You may have been told you’re easy on the eyes, blonds, but the eyes you really need to be easy on is your own. Ladies with lighter locks are more likely to experience an eye condition known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In some cases, AMD can lead to blindness. The good news? Eating foods rich in vitamins such as lutein can help boost eye health.

As for you brunettes out there, steer clear of cigarettes because the extra melanin—the compound responsible for your dark hair and complexion—in your system makes it easier for you to get hooked on nicotine. According to Gray, increasing your vitamin C intake can help curb the craving.

Fiery redheads tend to be more resistant to anesthetics. Talking to your doc about additional pain management or popping an ibuprofen pre-operation can help minimize pain. Redheaded women are also more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.

Keep in mind that your hair color might increase the likelihood of developing certain conditions, but it doesn’t set anything in stone. Other factors such as genetics and leading a healthy lifestyle make a difference, regardless of your hair color.

Check out MSNBC to get the full story and learn more about the health risks associated with your hair color.

Procedures currently help individuals with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease responsible for roughly 200,000 cases of blindness in the United States. When light enters the eye through the pupil, it strikes the retina at the back of the eye and is converted to an electrical signal by rods and cones. In individuals with RP, these tissues deteriorate, resulting in full or partial blindness.

The restoration process starts with an image captured by a small camera attached to a pair of glasses. After streaming through a video processor, the data is then transferred back through the glasses to a tiny electrode “sheet” implanted on the retina. These electrodes use electrical impulses to communicate visual information to undamaged retinal tissue (just as healthy rods and cones would have done). The result is some degree of sight.

Currently the devices have only 60 electrodes, compared to more than 2 million in HD televisions, so images are still rough. This means that if the entire population of New Mexico plus 17,000 of their relatives were gathered in a field, only 60 would be visible.

The technology has been greatly improved from earlier 16-electrode versions. Before, objects appeared as horizontal lines. Now users can make out basic shapes; some can see faint reflections and differentiate between concrete and grass.

“Our near term goal is to get regulatory approval to market the device in Europe and the United States. This will allow us to generate revenue to fund the development of next generation prostheses with greater numbers of electrodes. This should mean more utility for the patients,” Mech explains.

Researchers from Second Sight will follow project participants for the next three years to track progress. They hope to develop versions with 200 and 1000 electrodes in the future, but so far implant recipients are pleased with results.

"Besides the objective testing that we do to show improvement in visual function, participants are often most excited by personal experiences. One woman saw the moon for the first time in about 20 years," Mech says. "Another can shoot baskets and watch her grandkids play soccer. This is significant."

Researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Department of Anesthesiology at the "G.Papanikolaou" Regional Hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, sought to explore the effects of exercise on medicated patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG).

Glaucoma is a disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, often resulting in severe vision loss or blindness. It is an irreversible condition that affects roughly 4 million people in the United States, about half of whom are unaware that they have it. Women, persons with diabetes or stroke, and African American men over 40 are at a greater risk.

Although glaucoma is typically seen in the elderly (persons over 60), everyone is at risk. Glaucoma may develop with or without symptoms, and as many as 10 percent of people receiving proper treatment will still experience vision loss. High intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of its many risk factors.

“Since exercise increases systemic fibrinolytic activity (such as dissolving blood clots), one can speculate that exercise decreases intraocular pressure by facilitating (uveoscleral) outflow,” authors of the study wrote.”

Based on this information, researchers gathered data from 145 individuals—100 healthy and 45 with POAG. Prior to testing researchers checked IMP levels using Goldmann’s applanation tonometry, a method of measuring the amount of pressure needed to flatten the cornea.

IMP was measured again hours after receiving medicated eye drops. Participants were then asked to engage in “moderate to sub-maximal” aerobic exercise (on a bicycle) for 10 minutes, after which IOP data was again measured. All participants experienced lower IOP levels, even in the participants who received no medication.

“Regardless of the antiglaucoma medication instilled, they still benefited from the aerobic exercise since they all had a post-exercise reduction of IOP,” the authors wrote in the study. “It is obvious that these patients should be encouraged to perform aerobic exercise.”

Have more questions? Visit Healia's Glaucoma Community.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reinstated warnings about LASIK surgery and its potential side effects. The FDA emphasized that LASIK surgery may have certain associated risks such as lost vision, painful dry eye, glare, and other night-vision problems.