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By Diane Griffith, HealthAtoZ writer
Baby Boomers beware! You could be headed for vision problems and possible blindness. According to the National Eye Institute, as the nation ages, more Americans than ever before are facing blindness from eye disease. By the year 2030, twice as many people will be blind as today.
So how do you fight back? Early detection is your best defense against four age-related eye diseases.
Glaucoma
Every hour, someone goes blind from glaucoma, a disease caused by elevated pressure inside the eye. This pressure damages the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain. This damage can lead to reduced vision and eventually to blindness.
At least half of those who have glaucoma do not know it and vision loss is not noticed until a lot of nerve damage has occurred. It can, however, be detected by an eye exam, and timely diagnosis and treatment can slow or halt vision loss. Once vision is lost to glaucoma, it cannot be restored.
Cataracts
Cataracts can eventually cause blindness. If we live long enough, most of us will develop a cataract, a clouding of the eye's lens that blocks light from passing to the retina. Cataracts cause blurring or dimming of eyesight. They can also cause double vision and a film over the eye. Like glaucoma, cataracts cause no symptoms at first, but they can be detected during an eye exam.
The good news with cataracts - unlike other eye diseases - is that eyesight can be restored through surgery, which has a 95 percent success rate.
Macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and Europe. The retina, in the back of the eye, contains photoreceptors that respond to light. The most sensitive part of the retina is the macula. AMD occurs when fluid leaks under the macula as abnormal blood vessels grow beneath the macula and leak fluid from the blood. This can cause vision problems that can quickly turn into permanent central vision loss. Patients rarely lose all of their vision from AMD, but many are classified as legally blind.
AMD develops slowly and patients may not notice a decrease in vision for months or years. AMD can be detected by a physician in an eye exam, and regular eye examinations are the best way for patients with AMD to keep their vision for many years. Some treatments can slow down AMD, but they are not likely to restore normal vision. These treatments include macular surgery, drug injections and laser therapy.
Diabetic retinopathy
Half of all Americans with diabetes will develop diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that damages the blood vessels of the retina. It does not affect just those who have had diabetes for many years since childhood. It can appear shortly after the diagnosis of diabetes in adults.
Like the other eye diseases, people in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy don't usually notice any symptoms. A more severe stage of the disease, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow into the retina. This can eventually lead to vision loss.
Ophthalmologists recommend that patients with diabetes have regular eye examinations through dilated pupils. Ask your doctor how often you should have an eye exam. Good control of blood sugar levels helps to slow the onset and progression of retinopathy. Early laser treatment can stabilize vision, but does not necessarily improve it.
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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