|
Twins in Midlife:
Can You Read the Fine Print?
Claire Spelta first noticed it when she could no longer read the street names on her Thomas Guide map. “I finally broke down and purchased a navigational system for my car. I’m just not ready for reading glasses,” jokes the 43-year old mom.
Gina Bates, 44, was finally fed up with eyestrain, headaches, and holding magazines at arms length. “I went into my eye doctor’s office and pleaded with him to make it go away.”
What do they both have in common? It’s presbyopia. Not to be confused with farsightedness where often an astigmatism or other aberration of the eye prevents you from seeing well close up, presbyopia (pronounced prez-bĭ-ō-pĭ-a) is an age-related problem where the little strings or muscles surrounding the lens inside your eyes becomes less pliable and can’t move as easily. The result is the inability to focus on objects up close.
Unfortunately many of us through sheer vanity ignore the inconvenience and continue to move objects further from our faces in order to see them. (I certainly don’t feel old enough to wear reading glasses, do you?) Ilene Gipson, PhD, professor of ophthalmology at Harvard University and a senior scientist at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts isn’t surprised. “There are some cultures in the world where it’s so taboo to wear glasses of any sort that people go around half blind,” she explains. “It’s a cultural thing that we have to get past in terms of trying to get people to see better.”
And while there are many options out there that people are exploring to help combat presbyopia from LASIK to experimental cataract surgery, Dr. Gipson doesn’t recommend them. “They’re just not perfected yet,” she says. Others are trying bifocal contacts or like Bates wearing two different contact lenses—one for nearsightedness, the other for farsightedness. And there are even dozens of books written by so-called experts promising better vision through eye exercises. Gipson’s advice? Go out and purchase reading glasses. (And yes, the over-the-counter drug store types are just as effective as a prescription. But treat yourself and find a pair that is as sexy as you.)
Beyond Presbyopia
Yet it isn’t presbyopia that concerns Dr. Gipson these days. It’s the disturbing fact that two-thirds of all people who are blind or visually impaired are women. “It’s only been since 2001 did we realize this,” Gipson says. “Nobody seems to know, not even health professionals.” Part of the problem, she explains, is that women on average live longer than men and therefore are more likely to suffer from age-related eye diseases, including macular degeneration, a break down of the central region of the retina responsible for central vision. “As we age the prevalence of eye disease increases and is exasperated by poor health habits,” she says. In response, Gipson and her colleagues formed the Women’s Eye Health Task Force to educate people, particularly women, about the lifestyle and environmental issues that can lead to serious eye conditions.
“The misconception that women have concerning eye health is that they don’t understand that all the things that cause premature death—diabetes, heart disease, stroke—and all the risk factors associated with them—smoking and poor nutrition—also cause eye disease,” Gipson explains.
A perfect example is cataracts, a condition that affects more than 20 million Americans—more than twelve million women—after age 40. What is a cataract? Inside the eye’s lens is a sack filled with a high concentration of protein suspended in solution. Cataracts occur when the protein escapes from the solution leaving a residue on the eye in which light can’t pass through. The warning signs include diminished night vision and lack of vision clarity. Although longtime exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light greatly increases your risk of cataracts (so don’t forget those sunglasses!), smoking is an even greater risk factor. “Smoking affects all systems in the body,” notes Gipson. Although no one is completely certain why there’s a direct correlation, Gipson argues it shouldn’t matter. “The data is there,” she stresses. “It shows that smoking is a risk factor for all these diseases including cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. We need to change our habits; just change the behavior.”
Hormones and Your Eyes
Older women and their changing hormones also play a part in eye disorders. Dry eye syndrome, for instance, occurs in part as we age and begin to naturally produce less tears due to a drop in androgens, or testosterone (yes, women also produce the male hormone in low amounts). When there’s an insufficient amount of tears or there’s excessive tear-film evaporation, it causes irritation and sometimes damage to the ocular surface. Although not considered a huge medical burden, the impact of dry eye syndrome affects the quality of life for sufferers. “It’s more prevalent in women, mostly post-menopausal,” Gipson notes.
Living in very dry environments such as the Southwest (or even the Northeast during the winter), wearing contact lenses, and even certain medications (prescription as well as over-the-counter) can exasperate the condition. According to Gipson, studies have suggested that hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, also plays a factor in dry eye syndrome. “We thought it would have been just the opposite,” she says. But taking estrogen actually increases a women’s risk of developing it.
Fortunately, there is relief available from simply using a humidifier in heated rooms or using over-the-counter eye drops (artificial tears) to adding omega-3 fatty acids (tuna or salmon or dietary supplements) to your diet. Gipson also notes that clinical trials are underway to see if the topical use of androgens may alleviate symptoms.
Clearly Seeing the Future
Gipson urges women to get checked by an eye professional yearly, especially if they have certain risk factors such as diabetes or a change in vision. “A study out of Australia shows that three-quarters of blindness and visual impairment can either be corrected or prevented,” she says. Part of the study also shows that we tend to ignore changes in our vision, especially the elderly. “Once you start losing your visual acuity, your ability to see well, it becomes a risk factor for all sorts of things such as injury from falling,” Gipson notes. “It makes you less social. It’s a risk factor for death.”
It’s her hope that since women are the primary caregivers they can have a positive and directly influence on the eye health of their families, too. “Pay attention to yourself and your family’s eye health,” she urges.
—Christina Tinglof, editor
|
