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Test Your Eye-Q

Take this quiz to see how much you know about cataracts, glaucoma and other eye health issues

Selene Yeager

Updated November 15, 2022

En español

Published September 29, 2020

/ Updated November 15, 2022

11 Questions

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Test Your Eye-Q

[ {
 "question" : "What’s the 20-20-20 rule?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "If you still have 20/20 vision by the time you are 20 years old, you likely won't need glasses for another 20 years.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "You should stay 20 feet away from the television to maintain 20/20 vision.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "You should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes to prevent eyestrain while working on a computer.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "If you can read the fine print 20 inches away, you still have 20/20 vision.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "We are living in a digital world, and all that time staring at computer, laptop, tablet and phone screens is straining our eyes, which can leave us with tired, dry eyes, blurred vision and headaches. Research shows your risk of eye strain goes down if you frequently look away from the screen at faraway objects. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends using the 20-20-20 rule to help your eyes stay more relaxed.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which diseases can your eye doctor help detect?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Glaucoma and macular degeneration",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Cardiovascular disease and diabetes",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Tumors and cancer",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "All of the above",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Surprise! Your eyes are a window into your general health. Sure your eye doctor can detect eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration. But she also can pick up telltale signs of other diseases. Leaking of the tiny blood vessels in your retina can indicate diabetes, and damaged vessels can be a sign of high blood pressure. Your eye doctor also can detect cancers of and around the eyes.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
 "question" : "If you need glasses, you might be able to blame …\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Being a studious bookworm (ever see a librarian without glasses?)",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Reading in the dark (Mom warned you!)",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Sitting too close to the TV (ditto)",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Not eating enough carrots",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Your mom was right about a lot of things, but while reading in dim light and sitting close to the TV might give you a case of eyestrain, it’s not why you need glasses. What might be the culprit are endless hours with your nose in a book. A study of nearly 68,000 people published in the journal BMJ found that the more years someone spent in education, the greater their risk for myopia, or nearsightedness. But at least you got a good education.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Fluctuating vision — frequent changes in how well you can see — can be a symptom of:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Diabetes",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Hypertension",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Both diabetes and hypertension",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Neither of them",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "While it’s natural for your eyesight to gradually deteriorate over time — pretty much everyone will need reading glasses sometime after their 40th birthday — it’s not normal to have frequent fluctuations in your visual acuity. If things seem blurrier than usual and then less blurry again, see your eye doctor. It can be a sign of diabetes or high blood pressure, both of which can damage the blood vessels in your retina and in some cases cause permanent vision loss.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which is not a natural part of the eye’s aging process?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Dark spots or cobwebs floating through your vision",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Difficulty seeing after dark",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Loss of peripheral vision",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Color perception changes",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "It’s natural to need more light to see well as you age, and discoloration of the lens inside your eye can make some colors harder to distinguish. You also may have spots, thread-like strands or “floaters” travel across your field of sight as the gel-like substance that fills much of your eyeball shrinks and becomes stringy, casting minuscule shadows on your retina. (Floaters are generally harmless, if annoying. But if you suddenly notice an increase in them along with bright flashing lights, see your eye doctor, stat: That could mean a tear in your retina.) What isn’t normal is losing peripheral vision. That’s a sign of glaucoma, a disease that affects more than 2.7 million Americans over 40 and can slowly steal your peripheral vision until it looks like you’re peering through a tunnel. Your eye doctor can detect the disease before it gets to that point.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
 "question" : "The best way to protect your eye health is:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Do eye exercises",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Wear sunglasses",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Eat more carrots",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Wear blue-blocker glasses",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Forget the eye exercises: They won’t do much good. Eating carrots (and spinach and other leafy greens) is always good, since the antioxidants in those veggies are known to help preserve eye health. According to the National Eye Institute, wearing sunglasses can help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration; the institute recommends wearing quality sunglasses that block out 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB radiation. About 20 percent of cataracts are linked to extended UV exposure. Oh, and the blue-blocking glasses? They won’t protect your sight, but they might help you sleep better if you log a lot of screen time just before bed: Some research suggests that blue wavelength light emitted from screens can suppress melatonin and mess with your sleep.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "The most common age-related eye disease in the U.S. is:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Glaucoma",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Age-related macular degeneration",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Diabetic retinopathy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Cataracts",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Though all of these issues are increasingly common as we age, the risk of cataracts, which is a clouding of the lens of the eye, increases each decade after we cross into our forties. By age 80, 70 percent of white Americans have cataracts (it's less prevalent among Hispanic and African Americans). The National Eye Institute estimates that more than 24 million Americans over age 40 have a cataract in at least one eye.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Dry eye is associated with:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Menopause",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Being heartless",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Astigmatism",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Farsightedness or hyperopia",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Even the weepiest among us can suffer from dry eye, a condition in which you produce fewer tears than you need to keep your eyes comfortable and moist. Dry eye can cause burning, stinging, a gritty feeling and red eyes. It's more common with age, thanks in part to hormones: Changing hormone levels are why menopausal women are particularly susceptible. Certain medications, including antidepressants, sleeping pills, antihistamines, and meds for high blood pressure and heartburn can also cause dry eye.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which activity increases fluid pressure inside your eyes?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Rubbing your eyes",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Sleeping face down",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Yoga",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "All of the above",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Yep, slumbering face down, inversions like headstands and downward dogs, and digging your knuckles into your squeezed shut eyes have one thing in common: They spike the pressure in your eyeballs, according to a study published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science. While occasional increases in pressure aren’t problematic for otherwise healthy people, if you have or are at risk for glaucoma, it’s a good idea to keep pressure spikes to a minimum, according to the researchers, because large, long-lasting or frequent spikes may contribute to the progression of pressure-related eye diseases such as glaucoma. And though rubbing your eyes can feel oh so good — pressing down on your eyeball can stimulate the vagus nerve, which slows your heart rate and chills you out — chronic eye rubbing can damage your cornea.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which is not associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Genetics",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Being African American",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Being sedentary",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Smoking cigarettes",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "AMD is an age-related eye disease that, as the name describes, damages the macula, a small spot near the center of your retina that you use to see objects that are straight ahead. Without clear central vision, daily tasks like reading and driving can be difficult to impossible. Risk factors include genetics, not exercising (especially if you’re genetically predisposed) and smoking. It is significantly more common in non-Hispanic whites than it is in African Americans.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which food do experts think can contribute to healthy vision?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Eggs",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Fish",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Almonds",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "All of the above",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Egg yolks are loaded with powerful eye-protecting antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, that are stored in the eye’s macula, which helps shield the eye from damaging light. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines and halibut are key for eye health. A 2019 meta-analysis of studies examined consumption of specific food groups and age-related macular degeneration and found that people who regularly ate fish had an 18 percent reduced risk of developing the sight-stealing disease. And almonds are great sources of vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects the eyes from free radical damage.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
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} ]

Quiz Progress

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