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Aging Eyes - Protect Your Vision as You Age

Healthy aging includes protecting your eyes. From lifestyle changes to regular check-ups, you can give your eyes their best chance of staying healthy and happy. Read about dry eyes, tearing, glaucoma, macular degeneration and more.
Vision and Aging Tips
As you age, your vision will begin to weaken. While this is a normal part of aging, there are steps you can take to avoid having serious vision problems. Learn how to protect your eyes and function safely with lower vision.
Vision Problems and Aging
As your eyes age, changes in your eyes can cause problems with your vision. Problems focusing, seeing floaters, watery eyes and redness are common complaints that older people have. Your eye doctor can make sure that nothing serious is happening and help you manage these age-related eye problems.
Aging and Eye Diseases
Aging can cause various eye diseases and disorders. Dry eye, cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and retinopathy are all conditions that occur more often in older people. The best prevention is regular trips to an eye doctor for checkups.
Difficulty Reading and Older Adults
Presbyopia is the medical term for difficulty reading or seeing close objects. This condition is common with aging and occurs because the lens of the eye becomes less elastic. Presbyopia can be treated with reading glasses or contact lenses.
Glaucoma – Aging and Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a condition in which pressure builds up in the eye because the channels that drain the eye narrow over time. Glaucoma can usually be treated with prescription eye drops. Regular visits to the eye doctor can usually prevent glaucoma from developing into a serious condition.
Pink Eye
Pink eye is an inflammation of the lining of the eyelid and the membrane on the surface of the eye, usually caused by a virus. Because older people often have fewer tears, pink eye infection is more common. You can protect yourself through good hygiene like handwashing.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition which is caused by changes in the blood vessels. This condition worsens slowly over time. The more well-controlled a person’s diabetes is, the more slowly vision damage will occur. Controlling blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol can help prevent diabetic retinopathy.
Watery Eyes and Aging
Watery eyes and too many tears are common complaints of older adults. Your eyes change as you age and the body tries to help by making more tears. Most of the causes of excessive tearing can be easily addressed.
Dry Eyes
Dry eyes are a common complaint for older adults. As we age, our body produces fewer tears, causing dry eyes. While usually not a sign of any larger problem, dry eyes can be irritating and even painful. Simple eye drops can help.
Retinal Detachment - Causes and Treatments
Retinal detachment is an eye disorder in which the retina detaches from the underlying tissues. Surgical procedures exist that can often reposition and repair a damaged retina.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is an age-related disorder that can cause loss of central vision. In macular degeneration, the retina’s blood filter ceases to function and the retina receives incorrect nutrients from the bloodstream. This causes the retina to become dry, or to leak or thin. Treatments exist for some forms of macular degeneration.
Cataracts and Aging
Cataracts are an eye disorder that is closely related to aging. As we age, the proteins in our eye begin to bind to each other. This can cause a cloudy spot to form, known as a cataract.
Eye Floaters
Floaters are tiny clumps of cells in the fluid inside your eyes, which look like little specks that float across your vision. You may notice them best in a brightly-lit room. Floaters increase with age and are normal. However, if you notice an increase in floaters or see bright flashes of light, see an eye doctor.
Macula
The macula is an area of the retina that processes sharp, detailed vision. Damage to the macula (through macular degeneration) can result in a loss of central vision.
Retina
The retina is a layer of tissue at the back of the eye. The retina’s job is to convert the light that enters the eyes into electrical signals. These signals travel by the optic nerve and reach the brain.
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