Overview
Presbyopia, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, dry eyes, cataracts, temporal arteritis, and other age-related eye conditions are all common eye problems that come with getting older. In particular, if you have diabetes, you should make sure to keep your eye doctor appointments.
How does aging affect your eyes?
As you get older, your age-related eye conditions get worse, but there are things you can do to keep your eyes and health in general in good shape for life. Using brighter lights within the house to help avoid accidents caused by poor vision could be the answer. Another option is to see your doctor more often to check for diseases that come with getting older.
Age-Related Eye Conditions
People of all ages can get these eye problems, but they happen more often to older people. No matter how old or young you are, there are easy things you can do to feel and see better.
Cataract
The main reason people lose their sight around the world is cataracts, which are cloudy natural lenses inside the eye. There are different kinds; some blur your vision, while others may make lights glare or have a halo effect around them. These symptoms can make it hard to read, walk safely, drive, watch TV, and do other things. The most common way to remove cataracts surgically is through phacoemulsification, which is part of cataract surgery.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
AMD is when the macula, a small area in the middle of the retina that helps us see details and contrast, gets worse. In the US, this disease is the main reason why people over 50 lose their sight. Depending on the type of AMD, there are different ways to treat it, such as with vitamins, risk factors that can be changed, or injections that may slow the progression of AMD or stop it from getting worse.
Glaucoma
The optic nerve is a cable that connects the eye to the brain. Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that can damage this nerve and make a person blind for life. Glaucoma is often called the “sneaky thief” of sight because it is hard to spot the early signs of the disease. Glaucoma is treated by lowering eye pressure in a number of ways, such as with drops, pills, laser treatments, and/or surgeries.
Find out more about glaucoma and how to deal with losing a lot of vision because of it.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy and harm to the retina from people with diabetes who don’t control their blood sugar are the main reasons why 20–65-year-old adults go blind or have low vision. At first, the symptoms may not be very obvious, and a diagnosis is usually made during a full eye exam. Getting your diabetes under control is the most important thing you can do to treat diabetic retinopathy. Injections, lasers, or surgeries are some other ways to treat it.
Find out more about diabetic age-related eye conditions and how to deal with losing your sight while having diabetes.
Dry Eye
When tears aren’t enough to keep the cornea moist, you get dry eyes. It’s a normal part of getting older that most people don’t pay much attention to, but it can lead to blurred vision, irritation, redness, and pain. Eyedrops, punctual plugs, and/or surgery are all ways to treat dry eyes.
How can you keep your eyes from getting worse with age?
Even though age-related eye conditions become more common as people get older, many of them can still be prevented or corrected if you do the following:
- Check with your family doctor often for diseases like diabetes that can cause eye problems.
- Every year, you should see an eye doctor or an optometrist. It is important to see an eye doctor for a full exam, as numerous eye diseases can be cured if they can be detected early. By putting drops in your eyes, the eye doctor may dilate or make your pupils bigger. The doctor will also check your eyes for glaucoma and see how well you can see.
- If you or someone in your family has had eye disease in the past, you should get an eye exam with dilation of the pupils at least once a year. As soon as you notice sudden vision loss, blurred vision, eye pain, double vision, redness, swelling, or discharge coming from your eye, you should see an eye doctor right away.
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