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Vision care- no matter what
color your eye is
Like any other aspect in our health, our vision could also erode
when aging. There are three main phenomena that are most common at our
forties.
Slow
deterioration of vision
especially when reading small prints is most common and normal process
after the age of 40. Aging sight phenomenon is not a disease neither a
flaw but a natural process.
Our eyeball contain a natural lens
which functions in the same manner that a camera auto focus does,
changes the eye focus automatically depending on the distance of the
object which we look at.
When aging, this lens gradually loses
its flexibility. This makes us experience difficulty in focusing on
close objects, especially when reading. The common solution is the use
of reading glasses.
There are also special exercises to improve vision
or laser treatments that can solve these problems.
Age-related
macular degeneration (AMD) is
an eye disease which is considered as the number one cause of blindness
in the Western world among people at the age of 50 plus.
This
disease occurs when there is a violation of photoreceptor which may
deteriorate and cause malfunction that can also cause blindness.
AMD
risk factors include: advanced age (over 50), family history
(genetics), hypertension, heart disease, exposure to contaminants and
therefore a high exposure to dangerous free radicals, smoking and
unbalanced diet.
Glaucoma
is another disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, causing sight
impairment. The symptoms are not easy to diagnose. It is treatable
either by drugs designed to lower the intraocular pressure or laser
surgical treatment aimed to plug the existing drainage channel and to
pierce a new more effective one.
Therefore, it is
quite important to visit your eye specialist for an annual check as you
pass the age of 40. Moreover, for the AMD prevention it is highly
recommended to include vitamins A, C and E, beta carotene, and zinc,
and also consume leafy green vegetables, like lettuce, in our diet.
Most of these can also be consumed as nutrition
supplements.
In
general, it is highly recommended to wear sunglasses to protect your
eyes against UV radiation and prevent eye problems as such problems
might affect our daily functioning, independence and can also
exacerbate in older age.
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