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Carrots do contain beta carotene which our bodies convert to vitamin A and vitamin A is essential for low-light vision, but if you aren’t suffering from a vitamin A deficiency then eating carrots won’t further improve your night vision.

Night blindness, medically termed “nyctalopia” is the inability to see in at night or specifically, in low-light. It has several causes and one of them is a vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A deficiencies are rare in the U.S. and other developed countries. The diets consumed in developed countries contain adequate amounts of vitamin A and vitamin A can be stored by the body in the liver.

How the Improved Night Vision Claim Started

During World War II the UK Ministry of Food had an oversupply of carrots on their hands, so they tried to create a demand for carrots. They created Doctor Carrot—a carrot carrying a doctor’s bag with “VIT•A” on it. The UK Ministry of Food also created ads claiming RAF pilots were improving their night vision by eating carrots.

Their messages worked and consumption of carrots increased. Many people thought that eating carrots might help them see better during blackouts. So, if you were ever told as a child to eat carrots so you could see better at night, this is where it all started. 

If you’re interested in more carrot history click here to visit the World Carrot Museum. Yes, there really is a carrot museum.

Your Eyes Need Vitamin A

Getting enough vitamin A in your diet is essential to keeping your eyes healthy and carrots are an excellent natural source, but there are many other dietary sources. Sweet potatoes, spinach, pumpkin, milk, cheese, cantaloupe, mangos, eggs, and sweet red peppers are all excellent sources of vitamin A.

Your eyes need vitamin A to create rhodopsin in the rods of your retina to enable vision in low-light. Rhodopsin is found in the retinas of animals and humans and is the pigment-containing sensor protein that converts light into an electrical signal.

Vitamin A also supports the healthy functioning of the conjunctival membranes and the cornea.

Eye Health vs. Eyesight

Healthy eyes can still need glasses to clearly focus on either near or far objects because the shape of the cornea or the eyeball.  Nearsightedness and farsightedness can be corrected with LASIK surgery because that surgery reshapes the cornea. No amount of vitamin A will change the shape of your corneas and the way they refract light.

Eating for Good Eye Health

Eat a variety of foods high in vitamins A, E, C, along with foods high in lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, and omega 3 fatty acids.  A partial list of foods containing those vitamins and nutrients follows:

• Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, collards
• Broccoli, peas, zucchini, tomatoes
• Oily fish such as salmon and tuna
• Eggs, nuts, beans
• Oranges and other citrus fruits
• Sweet potatoes, carrots, mangos

Randall V. Wong, M.D.
Retina Specialist
Virginia and Washington D.C.

If you have a retinal tear, how will your retina specialist treat the tear? There are 3 options: laser, cryotherapy or operate.

Untreated retinal tears can cause a retinal detachment. Retinal detachments are potentially blinding and require surgery. The goal of treatment is to prevent retinal detachments from developing.

Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD)

A posterior vitreous detachment is the usual cause of a retinal tear. Retinal holes, associated with lattice degeneration, can also lead to a retinal detachment and are treated identically to retinal tears.

Acute flashes and floaters are the most common symptoms of a PVD and should alert your eye doctor/retina specialist to look for a retinal tear.

Laser Treatment

Laser photocoagulation is the first choice of treatment. It is performed in the office and does not require anesthesia. In most cases treatment takes a few minutes. The goal is to completely encircle the tear with laser burns. The burns cause the retina to scar thereby preventing fluid to migrate underneath the retina.

Not all tears can be treated with laser, hence, cryotherapy and vitrectomy are viable options.

Cryotherapy

In order for a retinal tear to be treated with laser, the entire tear must be visible. There are situations where the tear can not be viewed completely:

Vitreous hemorrhage, often associated with retinal tears, can literally block the laser light.

Dense cataract can also absorb or block the laser energy from reaching the retina.

The edge of intraocular lenses from previous cataract surgery often block or distort the peripheral retina (location of most tears) making laser treatment impossible.

Anteriorly located in the extreme peripheral retina often can not be viewed without special instrumentation and techniques making laser difficult.

Cryotherapy combines a different viewing system along with physical manipulation of the eye to treat the retinal tear from the outside in. A cryotherapy probe is placed moved along the outside of the eye until it is adjacent (underneath) the retinal tear. The freezing induces scar formation similar to that of the laser.

Vitrectomy

In cases where neither laser nor cryotherapy are possible, vitrectomy can be an excellent solution. Vitrectomy is the basic surgery performed by a retina specialist. A special laser probe can be introduced inside the eye to laser the retina tear.

Regardless of modality: laser, freezing or vitrectomy, the results are equally the same at preventing a retinal detachment.

Follow the advice of your retina specialist or eye doctor.

Randall V. Wong, M.D.
Retina Specialist
Virginia and Washington D.C.