October is World Blindness Awareness month. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every person who lives long enough will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime. An estimated 2.2 billion people suffer from blindness or visual impairment worldwide.
Knowing what visual changes to expect is helpful as we age and as we help our aging parents deal with increased visual impairment. There are many age related changes that impact vision. Some of these we are aware of, such as trouble reading fine print, poor night vision, increased glare sensitivity and dry eyes. But did you also know that with age, we have poorer contrast sensitivity (ability to distinguish an object from a background with similar color hues)? Did you know to expect to see spots and flashes with age? Floaters or spots in our vision occur when our vitreous humor thickens and loses volume causing tiny clumps of gel to form, while flashes of light are caused by the vitreous rubbing or pulling on the retina. (The AAO advises that you discuss a sudden increase in floaters or flashes with your eye doctor.)
With advanced age comes a higher prevalence of severe blindness and visual impairment. Eye disease and disorders such as diabetic retinopathy cause severe vision loss and are linked to damage to retinal blood vessels due to exceedingly high blood sugar levels. Severe vision loss can occur with glaucoma due to optic nerve damage from high intraocular pressure when fluids don’t drain properly. Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is another prevalent cause of severe visual impairment in the elderly due to the age related degeneration of the macula resulting in a decline or loss of central vision. And although rare, ocular melanoma is another eye disease more common in the elderly.
Both the National Federation of the Blind in the U.S. and The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness provide great resources to help families and individuals navigate the challenges of low vision and blindness. Learn all you can about prevention and ways to lower risk of developing sight robbing eye disease and disorders. While the effects often appear later in life, the damage leading to blinding eye diseases and disorders typically begins early in life and accumulates over our lifetime. We can take precautionary measures to lower our risk by proactively protecting our eyes from photodamage caused by UV and HEV solar radiation exposure. We can take measures to treat/control our weight, diabetes, high cholesterol, auto immune disease and blood pressure, all of which impact our eye health. Know your risk factors for age related and genetic disorders, and share them with your eye doctor. Eat well and exercise to maintain fitness and avoid the sun. Also important is to schedule a yearly comprehensive eye health exam, especially recommended for those over 60.
• Deborah Kotob
Pro to Pro Director
[email protected]
