Presbyopia
Although the term presbyopia (pres-be-O-pe-uh) may be unfamiliar to you, the condition probably isn't. It's a Greek word meaning "old sight." About the time you're 40 or older, you may notice that it's harder to read at the distance you are accustomed to. The print seems smaller, and you have to hold papers farther away, sometimes at arm's length, to get them in focus.
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If you're already farsighted, you may encounter the problem earlier in life. If you're nearsighted you'll eventually experience presbyopia, although later in life than a normal-sighted person. It's a natural part of aging. When you're young the lens in your eye is very elastic, giving you a wide range of focus. The lens becomes thicker when you're reading, sewing or doing other close-up work.
This thickening adjusts the point of focus so that it falls on your retina. As you get older your lens gradually loses its elasticity and ability to change shape. You can no longer properly focus on objects close to you without the help of corrective lenses.
People who are nearsighted may find they can do tasks like reading simply by taking off their distance glasses. But in time many of them likely will need glasses for close-up work as well. Another correction for nearsighted people is to wear a different strength of contact lens on each eye. Your dominant eye - usually the one you'll use for aiming or picture taking - gets the correction for seeing at a distance, and the other eye gets the correction for reading and seeing up close. In most cases your brain can adjust to the uneven corrective lenses, and you don't see double. About 70 percent of the people who try this learn to adapt. The success seems to depend on how motivated you are to avoid reading glasses.
Presbyopia usually continues to worsen, requiring periodic changes in your prescription for glasses or contacts. By the time you are about age 65, the lens in your eye has lost its elasticity and doesn't change shape anymore. From this point on you're less likely to need changes in your prescription.
How vision changes with age
As the preceding section on presbyopia indicates, your vision generally changes as you get older. If it doesn't you're a rare exception. Many of the changes are primarily an annoyance. And you learn to adjust to the circumstances. Here are several common changes in the function of your eye:
- Often your retina loses some of its sensitivity to light, so you add brighter lighting to your workstation or near your favorite reading chair.
- Frequently your lenses begin to cloud, causing a decrease in your visual acuity. Colors appear dim, and glare forms when light shines directly at you. This may cause you to avoid night driving.
- Usually your lenses become less elastic and lose their ability to adjust their focus. This may require you to keep changing your reading glasses or to keep a magnifying glass handy for reading small print.
- Sometimes your vitreous shrinks, which may produce bothersome floaters in your visual field. You learn not to let them bother you, although if you notice a sudden increase in the number of floaters, you'll need to contact your eye doctor.
- The conjunctiva and tear glands may lose their ability to properly lubricate your eye. Lubricating artificial tear drops may help correct this problem.
Increased risk of diseases and disorders
Although you can adjust to many changes to your vision brought on by aging, some changes can lead to serious eye problems, including partial loss of vision or blindness. Certain vision problems may be an unavoidable, natural part of aging, others can be prevented. Even those that are unavoidable can often be slowed or stopped through early detection and treatment.
Presbyopia, already discussed, is the most common vision problem caused by aging. Other problems include:
Glaucoma. Glaucoma is a condition resulting from abnormally high pressure inside your eyeball. If undetected, abnormally high eye pressure can gradually rob you of your vision - starting with your peripheral vision and eventually leading to blindness. If the disease is diagnosed early, damage from it can be prevented or slowed in most cases with the use of eyedrops. The eyedrops help reduce pressure by reducing fluid production within the eye or increasing the drainage of fluid from the eye.
Cataracts. A cataract is the clouding of your normally clear lens. Almost all of us will have cataracts to some degree as we age. And about half of Americans ages 65 to 75 have cataracts that are cloudy enough to noticeably decrease their vision. Surgery can successfully remove the cataract and replace it with an artificial lens.
Macular degeneration. This condition is caused by a deterioration of the macula, the part of your retina responsible for central vision. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in Americans older than 65. Some evidence indicates you can take measures to delay development of macular degeneration. There is no treatment for one form of this condition called dry macular degeneration. Surgical treatment is possible for some cases of the other form called wet macular degeneration. The treatment may preserve what's left of your central vision.
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Eyelid problems. Eyelid conditions such as entropion, ectropion, dermatochalasis and ptosis may develop due to changes in eyelid tissue or a weakening of eyelid muscles. Any one of these conditions may progress to a point where it irritates the eye or impairs vision. Surgery may become necessary to correct the problem.
Dry eyes. Tears provide an essential lubricant for your eyes. Unfortunately, tear production and tear quality decrease with age, causing symptoms such as stinging, burning and scratchiness in the eyes. Your doctor may suggest a number of steps that you can take to minimize these symptoms. To find out more, you can check out What Can You Do To Improve Your Eyesight.