Many of you rely on your contact lenses in order to help you see, but your lenses could end up taking away your vision. What an ugly irony. The problem starts with a simple single cell microorganism — acanthamoeba.

Acanthamoeba is one of the most common types of protozoan that live in soil and fresh water. They can be found in city tap water, so if you rinse your lens case in water from the sink, this amoeba can be transferred to your contact lenses and then to your eye. These protozoan can live and multiply in both your contact case and your eyes, and can go back and forth between the two because commercial contact lens solution can't kill them. Once they're in your eyes, they can cause a painful infection known as amoebic keratitis, which can lead to blindness. The prevalence of this infection has increased because so many people wear contact lenses now.

The lenses that you wear for a year or two were found to contain the most pathogenic (disease-causing) strains of acanthamoeba. The ones that you keep for a month or two weeks contained fewer, and the daily lenses contained no acanthamoeba. Talk to your eye doctor about the kinds of contact lenses you wear to see which would be the healthiest for your eyes. Scientists are on the move trying to develop a contact lens solution that can kill this nasty amoeba, but for now, it's recommended that you don't rinse your lens case in tap water.

Source

"Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do."
— John Wooden

Need more motivation? Check out all my words that move you.


Source

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

Dear Fit,
I saw your slideshow of snacks with 10 grams of protein or more. In it you stated that women need between 40 and 60 grams of protein daily, but my personal trainer told me I need much more than that, about 100 grams. So I'm confused. How do I know how much protein I should be eating? Is there anything wrong with eating more than you need?
—Protein-loving Patricia

This is a great question because everyone's protein needs are different, based on their weight and daily activity level. To find out how to what the mathematical equation is to figure out how much protein you should be getting each day, read more

This just in! Just minutes ago, Nike issued a formal statement announcing that Arien O'Connell is in fact the winner of last weekend's Nike Women's Marathon. Initially, O'Connell was not recognized as the official winner, even though she had the fastest time, because she was not registered as an "elite" runner. I think it is great that Nike has responded to this issue, and it looks like they are changing the rules for next year.

To read Nike's official announcement about the matter, just read more

OK, well, maybe it doesn't scientifically prevent breast cancer cells from forming, but what it does do is remind you to do your monthly breast exams. We all know we should be doing them religiously so that we know instantly if something doesn't feel right, but it can be tough to remember every month. So the Cue Shower Clock ($25) does the remembering for you.

It suctions to the wall of your shower and all you do is set the clock to remind you seven days after your period, or if you don't have one you can choose the same day every month. I love that it can also remind you when it's time to go for your annual exam. The clock can work for up to four users, so if you live with other women or have daughters, you can encourage them to get in the habit, too.

Do you have a less techy way to remind yourself to do your self-breast exam. If so, share it below.