Antidepressants and Cataracts: Scientists have discovered that 22,000 cataract cases in the United States each year could be caused by the use of antidepressants. If this could apply to you, maybe you should start exercising, because…

Exercise and Your Eyes: A study from Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science reveals that running can lower your risk for cataracts AND macular degeneration. Hit the streets, people!

Can Your Eyesight Change During Pregnancy? Add vision changes to the list of ways in which pregnancy can affect your body. Dr. Tyeese Gaines Reid of Yale University explains in this video.

Plus: News for those of you who are smokers; new research shows that smoking while pregnant leads to a significantly increased chance that your baby is cross-eyed – 5% PER cigarette!

Helen Keller Exhibit: Though Helen Keller became both blind and deaf when she was 19 months old, she accomplished more in her lifetime than many who do not face such obstacles. If you’re in New York City, make sure you check out the American Foundation for the Blind’s exhibit of pictures, letters, and artifacts from Keller’s life.

Popularity: 1% [?]

For some reason, I’ve always been partial to cat-eye glasses – in fact, my prescription glasses are cat-eyed, and I love them. There’s something decidedly feminine about the look, and it will make you want to go all-out vixen…

And while the cat-eye look has its roots in the fashion of the 1950′s and 60′s, it definitely has evolved to become a hip and stylish accessory choice for modern fashionistas.  Okay, maybe the glasses in Prada’s Fall 2010 collection are a bit…extreme…but do you remember musician Lisa Loeb’s famous frames?

She’s updated her look to the stylish option seen to the right, sporting a pair of glasses that have just enough cat-eye shape to flatter her face and add some interest without becoming costume-y.

This is where the June reading glasses come into play. Just like Lisa’s glasses, the Junes have style. They’re not your same old boring pair of round or square glasses, but the cat-eye shape is subtle. And these particular glasses are bifocals, meaning that you can use the bottom half of the lens for reading and the top for viewing normally.

I think both versions of the brown tortoise frame are lovely, but if you’re looking for a little more pizazz, check out the June in red. At the sale price of $16.11, you can afford to experiment.

What do you think? Do you dig the cat-eyed look?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Just one for you this week!

1. Stop by Candid, Clever, & Cost Effective and win one of TWO reading glasses of your choice! Ends 4/25.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Round glasses typically denote greatness. Think about it – Sigmund Freud, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon… Harry Potter.

Before you laugh, consider this: all of those individuals are masters at what they do, whether it’s psychotherapy, civil disobedience, music, or dueling magically with evil wizards.

Where am I going with this? Somewhere, I promise. The spotlight for today’s New Merch Monday is on a pair of glasses that combine the implied greatness of round lenses with the creative style of an artist: The Actor Bifocals.

You may have seen glasses like these on several Hollywood stars lately, most notably Mr. Johnny Depp (who, by the way, was recently voted one of the Top 25 Most Stylish Men in the World). With three Oscar nominations, numerous blockbuster films, and countless other achievements, Johnny Depp is at the top of his field, and he has the style to back it up. These glasses denote both intelligence and creativity. They seem to say, “There something amazing going on in my head…just wait.”

Just like Depp’s glasses, the Actor Bifocals feature round lenses, dark frames, and stylish gold detailing at the temples. The lower half of the lens magnifies from a power of +1.25 all the way up to +3.00, ensuring that you can see small text clearly, whether it’s the newspaper or your latest script. The clear top portion of the lens, on the other hand, means you can wear these glasses all the time if you want to.

Somehow I also think that at $16.11, these glasses just *might* be a little less expensive that the ones Johnny Depp wears. Make sure you check out the black and tortoise versions of the frame, too – let me know what you think!

Photo Credit: buyvintageglasses.com, johnnydeppwatch.com, ayyyy.com

Popularity: 20% [?]

“Cheap” reading glasses won’t damage your eyes, but they may decrease the amount of time you can read comfortably, depending on your prescription.

Inexpensive reading glasses typically have the same magnification power in each lens. This is beneficial to people who have the same prescription in each eye, though most people do not and are thus best accommodated by prescription lenses. If one doesn’t have the same prescription in each eye and wears glasses with identical prescriptions, one eye will be under corrected/over corrected. This will cause fatigue in said eye, which will, in turn, cause discomfort after a long period of use.

Popularity: 2% [?]