The Aging Eye: See into Your Future

Learn what's normal for aging eyes, what may be a sign of disease, and how to compensate for changes.

Even a slight deterioration of any of your senses can be scary. Not only can it interfere with your safety and your ability to understand your surroundings, but also it can have a huge impact on your overall comfort and independence.

Still, as you age, some decline in your senses is expected. Eyesight is often one of the first senses affected by aging.

But you can minimize the impact of age-related vision loss on daily life, boost eye health in general, and reduce disease risk by monitoring vision changes, identifying problems, creating an eye-friendly environment, and adjusting your lifestyle habits and dietary choices.

How's Your Vision?

Your first step in protecting your eyes is to distinguish between vision changes that are due to normal aging processes and vision changes that may be signs of disease. Only a doctor can diagnose eye disease, so if you haven't been keeping a regular schedule of checkups, consider making an appointment today.

In the meantime, the quick test at the end if this article is a test many eye specialists give to help determine whether a person may be exhibiting signs of eye disease.

Normal Age-Related Vision Changes
Not all declines in vision quality are the result of disease; certain anatomical changes naturally occur as the eyes age.

The various internal and external structures of the eyes, which all work together to help people see clearly at various distances and under different lighting conditions, begin to wear down as people get older.

Common age-related vision complaints include:

• "I can't see as clearly as I used to."
• "I have difficulty seeing objects close up."
• "Colors don't seem as vivid."
• "It's getting more difficult to see in the dark."
• "I'm less able to adapt to glare."
• "I need more light to see."

The most significant age-related changes seem to occur in the lens and the pupil; these account for the majority of vision limitations people experience as they get older. The extent to which these changes affect vision varies a bit with each person. But regardless of the degree to which these changes affect you, you can compensate for them and help ensure they don't endanger your safety or make it difficult for you to enjoy life.

Age-Related Eye Change #1

The pupil becomes smaller and less responsive to variations in light.

Impact: Because the pupil controls the amount of light that reaches the retina, age-related changes to the pupil may affect vision in many ways. First, as the pupil decreases in diameter, seeing well in dim light becomes harder. In addition, the less able the pupil is to adjust to varying light conditions, the less tolerable glare becomes and the more difficult it is to adapt from darkness to bright light or vice versa. This means as you get older, you may need more time to adjust to changing levels of illumination, such as going from bright sunshine into a dimly lit room or restaurant.

Compensation: Proper illumination can compensate for many of the changes in your pupil as you age. Try these illumination techniques:

• Increase the amount of ambient light throughout your home.
• Use individual lights —or task lighting —for specific tasks. Studies show that for specific tasks, the average 60-year-old person needs at least three times the amount of light compared with the average 20-year-old.
• Use timed lighting that switches on and off at set times of the day to ensure consistent ambient lighting.
• Install motion-sensor lights in your home that turn on automatically when you enter a room.
• Avoid bare bulbs, clear shades, and chandeliers without shades; these produce glare that can be disorienting and uncomfortable.
• Cover shiny, highly polished surfaces in the home or work areas with cloth or rugs to reduce glare.
• Get specific advice on how to use lighting to improve vision quality in Lighting the Way: A Key to Independence from the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Age-Related Eye Change #2

The lens of the eye begins to lose elasticity.

Impact: In the same way that losing flexibility in tendons and muscles makes it more difficult for the body to move, losing lens elasticity also makes it harder for the lens to bend in order to focus on closely held objects. This loss of focusing power, or lens accommodation, is known as presbyopia.

Compensation: Investing in certain sight aids can help compensate for losses in up-close vision. Try these sight aids if you're having trouble seeing close up:

• See your eye specialist regarding corrective devices such as reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, progressive lenses (no lines), or possibly contact lenses to help you correctly see objects at close proximity.
• Have your eyes rechecked and reading lenses adjusted every 2 or 3 years; changes in lens elasticity typically occur progressively between the ages of 45 and 65.
• Shine additional light on close work materials to enhance your near vision; lights with adjustable necks are best for directly targeting work.
• Consider simple, over-the-counter reading glasses for up-close work if you do not need corrective lenses to see distances. The typical range of magnification needed is from +1.00 to + 3.00. Choose a weaker glass for computer work or a stronger glass for reading.

Researchers are studying new surgical interventions and devices that could restore at least some amount of near vision. However, these techniques are experimental, and given the tendency of the eye structure to constantly change, the long-term success of such interventions is unknown.