Baby Boomers are getting older, and, they are not quietly arriving at any stage in their life. Therefore, more than ever before, attention is focused on eyesight.
There will be about 200,000 occurrences of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that are diagnosed each year, and, it is a disease that affects women more often than men.
Age-related macular degeneration, AMD is now the number one reason of vision loss in adults over 60.
It affects the macula, which is the section that focuses on seeing fine detail.
AMD causes the loss of your sharp, central vision. This is necessary for reading or driving, and many other tasks you do each day.
Macular degeneration affects more women than men, this is a proven fact.
There are other risk factors involved; including smoking, obesity, even genealogy and also race.
White adults seem to be more affected than blacks.
AMD is a very difficult problem to detect because there really are not signs, and it moves in so gradually, that it is often not detected in the very early stages. This by itself is reason enough to go for regular eye exams. And, make sure that you go to the right eye doctor for these exams.
This disease can move slowly, or it can also move rapidly. You need to become aware and pro-active with your eye care. Become involved!
And, take regular exams! The sooner you catch this eye disease, the more you can be helped. AMD can be diagnosed at a routine eye exam.
April is also: Women's Eye Health and Safety Month
We just cannot overlook the impact age can have on eyes. As a matter of fact, it even has a name, it is age-related eye disease (ARED). There are basically four different types of eye diseases that are the most common.
These can all creep up very quietly during your aging year. They threaten your vision. Those over 60-65 are the most at danger of having any of these eye diseases. This is why it is imperative that you go to your eye doctor. Don't just go to your eye doctor, but even establish a relationship with this doctor. Obviously eyesight is one of the greatest assets we have. Let's work to keep our eyesight functioning at the highest level possible. And please, remember, this article is not to diagnose or treat. It is written simply to shake you out of complacency and to make you become pro-active in your own eye care.
Back in the 1950's and 60's most people didn't rate diabetes as a major problem. Back then, all the focus was on dealing with more prominent diseases such as polio and tuberculosis. If diabetes was thought about, it was more in the context of cutting out sugar in your coffee, rather than as a serious threat to your eyesight or your life.
That's all changing. It's not too much to say that diabetes is now reaching epidemic levels in most of the western world. According to the American Diabetes Association there are over 20 million diabetics in the United States alone, with a staggering one third undiagnosed. It's also going to get a lot worse with another 41 million Americans already showing pre-diabetic signs.
Diabetes is a disease that mostly affects blood vessels and in it's extreme forms can lead to serious heart disease, stroke and kidney damage. Clearly these life threatening diabetic vascular diseases deserve priority attention, but high on the critical list for diabetics is the risk of serious eye disease and loss of vision.
Vision is one of our most critical senses and in this "need for speed" information era, over 70% of our sensory information comes through our eyes. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, diabetics are 25 times more likely to lose vision than those who are not diabetic. With diabetes already being the number one cause of blindness in the United States, it's no wonder eye care professionals are predicting a devastating increase in vision loss as the diabetic epidemic grows alarmingly.
Newly diagnosed diabetics often have nothing more than minor vision fluctuations which settle when blood sugar levels improve with treatment. Early on it's easy to believe everything is fine. After some years though, continuing high blood sugar can gradually damage the blood vessels at the back of the eye in the retina. This causes a problem called diabetic retinopathy and the longer you have diabetes the more likely you are to have retinopathy. The risk increases further when there is poor control of blood sugar levels. More than 70% of diabetics develop some changes in their eyes within 15 years of diagnosis.
Retinopathy is graded as Non-proliferative or Proliferative. Non-proliferative retinopathy is the common milder form, where small retinal blood vessels break and leak. There may be some mild retinal swelling but it rarely requires treatment unless it causes hazy central vision or straight lines appear bent.
Proliferative retinopathy is the less common, but more serious form where new blood vessels grow abnormally within the retina. If these vessel scar or bleed they can lead to potentially serious vision loss including blindness. Early laser treatment can seal leaking vessels and slow the progress of diabetic retinopathy, but can't reverse existing vision loss.
For now, there is no "magic pill" to eliminate the risk of diabetic eye damage, but you can do two important things to help prevent the more serious complications. Poor blood sugar control is one of the main causes of serious diabetic retinopathy. The critical first step is making sure you stabilize and control your blood sugar with a healthy diet and regular exercise. The second step is to make sure you have a yearly diabetic eye examination. An experienced eye care professional can pick up subtle diabetic eye changes long before you notice any vision change, and more importantly, early enough to do some good.
If you, or your family are affected by this rising tidal wave of diabetes: take action now to reduce your risk of vision loss. Don't be a victim!
Both Ruth Bird & Nicky Pilkington are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ruth Bird has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dogs, Makeup and Dogs. Ruth is a wife, a stepmom, a dog owner and a business woman. She has been married to her husband Chris for almost 30 years. Her passions are health for people and pets. Naturally Rebuilding Vision is a new interest Ruth has delved intoSite.. Ruth Bird's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.