Vision at age 60 and Beyond - Dr. Terry Tucker OD

Vision changes occur as you age.  These changes do not have to compromise your vision or lifestyle.  Knowing what to expect and seeking routine vision examinations will help insure continued good vision.

As you age and reach your 60’s and beyond,  you need to be more attentive to the warning signs of age-related vision problems that can rob you of your sight.  Many eye diseases or vision problems have not signs or symptoms to give you a warning of present or future vision problems.  They can be painless and you will not know you have a problem until it may be advanced enough that it is difficult to treat and manage.   This is why regular vision examinations are important to detect problems while they are easier to treat.

Systemic health problems can also cause problems with your vision also.  Diabetic condition, hypertension (high blood pressure), and taking some medications that have ocular side effects, are at greatest risk for eye problems.

Regular eye examinations are even more important in these individuals.  The American Optometric Association recommends annual eye examinations for everyone over 60 years old.

At age 60 and beyond, a number of eye diseases may develop that can change your vision permanently.  The earlier these problems are detected and treated, the more likely you can retain good vision.

The following are vision disorders that you should be aware of:

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease affecting the macula, the center of the light sensitive retina at the back of the eye.  This your central vision where your vision is the clearest.  This is a very small area that allows you to see small detail and colors.  Activities like driving, reading, watching TV and recognizing faces all require good central vision provided by the macula.  Macular degeneration causes changes in central vision, but not the periphery.

Diabetic retinopathy is a condition occurring in people with diabetes. Progressive damage to the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina can cause this problem.  The blood vessels leek blood and other fluids that cause the retina tissue to swell and cloud vision. This condition can cause blindness.

Retinal detachment is the tearing of the retina or separation of the retina from the underlying tissue.  Trauma to the head or body can cause this, along with advanced diabetes and other ocular diseases.  This condition can cause permanent loss of vision.

Yearly vision examinations are one of the beat ways to protect your vision.  Get your eyes examined by your Optometrist.

 

Dr. Terry Tucker OD

Tucker Vision Center
Bayshore Medical Plaza
88 Pine Island Rd. #3
North Fort Myers, FL 33903

Phone: 239-656-1778

Diet’s Effects on Eyes

By Dr. Terry Tucker 

Tucker Vision Center 

We all grew up knowing that carrots are good for our eyes.  Carrots, among other deeply colored vegetables and fruits, are rich in sources of beta carotene, the plant-based building block for vitamin A, which is required to form rhodopsin, the visual pigment that allows people to see in the dark.

Medical science is now learning a lot more about the influence of diet on vision.  Not only carrots and vitamin A, but other potentially important nutrients including  two related carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin; vitamins C and E; and docosahexanoic acid, or DHA, found primarily in fish oil.

The evidence for the effects of these nutrients on visual development and prevention of sight-robbing eye disease is not conclusive, strong hints from recent research may justify dietary improvements.  Even if some of these changes turn out to be only minimally helpful to the eyes, they have other health benefits.

DHA evidence from premature babies suggests a role in visual development.  Infants born eight or more weeks early arrive fat-free, lacking both a reserve and stored energy and the fatty acid DHA, which is essential for normal visual (and brain) development.

DHA normally accounts for more than one-third of fatty acids in the retina of the eye as well as in the brain’s gray matter.  The retina develops rapidly in the final months of pregnancy and in the first six months of infancy.

Fetuses begin to acquire large amounts of DHA only in the last three months of pregnancy.  Unless a premature baby is fed breast milk (which naturally contains DHA) or formula fortified with DHA, the child’s visual acuity is likely to be compromised.  Studies indicate premature babies fed formula fortified with fish oil developed visual acuity similar to that of term infants and preterm infants fed breast. From these studies it appears that fish oil (omega 3) is a vital part of the diet and could help to keep the eye healthy.

Two common sight-robbing disorders, cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, have been linked in several studies to dietary deficits of nutrients.  Maintaining an adequate intake of these nutrients may not prevent the eye disorders, but it can’t hurt.

Age-related eye disorders:  Nearly everyone who lives long enough develops cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s lens that reduces the ability to see clearly.  The main cause is believed to be oxidative damage by so-called free radicals caused by exposure to sunlight.  Thus, antioxidants, which act as scavengers for free radicals, are believed to be protective.

One antioxidant nutrient, vitamin E, occurs naturally in the lens, and in animal studies, supplements of vitamin E have slowed the rate at which cataracts form.  In several studies in people, higher rates of cataracts occurred among those whose intake of vitamin E was low.

Vitamin C, another antioxidant found in the lens, has also prevented cataracts in animals.

The strongest evidence for eye benefits from dietary ingredients involves the carotenoids lutein an zeaxanthin, found in large amounts in the lens and retina.  Lutein may help prevent cataracts through its ability to absorb damaging ultraviolet light, blocking oxidative damage. 

Perhaps even more important, these carotenoids may prevent and even partly reverse otherwise untreatable damage to the macula, the area in the center of the retina that allows people to see whatever is in the center of their visual fields.  

Lutein and zeaxanthin are most prominent in dark green leafy vegetables.  Some experts recommend eating at least half a cup of one of those nutrients.