They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

They’re also how many of us observe the world around us.

So keeping them healthy is super important!

4 Tips for Keeping your Eyes Healthy

1. Protect your eyes from sun damage! UV light can damage your eyes. Be sure to wear sunglasses with UV protection and wear a hat if you’re going to be out in the sun for a while.
2. Step away from the screen! Too much screen time can have lasting effects on your eyes. Take breaks and use blue light filters if you can.
3. Eat healthy! Proper nutrients and healthy fats like Omega-3 are great for your eye health. Eating a balanced diet rich in these foods is an easy way to help maintain eye health.
4. Stay up-to-date on regular eye exams! Eye exams are just as important as other health screening routines, so be sure to get your eyes checked by an optometrist or ophthalmologist every year.

Want to learn more about what you can do to keep your eyes healthy? Click here for tips for the National Eye Institute.

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3 Reasons Regular Eye Exams are Important

1. Early diagnosis! Eye Exams can detect some major eye health issues like glaucoma or cataracts before you have symptoms. And early diagnosis can make a huge difference in treatment options.
2. Better performance at work or school! Even minor vision issues can significantly impact how well you do at work or school. And for children, the effects are drastic. Vision problems can have long-term effects on education if not caught early.
3. Detect other health issues! Eye exams can help detect and monitor other health issues like diabetes and thyroid disease — just another reason eye exams are crucial to maintaining good health.

Eye Exam Statistics

According to a 2018 study conducted by VSP Vision Care and YouGov, more and more people are skipping their annual eye exams despite knowing the importance of them!

By the numbers: The importance of eye exams

8 in 10 people (84 percent) rate vision as the most important sense, and nearly everyone (97 percent) agrees that having healthy eyes is important, but only half of people get annual eye exams.

Virtually no one (1 percent) knows that signs of serious diseases and conditions like high blood pressure, autoimmune disorders, thyroid diseases, and certain types of cancers can be detected through an eye exam.

6 in 10 (61 percent) people worry about diabetes impacting their family’s health, but only 4 percent know that eye doctors can detect signs of diabetes through an eye exam.

More than two-thirds of parents worry about their children’s eye health more than their own, but only 12 percent of parents know children should receive their first eye exam at six months old.

After learning about the importance of annual eye exams, 9 in 10 (90 percent) survey respondents agree on the importance of annual eye exams.

How do Evidation Members Compare?

We asked our Evidation Members if they’d had an eye exam this year. What did they say?

Well, out of the 17,496 people who responded, Over 10,000 said yes — that’s over 57%!

So, while the majority of respondents have, it’s a small majority. Which means it’s important for us to share posts like this to help remind everyone — if you haven’t had your exam this year, schedule one now.

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Yellow Ribbons conjure many feelings.

They’re used to promote awareness of suicide prevention, missing children, numerous medical conditions (including several types of cancer). They remind us to support our troops and remember those missing or killed in action.

They’re also used to represent sarcoma awareness.

And, in honor of Sarcoma Awareness Month, we share this yellow ribbon today.

What is Sarcoma?

According to The National Foundation for Cancer Research,

“Sarcoma is a rare but deadly form of cancer affecting connective tissues such as fat, muscle, blood vessels, nerve, bone, deep skin and cartilage.”

There are two main types of sarcomas — soft tissue sarcomas and bone sarcomas, but there are many subgroups. In fact, The Mayo Clinic lists over 70.

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Often called, “the forgotten cancer,” sarcoma is most commonly diagnosed in children.

But while considered a “rare” cancer, making up only 1% of all cancers, survival rates for those with sarcoma are low. And diagnosis and treatment are difficult.

That makes awareness critical!

Around 12,000–15,000 people are diagnosed with sarcoma each year in the US. For those battling sarcoma and their loved-ones, the “rarity” of this disease is no comfort.

To help do our part in raising awareness, we’ve compiled a list of resources and sources of additional information for those who’d like to learn more.

Resources

American Childhood Cancer Organization

Sarcoma Alliance

Sarcoma Foundation of America

Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition (CFAC)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Cancer Care

Johns Hopkins Sarcoma Center

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Men’s Health Matters — During International Men’s Health Week and Beyond

International Men’s Health Week is celebrated every year the week before Father’s Day. The focus of the event is on men’s health, wellness, and prevention — which is critical to lowering risk factors for disease.

Statistically, men tend to avoid routine medical care and avoid seeking medical care until much later than other genders.

A 2019 survey from the Cleveland Clinic’s MENtion it campaign highlights some of these statistics.‍

Why?

According to the Cleveland Clinic Survey, stereotypes and social conditioning surrounding gender play a large part.

“Why do men avoid the doctor? Stereotypes taught at a young age may be to blame. Two-fifths (41%) of men were told as children that men don’t complain about health issues.”

International Men’s Health week is an opportunity to focus on the specific health concerns men face, and a way to say, “Hey, guys, your health is important!”

It’s a great time to schedule events, have informed conversations, and raise awareness around men’s health and wellness.

But, the importance of men’s health doesn’t stop at the end of the week. It’s critical that we continue to focus on men’s health throughout the year and remind the men in our lives that they matter and that their health matters!

Regardless of gender, we can all play a part in helping men to feel confident seeking health care!

Luckily, today more than ever, there are many resources focused on the issue of men’s health! We’ve included a short list of resources below. And we encourage all men, everywhere, to remember that their health matters!

Resources

• MENtion it
• Men’s Health Month
• Talking About Men’s Health
• Men’sHealth
• The Good Men Project
• Men’s Health Resource Center

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At Evidation, we’re focused on meeting people where they are and helping them along their health journey. Our engaged community of members represents 96% of U.S. counties and includes individuals across ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This community puts us in a unique position to learn from one another and contribute to meaningful health research.

With a mission of helping people participate in better health outcomes, we're committed to identifying opportunities that are inclusive of all and educating ourselves on the social issues that are impacting the world. To truly achieve our mission of helping people participate in better health outcomes, we recognize we have more work to do. Our commitment going forward:

• Provide our members with educational content around health and race curated by our team of researchers.
• Put in place more inclusive study opportunities for members to participate in.
• Do our part as a research company to participate in inclusive clinical research practices to ensure diverse and generalizable results through diverse participant recruitment and participation.
• Hold ourselves accountable by reporting our progress out to our members.

We’re committed to supporting long-term systematic change and stand in solidarity with our Black teammates, Evidation Members, and the entire Black community. We know this is only the beginning of the conversation, and we need to continue to fight for equality. We’ll continue to listen, educate ourselves, take action, hold ourselves accountable, and pledge to do our best to support all communities to participate in better health outcomes.

An immediate change we’re pleased to share is that Evidation Members can now donate their rewards to these charities:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

The Bail Project

Equal Justice Initiative

Center for Policing Equity

Loveland Foundation

American Civil Liberties Union

Black Girls Code

The Marshall Project

Southern Poverty Law Center

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