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Some vision problems are unavoidable, but taking good care of your eyes will still help them work well for a long, long time.
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Squeezing past several co-workers behind a pharmacy counter, 35-year-old Brian Begley of Wilmington tries to fill prescriptions as efficiently as possible, but he always seems to hit a speed bump when the light dims, whether from shadows, reduced wattage or time of day.
“Before I could have a lamp all the way across the room and be fine,” he says. “Now I need to be right under the light or else it’s a struggle.”
To make matters worse, Begley has seen a noticeable decrease in his eyesight, especially in his left eye, since his 30th birthday.
“You have to have your eyesight,” he says. “I can’t really get away with telling the customers, ‘I think these are the right pills.’”
Begley is not alone, according to Cindy Drew, geriatrics educator at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover. “There are many changes with the eyes that are just related to aging,” she says, “and nobody is immune from these changes.”
Blurring vision, restricted vision, glaucoma, cataracts and other conditions occur either as a result of aging or a serious health condition. Most conditions can be corrected. And some can be delayed by simple care.
The human eye is a marvel of biological engineering, a complex machine that can view a whopping 200 frames per second. (A regular 35 mm movie camera pulls in a meager 24 frames per second.) And as impressive as the construction of the eye is, its function is much more important. Which is why it’s astounding that many people take their vision for granted, says Dr. Andrew Iwach, a clinical correspondent for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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