Published 20:36 IST, September 4th 2019
Teen boy who survived on French fries, Pringles, bread loses sight
A 17-year-old boy, who survived entirely on french fries, Pringles and bread suffered permanent blindness. He suffered from nutritional optic neuropathy.
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While most people would find food options like French fries, Pringles and white bread irresistible, a teenager in the United States crossed all limitations when it comes to treating taste buds. The boy eventually paid the price by losing his eyesight.
Dangers of junk diet
A group of scientists from the University of Bristol, examined the case of the boy to warn people about the dangers of having poor eating habits. According to him, ever since Elementary School, he only ate fries from the fish and chip shop, Pringles potato chips, white bread and slices of processed ham and sausage.
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The boy often complained about breathlessness and tiredness. Due to excessive tiredness, the patient had visited the doctor for the first time at the age of 14. He wasn’t on any medications and showed no signs of malnutrition, the BMI and height reports were normal too.
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Read: At AES Epicentre, Experts Count Reasons, Families Rue: 'Poverty, Malnutrition & Lack Of Awareness'
The boy was later given vitamin B12 injections and a proper diet plan, soon after the medics discovered that the patient had very low vitamin B12 levels and suffered from anemia. Following this, the boy showed signs of hearing loss and blurred vision, which left doctors in a state of confusion as they couldn’t figure out the reason.
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Permanent blindness
By the time the boy was 17-year-old, the vision worsened to the point of permanent blindness. Doctors discovered the deficiency of vitamin B12, copper, Vitamin D, and selenium levels. He also had a high zinc level and low bone density. After thoroughly examining the case, researchers concluded that the boy suffered from nutritional optic neuropathy, a dysfunction of the optic nerve.
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The dysfunction occurs due to recurring bowel problems and the intake of medications that interferes with the absorption process of nutrients in the intestine.
Denize Atan, an ophthalmologist at Bristol Medical University and Eye hospital said that human vision has a huge impact on the quality of life, education, employment, social interactions and mental health and that the case of this teenager clearly represents how our diet affects our vision and physical health.
19:03 IST, September 4th 2019