Vision care in older citizens over 60

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People above 60 are quite susceptible to age-related vision problems. Some of the problems can be treated by wearing reading eyeglasses. For these older individuals, regular eye exams including critical tests for older eyes are helpful to detect potential eye diseases. Doctors will suggest proper treatments for specific vision problems. For example, advanced cataracts always require a cataract surgery, which replaces the cloudy lens with a healthy artificial lens. In most cases, cloudy or hazy vision can also be removed after a cataract surgery.

Other remedies of low vision in older people involve good lighting. Older people above 60 usually need additional illumination for most indoor tasks. This can be explained by the structural changes in their pupils. The pupil in older people is smaller than that in youngsters, which prevents light from reaching the retina. As a result, vision sharpness is reduced. Extra lighting may be needed by older individuals in some places. Darker corners at home can be illuminated by installing task lighting underneath kitchen cabinets or above stoves. Other places such as garage, sewing room and office room may also require additional lighting.

Some vision losses in older citizens are incurable. These serious causes of permanent vision loss include glaucoma, advanced macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Vision losses make older people to invulnerably take certain low vision devices such as strong magnifying lenses with extra illumination, lens filters and shields, audio tapes, specially adapted computer of TV screens, telescopes and so on.

Unfortunately, timely treatments of vision-threatening eye diseases in older citizens are dissatisfying. Statistics show that about one third of diagnosed glaucoma patients just leave the eye disease untreated, which brings a much higher likelihood of motor vehicle collision and fall. Delayed vision correction or treatment in older people may also lead to falls, which may cause severe injuries such as a fracture. Falling and related injuries often force older citizen to resort to nursing homes. Another potential reason for falls is the use of multifocal eyeglass lenses. While providing sight at all distances, these lenses also narrow peripheral vision, which brings a higher risk to older individuals.