Four of the five leading causes of blindness are age-related. Following is a brief description of each of the four age-related causes of visual impairment or blindness.
Cataracts
Cataracts are a condition of the eye that results when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque. Typically cataracts develop slowly in one or both eyes. Images may appear blurred or fuzzy. Colors may also look faded.
Treatment may involve use of low vision devices; magnifiers, lighting or sunglasses. If these items don’t help enough, surgery may be needed to remove the cloudy lens and have it replaced with an implanted artificial lens.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic Retinopathy is caused by the damaging effects of diabetes on the circulatory system of the retina. People are more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy the longer they have diabetes. Vision loss can occur because of changes in the tiny blood vessels of the retina.
Regular eye examinations and strict control of blood sugar levels help to prevent diabetic retinopathy. Surgical and laser treatments can help many people who have this condition.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease in which the pressure of the fluid inside the eye is too high. This results in the loss of peripheral vision. Without being diagnosed and treated soon enough, the increased pressure can damage the optic nerve which could lead to total blindness. This damage cannot be restored. Early detection through regular eye examinations is very important because glaucoma often progresses without any detectable symptoms.
Daily medication, usually eye drops, surgery, or a combination of both enables most people to be able to control their eye pressure and retain their vision.
Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is caused by a disease of the macula which affects central vision that is used for reading, recognizing faces, driving or distinguishing colors. The condition is commonly referred to as age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), and is the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. Macular Degeneration can cause blurred vision, dim vision, or a blind spot in the center of the visual field. Peripheral vision is not usually affected.
There is no cure for macular degeneration but medication, laser surgery or other medical treatments may in some cases slow the disease’s progression. Low vision devices such as magnifiers, lighting and other devices can often help a person who has macular degeneration.
Clovernook Center for Blind and Visually Impaired's website has been designed to be as accessible as possible to all website visitors. As such this website has been created to be accessible to those with varying degrees of visual impairment and has been found to be compliant using the former Watchfire WebXact and Bobby systems. This site strives to be accessible to all, if you have found content that you are having difficulty accessing, please contact us at accessibility@clovernook.org and we will address the issue.
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