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case study: can junk food make you blind?
it's our worst fear come true: teen loses eyesight after years of eating unhealthily.
nov 19 2020
3 minute read
being a fussy eater proved to be much more serious for one teenager.
getty
the next time you reach for a bag of chips to help you weather the covid blues, spare a thought for the british teenager who went blind after years of consuming nothing but junk food.
the “fussy eater,” whose story was documented in the annals of internal medicine last year, was first taken to a doctor at the age of 14 after experiencing prolonged periods of fatigue. a blood test revealed he was suffering from anemia and doctors sent him home after giving him an injection of b12 and a lecture — one we could all probably use — on proper dietary habits.
a year later, the 15-year-old was back in the doctor’s office reporting vision and hearing problems to baffled physicians who couldn’t find anything amiss after mri and eye tests returned normal results. things only got worse from there.
over the next two years, the patient’s eyesight steadily declined to the point that vision in both eyes was just 20/200, a result considered legally blind in canada. further inspection uncovered damage to the patient’s optic nerve — the bundle of fibres connecting the eye to the back of the brain — and low levels of selenium, copper and vitamin d.
doctors quickly turned their attention to the teen’s diet. “the patient confessed that, since elementary school, he would not eat certain textures of food,” wrote the study’s authors, a group of researchers from the university of bristol in the u.k.
the teen told his doctors that his menu, which would make a first-year university student blush, consisted primarily of french fries, white bread, processed ham slices, sausage and chips — particularly pringles. with few other options for diagnosis, doctors concluded their patient was suffering from nutritional optic neuropathy , a rare dysfunction of the optic nerve caused by exceedingly poor dietary habits.
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the elusive condition arises when the nutrients essential for the proper functioning of the optic nerve are not met over an extended period of time, resulting in damage to the nerve fibres and, eventually, impaired vision. as nutritional optic neuropathy usually involves low levels of folic acid and a vitamin b complex deficiency, it is commonly associated with chronic alcohol abuse or a poorly implemented vegetarian diet. purely dietary causes are rare in developed countries, meaning the condition is seldom seen in the u.k. — or canada, for that matter — a factor that no doubt led to a delayed diagnosis.
although the vision loss caused by nutritional optic neuropathy can be reversed if detected in time, the damage suffered by the teen in this case was permanent. and because optic nerve impairment cannot be addressed with corrective lenses, he found himself with few options. doctors prescribed nutritional supplements that will, at the very least, stop the vision loss from getting worse. he was also referred to therapy to address an eating disorder that went far beyond being picky and was causing the patient real harm.
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“our vision has such an impact on quality of life, education, employment, social interactions and mental health,” said denize atan, the study’s main author and clinical lead for neuro-ophthalmology at bristol eye hospital. “this case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health and the fact that calorie intake and bmi are not reliable indicators of nutritional status.”
the study’s authors recommend future medical evaluations include routine questions about dietary history, just as they involve queries about alcohol and nicotine consumption, to prevent a missed diagnosis and allow treatment to begin as soon as possible.
that and, you know, mixing in some fruits and vegetables with the chips and fries.
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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