Losing Eyesight
Losing eyesight is a devastating prospect faced by many.
Especially is this so for those who are nearing their sixties and seventies. Losing the ability to drive a car could mean a sudden loss of independence and can lead to mild depression. Perhaps a couple of vision problems are surfacing at the same time, lets examine a few of these now and see what options may be available to you to improve eyesight.
- The leading cause of eyesight loss to the elderly is AMD or Age-related Macular Degeneration which is a slow deterioration of the central vision. There is no known cure at present. It was believed that a diet rich in antioxidants could help to prevent this disease. It seems recent studies have suggested that just antioxidants cannot protect one against macular degeneration. There seems to be indications that AMD and inflammation are tied in; so a diet for inflammation and antioxidants could contribute to preventing this condition.
- Ocular hypertension is readily identified by a regular eye exam. When undiagnosed and untreated it could result in glaucoma.
- Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve. Permanent damage to the optic nerve and thus loss of vision can result. Those most at risk for developing glaucoma are those over 60 and with a family history of the disease. When one finds that he is unable to see objects to his side, it should alert him that he is losing his peripheral vision and may indicate that he has glaucoma.Various forms of treatment can be recommended and having a thorough dilate eye exam every two years is encouraged. As fluid is built up because of eye pressure a laser trabeculoplasty may be recommended to drain the fluid from the eye.
- Diabetic retinopathy is something that can affect those who have diabetes. After twenty or so years with diabetes, retina changes can occur. The circulation in the retina is effected which often leads to deprivation of oxygen, floaters and later to retinal detachment and glaucoma. Treatment depends on what stage of retinopathy. The object would be to stop the advancement of the disease. This may include an eye surgery as vitrectomy which removes vitreous humor of the eye. Diabetics need to regularly check their blood sugar and also eat healthfully as well as exercise in order to prevent retinopathy.
- There are a number of eye disease which can cause one to lose the ability to see– but imagine the prospect of losing both your eyesight and your hearing as a young adult. This is was is told to those with Usher syndrome. At the present time there is no cure. For effective treatment it is important to be diagnosed early on and proper treatment has to do with how advanced the loss is.
- The eye disease which is called retinitis pigmentosa causes night-blindness as well as a loss of peripheral vision and the field of vision keeps narrowing. There are some eye professionals who think that a high dose of vitamin A palmitate can decrease the the progression of this disease based on a clinical trial by the National Eye Institute. A beta-carotene supplement should not be used in place of the vitamin A palmitate. This disease is inherited and very recently the gene which causes it has been identified. There is so much additional research that should be done.
Please refer to additional information in this series on ‘Foods That Improve Eyesight’ and ‘Eye Exercises’ for additional resources.
It has been shown that the majority of follks are more worried about losing eyesight as they age than losing their memory or their hair or anything else. Although not all eyesight problems can be prevented or even totally corrected, a lot can be done to enhance our eye health.
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Tags: Age-related-Macular-Degeneration, AMD, Diabetic, Diabetic-retinopathy, Diabeticretinopathy, Glaucoma, losing-eyesight, losingeyesight, Ocular-hypertension, Ocularhypertension, palmitate, retinitis-pigmentosa, retinitispigmentosa, retinopathy, Usher-syndrome, Ushersyndrome, vitrectomy
