Archive for July 2026

HDL (“good cholesterol”) is important for heart health, but its relationship with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is surprising. Both very low and very high HDL levels have been associated with an increased risk of AMD in some studies, suggesting that the healthiest range for the retina may lie somewhere in the middle rather than at…

One of the smallest muscles in your body is the superior tarsal (Müller’s) muscle, a tiny strip of smooth muscle in the upper eyelid that helps keep the eyelid lifted. Unlike the main eyelid-lifting muscle, Müller’s muscle is controlled entirely by the sympathetic nervous system—the same “fight or flight” system that responds to stress and…

Mild differences in vision between the two eyes are very common, and the brain usually blends the images so seamlessly that you never notice. The difference becomes starker when one eye is covered. In fact, many people don’t discover they have a “better eye” until they cover one eye at a time during an eye…

Just as most people have a dominant hand, nearly everyone has a dominant eye. Eye dominance usually goes unnoticed in everyday life, but it becomes especially important when planning certain “monovision” treatments with contact lenses or cataract surgery. In these treatments, one eye is intentionally focused for distance and the other for near vision. Surprisingly,…