Dry Eyes are relatively common, especially if you forget to blink when concentrating on your work or computer screen. It can also be caused by reduced tear production; this becomes more common with increasing age. The standard treatment of lubricating eye drops known as artificial tears, can be successful but may need to be used frequently. Nutrition: increasing your intake of oily fish, or taking an omege 3 fish oil supplement may help.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a painless, progressive disorder associated with reduced levels of carotenoid pigments in the macula - the part of the retina responsible for fine vision. These yellow pigments, lutein and zeaxanthin, filter out harmful blue light and help to neutralise the damaging chemicals produced during light detection. Reduced pigment levels lead to increased cell damage and subsequently to a widening circle of visual distortion and even blindness. It typically obliterates words when you try to read and blanks out someone's face when you look straight at them. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of dietary sources of lutein (dark-green, yellow and orange fruit and vegetables) have at least a 60% loweer risk of developing AMD than those with low intakes. Lutein supplements (10mg daily - five times the average daily dietary intake) can improve vision for people with some forms of AMD.
Cataracts are opacity in the normally crystal clear eye lens, caused by changes in lens proteins (similar to those that turn cooked egg white from clear to cloudy) with increasing age. This results in blurring, sensitvity to sun glare, changes in colour perception and seeing haloes around light. Cataracts are worsened by exposure to ultraviolet light. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of antioxidents (especially vitamins C, E and lutein) are less likely to develop cataracts. Vitamin B2 helps to maintain eye levels of an important antioxidant 'glutathione', which may inhibit cataract formation.
Presbyopia is a form of long-sightedness that develops as part of the normal ageing process. Each eye lens thickens and becomes less elastic so it is increasingly difficult to focus on near objects. The first symptoms usually occur around age 45, when you may need to start wearing spectacles for close work such as reading or sewing.
Glaucoma is a condition in which fluid pressure in the eye is high enough to cause damage, compressing small blood vessels that nourish the optic nerve. It may lead to loss of vision or even blindness. The most common eye disorder in people over 60, and is responsible for 15% of blindness in the UK.
Dr Sarah Brewer in Healthspan magazine, September 2011
