One of the big lessons a lot of us are taught from a young age is how to keep a balanced diet, however, now we have another unexpected reason to do so. CNN has reported that a teen’s unhealthy diet consisting of only Pringles, white bread, french fries and processed ham and sausage caused him to eventually go blind.
The road to this discovery started when the teen was 14 years old and visited a doctor with complaints of tiredness. He showed no signs of malnutrition, and all doctors discovered was a lack of vitamin B12 and a case of anemia. The young man was treated with injections, but his health continued to decline.
By the age of 17, the teen had become completely blind and also had some hearing loss. The University of Bristol eventually had their scientists look over the patient's history and condition and discovered that the teen had gone through nutritional optic neuropathy. This dysfunction of the optic nerve was linked to the 17-year old’s vitamin B12 deficiency along with many other issues.
Usually, this condition is reversible if caught early on, but in this instance, the patient was too late. While this is still an extreme case, Denize Atan of the Bristol Medical School stated that it does bring something to light. "This case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health, and the fact that calorie intake and BMI are not reliable indicators of nutritional status," said Atan.
Make sure to eat your veggies, kids, as the researchers say this condition could become more common in the future.