Vision Loss

Your eyes are one of the most important organs in your body. It is through your vision that you mainly perceive the world and what is happening around you. However, as you get into your golden years (that is 65 and beyond), you will have some deterioration in your vision. As a matter of fact, vision loss begins as early as in the 30s, and its initial deterioration is gradual and almost unnoticeable. But it begins to accelerate in the 40s and 50s. Now, if you are already in your golden years, you might have much impaired vision, especially they could have been aggravated by your decline in health, such as getting diabetes. Getting older will take its toll on your body in many ways and your vision loss is just one thing that will start to deteriorate noticeably with age.

Some of the obvious signs and symptoms of vision loss are: difficulty in focusing (slower and less accurate)—a condition known as presbyopia, which is caused by the hardening of the eyes’ lenses; difficulty in seeing either long or short distances—these eye conditions that are known as either nearsightedness or farsightedness.

Presbyopia will result in difficulty to read or doing work that requires accurate focus; nearsightedness or farsightedness may require you to wear bifocals or different eyeglasses.

Other problematic issues with vision loss include an increased risk of age-related eye diseases, such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts. These eye problems can lead to severe eyesight issues, even blindness, if they are not taken care of immediately.

In your golden years, take extra care of your vision health and eyesight issues to reduce the risk of blindness further down the road. Check your health, especially your eye health, on a regular basis. This may play a pivotal role in preventing further deterioration or even blindness. Prevention is always better than a cure. Eat a healthy diet to get all the nutrients to your eyes. Do eye exercises; if you exercise the muscles in your body, you should also exercise the muscles in your eyes, because they are responsible for your vision health. Use eye exercises to help correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or presbyopia. Eye exercises are easy and simple to do and you can even do them in your own home. For eye exercises to work, you must be persistent

Make sure that you have eye tests done at least twice a year and if you start to notice a decline in your ability to focus or see clearly.

Most vision problems, whether nearsightedness, farsightedness, or presbyopia, have to do with eye stress and strain affecting the shape of the eyes, and hence their capability to focus correctly. Of course, the eyes cannot be relaxed if the body and mind are not.

Your Golden Years and Santa Claus shows you the wisdom in happy and successful aging in the golden years. It is a holistic and comprehensive approach to dealing with vision loss and other health issues, as well as changes and challenges, encountered late in life.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau