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Protect Your Vision As You Age

Protect Your Vision As You Age

By Harvard Health Letters

Good vision is vital to maintaining independence as you age. But some problems can develop slowly, often without you noticing.

“Many of the common eye diseases aren’t symptomatic in the early stages,” says Dr. Sherleen Chen, an ophthalmologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.

TYPES OF PROBLEMS

Sometimes vision problems are the result of age-related worsening eyesight or the development of cataracts (when the lens of your eye slowly becomes cloudy).

“If you can’t see well, you’ll have trouble reading medication labels, difficulty driving, and an increased risk of falls. This is obvious, of course, but not everyone realizes the importance of protecting against vision loss,” he notes.

Protection includes recognizing a risk of eye disease. That can be tricky. There are three common conditions that have no symptoms initially and may go undetected without regular eye exams. The first is glaucoma, in which pressure in the eye increases.

“It doesn’t cause pain. It robs you of your peripheral vision first, and you don’t notice it until the late stages, when damage has been done,” says Dr. Chen. The second is diabetic retinopathy, which damages blood vessels in the retina. The third is age-related macular degeneration, which can gradually destroy the macula, the part of the eye that provides central vision needed for seeing objects clearly.

“The earlier you catch and treat these problems, the better we can slow or prevent progression,” says Dr. Chen.

PREVENTION

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends exams every two to four years for people ages 40 to 55; every one to three years for people ages 55 to 65; and every one to two years for people ages 65 and older. People with risk factors for eye problems, such as diabetes, may need more frequent exams.

A comprehensive eye exam involves dilating the eyes to open the pupils so the doctor can look into the back of the eye at the retina.

“We also check eye pressure, make sure the eye muscles are functioning, look at the front structure of the eye, and correct any vision problems if possible,” says Dr. Chen.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

You can also protect your eye health by taking care of your overall health. That means eating a healthy diet and managing your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

“Whatever is good for the heart is good for the eyes, too,” says Dr. Chen.

Don’t smoke, or if you do, quit.

“Smoking raises the risk of both cataracts and macular degeneration. It’s the only reliably modifiable risk factor for macular degeneration,” says Dr. Chen.

Sunglasses can help slow the progression of cataracts, although Dr. Chen says there is debate about whether sunglasses help protect against macular degeneration. When it comes to buying a pair of sunglasses, the key is looking for lenses that will block UV light.

“It doesn’t matter how dark the lenses are. You just want a 99 percent to 100 percent UV ray block,” says Dr. Chen. — Harvard Health Letter

(C) 2015. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLGE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.

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Bachmann and Pawlenty Spar Over Experience and Vision

Despite his conservative orthodoxy on the campaign trail, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann calls Tim Pawlenty — her state’s former governor and rival for the Republican presidential nomination — a veritable clone of Barack Obama on the issues.

Call it war by press release.

In an interview with David Gregory on “Meet the Press” a few weeks ago, Pawlenty criticized his fellow contender Rep. Michelle Bachmann, calling her record in Congress “nonexistent.”

That remark set off a war-of-words that has alternated between hot and cold, as Pawlenty has sought to bring the Tea Partier Bachmann down from her burst of momentum and she, in turn, has swatted at him like a pesky fly.

One of her latest releases — which is currently making the rounds on the cable shows — frames Pawlenty as an advocate of “big government” while touting her supposed accomplishments. “Actions speak louder than words,” it says.

Another campaign statement, released today, compares Pawlenty with conservatives’ bête-noire, President Barack Obama:

There is very little difference between Governor Pawlenty’s past positions and Barack Obama’s positions on several critical issues facing Americans. On issues such as unconstitutional healthcare mandates, climate change regulations, and Wall Street bailouts, there’s very little daylight, indeed, between Governor Pawlenty’s record and the Obama administration’s policies.

And of course, President Obama would surely applaud Governor Pawlenty’s 2006 statement that the ‘era of small government is over,’ and that the government will have to be ‘more proactive and more aggressive.’

Governor Pawlenty has changed his positions in recent years, but he can’t run from his big government record as governor of Minnesota that left the state’s budget in a multi-billion dollar mess. That’s not executive experience we need.

When describing Bachmann’s accomplishments in Congress, the release is rather vague. Apparently she has “led the fight against the job-killing Obamacare legislation” — an effort that has not panned out well so far. Emphasizing her work outside Washington, she cites her experience as a tax litigator and her leadership of a “successful private company.” She does not name the business by name — perhaps because Bachmann and Associates, a Christian counseling service run by her husband, Marcus, has recently come under fire for its alleged use of discredited reparative therapies on gay patients.

Bachmann also criticizes Pawlenty for his role in the “multi-billion dollar mess” — referring to the budget shortfall that led the Minnesota government to shut down for 11 days.

Their spat comes just as President Obama and congressional leaders try to head off another multi-billion dollar mess — the likely outcome of failure to raise the debt ceiling. Both Pawlenty and Bachmann oppose raising the debt ceiling if it means ceding any ground to Democrats.