Focus on Vision
Posted: Tuesday 27 April 2010 02:15pm
There is nothing more ageing for the area around eyes than squinting and frowning, but the problem transcends mere skin lines and wrinkles. It is an indication of the health of your actual eye.
Blurred vision and other visual disturbances that make it difficult to focus – hence all the squinting and frowning – can stem from, even cause a range of other health issues. Therefore, a proper professional diagnosis is recommended.
Vision changes and problems can be caused by many different conditions, they key chronic ones among which are:
Myopia is commonly known as nearsightedness, close objects are seen clearly but objects farther away appear blurred. It’s a very common vision condition and has been attributed to both heredity and the visual stress of too much close work. It generally first occurs in school-age children and progresses until about age 20 but can also occur in adults due to visual stress or health conditions such as diabetes.
Presbyopia, also known as farsightedness, creates difficulty focusing at close range,and tends to creep up in the early to mid 40s; part of the ageing process.
Astigmatism is usually caused by an irregularly shaped cornea (corneal astigmatism) but sometimes results from an irregularly shaped lens, located behind the cornea (lenticular astigmatism). You may not even notice mild astigmatism or have just slightly blurred vision, but left uncorrected it can give you headaches or eye strain and distort or blur your vision at all distances. Astigmatism can accompany both Myopia and presbyopia and is usually corrected with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery.
Cataracts create a cloudiness over one or both lenses of the eye, which lead to impaired night vision, halos around lights and sensitivity to glare. Daytime vision is eventually affected. It is common in the elderly.
Glaucoma manifests as increased pressure in the eye, causing poor night vision, blind spots and loss of peripheral vision. It can occur gradually or suddenly and is a major cause of blindness. If it happens suddenly, you must seek immediate medical treatment.
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes can lead to bleeding into the retina, also a common cause of blindness.
Macular degeneration causes loss of central vision, blurred vision (especially while reading), distorted vision (like seeing wavy lines), and colours appearing faded. It is the most common cause of blindness in people over 60.
Eye problems, even seemingly trivial but which affect your daily activities, should not be ignored as they will generally continue to deteriorate and impact on your quality of life.
In seeking a proper diagnosis, it’s important to know who’s who in the eye world:
- A good first port of call is your GP, who can guide you in the right direction.
- Opticians sell glasses but they do not diagnose problems.
- Optometrists conduct eye exams and may diagnose some problems. They can prescribe glasses or contact lenses.
- Opthamologists are doctors who diagnose and treat eye diseases, as well as prescribe glasses and contact lenses.
- Eye surgeons, as the name implies, perform surgery on the eyes.