terrible: the doctor may prescribe various things like contact lenses, glasses or some drops and pills. In some cases we need just to support our vision with the help of vitamins.
5. A timely eye examination can prevent a lot of serious illnesses, like cataracts or glaucoma.
6. When you feel some light lowering of vision. For instance: you don’t see well far or near objects, your eyes get tired very quickly, you feel pain or discomfort, strong reaction to bright light.

First of all, you have to understand clearly how important good vision is. An ability to see everything sharply and brightly is valuable. So, we should think of our vision and care about it. By these words we also mean the necessity to visit an eye doctor rather regularly. Very often some symptoms of eye illnesses can indicate some overall diseases like diabetes. Different things may come together with poor eyesight: especially strong or light headaches.

The main target, and to tell, the truth standard is 20/20 vision. Sometimes our eyesight is less than 20/20 and then we try various methods in order to improve it (spectacles, contacts). Don’t worry so much if you have some of the earlier mentioned symptoms – nowadays medicine has a lot of ways how to solve these small and big problems. These rules are useful both for children and grown-ups. Train your kids to visit an oculist regularly when they are young. There are some vision problems, characteristic for kids. So visit an eye practitioner right now – it is never late to start doing right things.

Actually, good vision is necessary not only for learning but also for having a rest. It is difficult to go in for sport, to play, run or jump if you can’t see well.

There are clear signs for parents and teachers to understand that their children or pupils have some problems with the sight and need help from a specialist (it can often be astigmatism or poor visual acuity).

Anyway, each problem with eyes needs instant correction. Become alerted if:

A child closes one eye for reading or watching TV
If a child is always sitting very close to the TV-set or holds a book very close to the eyes
Rubs eyes often
Tilts his head to see better
Becomes sensitivity to light
Loses his place when he’s reading
Read with the help of a finger to follow the line
Avoids to use a PC because his eyes are hurt
Is squinting
Avoids activities where near vision is needed (for instance reading, doing homework), or distant vision.
Has frequent headaches and eyes’ tiredness
His progress in studies lowers

If your kid has the above mentioned signs (or at least some of them), you should consult an oculist immediately. Maybe he/she suffers from myopia, farsightedness or is astigmatic. These problems are rather common for younger children and can be easily corrected with the help of contact lenses or eye-glasses.

Still, the problem can be deeper. Sometimes low vision may be connected with learning problems (though, such problems are more usual at the age of 1 up to 7). These things may create difficulties in the studying process.

Some children often reverse letters when they read or write, have bad handwriting, don’t like reading, writing or mathematics, is making mistakes all the time, can’t properly express his thoughts or behaves unsuitably in different social situations. In such a case you should consult not only an oculist but also a pediatrician. Because very often these problems are mixed, and parents together with teachers can not find a way out.

The reasons and pathogenesis of the illness. Let’s start with a primary form of glaucoma which can be preceded with trophic frustration in tissues of a forward part of an eye, because of a hemodynamic of an eye and the changes in vascular system. Sometimes general pathological shifts are possible. It produces a malfunction of circulation of a watery liquid and leads to intraocular tension. The high level of the moisture can become a reason of secondary trophic changes in eye’s tissues. Poor eyesight is connected with destruction of functional parts of an optic nerve and retina.

This type of glaucoma often develops in the age of 40 and may happen even earlier. When we mean a secondary form of glaucoma, we talk about changes in outflow tracts of the intraocular liquid. These changes conduct to rising of an intraocular pressure, and they can be also caused by different eye illnesses (various traumas, inflammations, pathologies).

A congenital glaucoma may be raised because of the disturbance of outflow of intraocular moisture which closes an angle of the forward cavity by a tissue.

Symptoms and clinical course. We also differentiate between two types of a primary glaucoma: an open angle glaucoma and an angle-closure glaucoma.

The open angle glaucoma usually leads to degenerate alterations in drainage system of an eye. The problem is that illness may develop unnoticeable for the patient. Most of subjective sensations aren’t present, that’s why it is difficult to detect it. But still the symptoms are: headaches, misting of vision, iridescent circles on the bright light.

The second type of primary glaucoma - angle-closure, may be engendered by blockade of an angle of the forward cavity by a root of an iris of the eye. The symptoms can be following: misting of vision, a pain in the eye, headaches, iridescent circles around on the bright light or cases of stagnation in a forward part of the eye may happen.