Exercise Science and Optometry

The modern medicine is particularly concerned about the prevention of disease and the rapid rehabilitation of people that have some health problem. At the same time, the modern epoch is characterized by the growing number of health problems that are acquired in the result of the professional activity of people, especially if these activities directly affect some organs or human organism at large. In this respect, it should be said that optometry and exercise science are particularly important because they target at the prevention, diagnosing and treatment of people with various health problems. At the same, despite the fact that optometry and exercise science seem to be quite different, they still are quite similar in their basic targets, preventing diseases and enhancing human health and performance.
First of all, it should be said that optometry and exercise science basically focus on different aspects of human health. To put it more precisely, optometry seems to be more specific, or narrow compared to exercise science because its primary concern is the examination, diagnosing and treatment of eyes and related structures and the determination and correction of vision problems using lenses and other optical aids (Bintz 74). As for exercise science, it is quite a large field of medicine that focuses on the promotion and integration of scientific research and education on the effects and benefits of exercise and on the delivery of physical activity programs that prevent disease, facilitate rehabilitation, promote health and enhance human performance (Harold 129). Basically, exercise science is a part of sport medicine.
Nevertheless, regardless such seemingly different areas of application of exercise science and optometry, they are still related to each other. In this respect, it should be said that both optometry and exercise science deals with the diseases that are, in actuality, the results of specific human activities. To put it more precisely, exercise science is basically focused on the medical help, prevention and treatment of patients who have got health problems in the result of sport activities. As for optometry, it is destined to help people with vision impairment. Obviously, both health problems resulting from sport activities and vision problems are caused by specific human activities which, as a rule, are not natural for human beings. In other words, optometry and exercise science deal with health problems related to human activities which are the result of the development of human civilization.
Furthermore, it should be pointed out that optometry and exercise science amply use the most advanced scientific researches and inventions in the treatment of patients. In fact, it is possible to estimate that optometry and exercise science are apply the most sophisticated technologies and techniques to facilitate human activities and minimizing the negative effects of the health problems they have.
At the same time, optometry and exercise science pay a lot of attention to prevention of health problems. In this respect, it should be said that such a focus on the prevention of health problems makes them closely related to each other. The numerous researches (Bintz 75) have proved the fact that vision impairment problems often result from the high physical exhaustion of human body. In practice, this means that physical exercises, especially long lasting and extremely tiresome and exhausting to human body, can lead to the vision impairment problems. This risk increases among sportsmen because professional sportsmen have to constantly work at the top of their physical and psychological abilities (Hockey 264). As a result, vision problems may be the result of the improperly organized training process. Consequently, the role of exercise science in the prevention of vision impairment problems is of a paramount importance since it contributes to the most effective organization of human activities. On the other hand, optometry may be quite helpful in the treatment of patients in terms of exercise science. It is not a secret that some sportsmen may have vision impairment problems and, thus, in order to treat and rehabilitate them effectively they need to use the services of optometrist. For instance, even the ex-pilot of F-1, Jacque Villeneuve had vision impairment problems but due to the close cooperation between exercise science and optometry he managed to take part in the competition where the eyes health was and still is of a paramount importance (Bintz 76).

Works cited:
Bintz, D. G. “Practice Management: Practical Vision Therapy in a Primary Care Practice.” Practical Optometry, 10:02, 1999, p. 74-78.
Harold, E. Commentary: Exercise is Medicine. The Physician and Sports Medicine. Volume 24. McGraw-Hill Companies, 1996.
Hockey, R.V. Physical Fitness: The pathway to Healthful Living. Eighth Edition. New York: Mosby-Year Book Inc, 1996.