Age Of Discovery Brochure Project

Regular center exams are key to protecting your vision. Photo Courtesy: Inside Creative House/iStock

Welcome to Crumbling Well, a SymptomFind series with tips to help you protect your health and well-being as you become older. This first edition focuses on middle wellness — and throughout the series, nosotros'll bring you trusted tips to help y'all stay strong, salubrious and contained for years to come.

Many middle diseases are more common in older adults. Only vision loss does non accept to be a normal office of aging. In fact, y'all can make elementary changes to your daily routine to lower your risk for center diseases that cause vision loss.

In this guide, nosotros're offer testify-based tips to help you protect your vision as you lot become older. Learn how changes y'all make today can protect your sight for a lifetime.

Yes, everyone'due south vision changes slightly every bit they get older. After historic period 45, the lens of your eye doesn't focus also — and that makes it harder to encounter things up shut. That's why many older adults use glasses to read.

If you're having problem reading or seeing things up shut, see your eye physician for an test. Your eye physician may recommend prescription reading glasses or contacts, or you may be able to use over-the-counter reading glasses.

While this small vision modify is a normal and expected role of crumbling, more serious vision changes and vision loss are not normal. Run into your md correct abroad if you find changes in your vision.

Am I at Risk for Center Diseases?

Older adults are at higher risk for several centre diseases, including cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

Cataracts are cloudy areas in the lens of your centre. More than half of Americans over age 80 accept had cataracts. The good news is, a simple surgery can fix cataracts.
Glaucoma is a group of centre diseases that damages the nervus that connects your center to your brain. Early on handling can cease the harm and protect your sight.
Historic period-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that makes your central vision blurry. People ages 55 and older are at higher take a chance for AMD, but there may be treatments that can help.

Diabetic eye affliction is another main cause of vision loss in older adults. If you lot have diabetes, y'all're at adventure for diabetic eye disease — and your take chances gets college as you get older.

Your risk for eye diseases may also be higher depending on your race, gender, family history of middle diseases and whatsoever other health conditions you take. Talk with your doctor nearly your personal risk for center disease.

And remember, while your risk for these center problems goes up as you age, you tin still take steps to protect your centre health. And then don't surrender on your optics!

How Can I Protect My Sight?

Taking care of your eye health tin be equally simple equally eating your veggies and remembering your sunglasses when y'all leave the house. Follow these six tips to protect your vision.

1. Get Regular Eye Exams

Eye diseases that cause vision loss often have no early symptoms. Then the only way to observe them early on is to get regular centre exams. Your eye doctor can test your vision and discover center bug early, when they're easier to care for.

The National Eye Institute says that everyone over age 60 needs an eye exam every one to two years. But depending on your chance for heart diseases, you may demand to get-go getting eye exams earlier or get them more ofttimes. For example, people with diabetes may need to get center exams at least once a year. Ask your md how often you need an heart examination.

two. Eat Right for Your Sight

Good for you eating is fundamental to your overall wellness. Information technology tin help prevent conditions like diabetes that can damage your eyes. And certain foods accept nutrients that tin help protect your vision, including:

Leafy dark-green veggies, like spinach and collards
Nighttime orangish veggies, like sugariness potatoes and carrots
Fish that provide Omega-3 fat acids, like salmon and tuna

So eat plenty of colorful veggies and fatty fish as part of a good for you, balanced diet.

3. Stay Agile to Keep Seeing Your Best

Regular physical activity is another key manner to stay salubrious equally you become older. And information technology lowers your risk for health conditions that tin bear upon your vision, like loftier blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Try to get virtually two and half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. That's anything that raises your heart charge per unit and makes you breathe faster, like walking, biking or swimming. Y'all could exercise 30 minutes on 5 days a calendar week, or whatever schedule works for you lot. And at least two days a week, do an activity that strengthens your muscles, like yoga, lifting weights or even carrying groceries.

If you lot're merely getting started, do as much equally you can and piece of work your way upwards to more! Fifty-fifty five minutes of walking a mean solar day tin brand a difference.

4. Manage Your Other Health Conditions

Wellness conditions similar diabetes and high claret pressure put you lot at college risk for eye bug. So getting these conditions under control is key to protecting your sight.

For example, if you lot have diabetes, controlling your blood saccharide can lower your take a chance for diabetic centre disease. Talk with your doctor nigh the best mode to manage your health conditions.

five. Always Vesture Your Sunglasses

Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun can impairment your eyes and raise your risk for cataracts. So information technology's important to clothing sunglasses that block UV low-cal. Attempt to wear your sunglasses whenever you get out in the daytime — even if information technology'southward cloudy outside.

6. If Y'all Smoke, Quit

Smoking isn't only bad for your lungs and your overall health. Information technology also raises your gamble for AMD and cataracts. If y'all smoke, make a plan to quit.

Become Assist Living with Vision Loss

If you already have vision loss, at that place are lots of services and devices that tin help you make the most of the sight you lot still have. These are sometimes called "low vision" or "vision rehab" services.

A specialist can assist y'all learn to do everyday tasks more than easily. For example, yous may demand a magnifying device to aid you read, or you lot may need to rearrange your furniture to help you movement around your domicile improve. Ask your doctor nearly services and devices that can aid you lot live better with low vision.

Resources Links:

"Good for you Aging Includes Healthy Vision" via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
"Crumbling and Your Eyes" via National Institute on Aging
"viii Things You Tin can Do Correct At present to Protect Your Vision" via National Middle Institute
"36 Fabled Foods to Aid Protect Your Vision" via American University of Ophthalmology
"The Low Down on Middle Exercises" via Harvard Medical School
"How Much Concrete Activity Do Older Adults Need?" via CDC