The Aging Eye
March 24, 2008
From Val Willingham
I have a passion for reading: books, magazines, even catalogs, you name it. And I never had a tough time following the fine print, until I got into my 40s. I just couldn’t see up close. Although I had been wearing glasses since I was in sixth grade, all of a sudden, the words were out of focus. When I finally went to the eye doctor, he prescribed (here comes the dreaded word, most middle-age people hate to hear): Bifocals!
As we age, so do our eyes. It’s just inevitable. Most people, as they get into their late 30s and early 40s, begin to have difficulty reading up close. Many people are forced to wear bifocals or reading glasses. They develop presbyopia, a condition in which the eyes don’t have the ability to focus on near objects as we get older. The first symptoms are usually difficulty reading fine print, particularly in low light conditions, eyestrain when reading for long periods and blurred vision. Although in some cases it can be corrected with surgery, many people choose to go the glasses route.
As we age, we may also develop a condition known as glaucoma. It can start to develop in our 30s. Elevated pressure within the eye damages the optic nerve and can lead to blindness. Even people with normal blood pressure are at risk. “It’s one of the most important things to look for, because 3 million Americans have glaucoma and half don’t even know it,” says Dr. Roy Rubinfeld of Washington Eye Physicians in Chevy Chase, Maryland. So make sure your ophthalmologist tests you for glaucoma.
