Dr. O'Brien

To keep your eyes in tip top shape be sure to schedule regular eye check-ups with your eye doctor at Broome Optical in Amarillo, Texas.

The human eye can differentiate about 10 million different colors. Scientists estimate that the average person can see at least a million colors thanks to the eye's cone cells, which send signals to the brain that allow us to recognize different hues. If that sounds imposing, consider that people with a rare condition called tetrachromacy have an extra type of cone cell and can see as many as 100 million colors as a result!

The eyes are about 1 inch in diameter and weigh about a quarter of an ounce from the time you are born until you die.

The human eye blinks over 4 million times per year. Blinking keeps your eyes lubricated and protects them from debris and dust, which may help explain why we do so much of it. The average person blinks between 15 and 20 times per minute, or 14,400 to 19,200 times a day. That means you spend 10 percent of your waking hours blinking.

You see with your brain, not with your eyes.

Blue-eyed people share a common ancestor. If you have a pair of baby blues, you're among the 8 to 10 percent of the population worldwide with blue eyes, which are the result of a mutation that causes the irises to lack pigment. Researchers believe this mutation first appeared in a person who lived in Europe between 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, meaning all blue-eyed people alive today share a common ancestor.

You see things upside down, and the brain turns that image right side up.

The quick-healing cornea has no blood vessels. The cornea is the transparent covering over the front part of the eye and unlike other body parts, it doesn't have its own blood supply (instead, it receives oxygen from the air). The cornea does, however, have nerve endings, which is why scratching your eye can hurt quite a bit. Fortunately, most abrasions heal quickly, within 24 to 72 hours.

The eye is the fastest muscle in the body.

Your eye color is one-of-a-kind. Just like fingerprints, the colors and patterns within the iris, or colored part of the eye, are unique, in fact, iris scans have been found to be more successful than fingerprint recognition technology. Even identical twins who share DNA don't have identical irises.

The only cells that survive for your entire lifetime are in the eyes.

Color blindness is a guy thing. Some form of color blindness, or color deficiency, affects approximately 1 in 10 men, most often resulting in trouble distinguishing between red and green tones. Less commonly, someone might not be able to tell blues and yellows apart.

80% of vision problems worldwide are avoidable or curable.

The phrase “It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye” comes from Rome. Back in Ancient Rome, bloody wrestling matches were widely popular. There were traditionally no rules regarding how a player could fight. However, only one rule was established sometime during this era-there could be no eye-gouging allowed.

The 20-20-20 rule can help your eyes. This particular rule applies to when you work in front of a computer for hours. The rule states that you should look at something twenty feet away for twenty seconds every twenty minutes. Following this technique normally helps people prevent eye strain. It is also a great reminder for people to take a break every so often.

Brown is the most common eye color. Approximately 79% of the world’s population has been documented to have brown eyes. Second to this, the next most common eye color is blue at 8-10%, and the following is amber or hazel eyes at 5%. Some rare eye colors include red, violet, and gray.

Shark eyes are used for human surgery. To be more accurate, the cornea of the shark is used during human surgery. This is because a shark’s cornea has the most similar cornea to humans. Also, sharks can see in the dark due to an eye tissue called the tapetum lucidum. This is also the same material that allows the shark’s eyes to glow in the dark.