August is National Eye Exam month and although each individual’s eyes are different, there are recommended times in your life in which to receive an eye exam. Here’s a summary of what to do at what age for your eye care:
INFANTS: All babies should receive an eye exam soon after birth. It’s also recommended to receive another exam between ages 6 to 12 months.
PRESCHOOL: At age 3, it’s important for children to receive a visual acuity test. The test results can show lazy eye or refractive errors, like nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
SCHOOL AGE: Upon entering the 1st grade, another eye exam should be performed. As your child gets older, if any suspected vision issues or problems come up, then another exam should be performed. In this age group, nearsightedness is most common which can be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses, depending on the child’s age.
TEENAGERS & EARLY 20s: Teenagers with corrective lenses should receive an annual eye exam in order to determine changes in prescription and to detect any other issues. By the time people reach their early 20’s, vision development will typically remain steady. For this age group it’s also important to remember to protect eyes during activities and playing sports.
ADULTS 25 to 40: Vision changes little at this age, so this is the recommended time for LASIK eye surgery. For those without prescription lenses or a family history of eye disease, it’s best to receive at least one complete eye exam in your 20s and two complete exams in your 30s. During pregnancy, women may have vision fluctuations.
ADULTS 40 to 65: This is a time when many eye diseases may begin to emerge. At age 40, a comprehensive eye exam should be scheduled to check for any signs of age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and other problems. You should continue to schedule exams every two years or more often based on feedback from your ophthalmologist about any problems your eyes have.
65 AND UP: By age 65, 1 in 3 Americans will have a vision-impairing eye disease such as glaucoma and cataracts. Preventive eye exams should be an important annual appointment to help find any issues or continue treatment of any known problems as your ophthalmologist recommends. Vision may be saved or prolonged if eye disease is detected early on.
Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
Researchers in Japan began recruiting patients on August 1 for a pilot study to determine the possibility of using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) therapy to treat wet-type age-related macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration is a common eye condition for individuals age 50 and older. There are two forms of the disease, dry and wet. The wet form is more severe and is defined by damage to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), cells located in the back of the eye.
“Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Currently, there is no way to cure the disease, only slow its progression,” explained ophthalmologist Clayton Falknor, M.D.
In this study, the damaged RPE is removed and researchers then transplant the iSPC-derived RPE cell sheets into the affected area of the eye. Replacing the RPE cells may repair past damage to the patient’s eye, but the issue is finding and using RPE cells that the patient’s immune system does not reject.
Ophthalmologist Thomas Henderson, M.D. said, “If this works as hoped without significant negative side effects, it will revolutionize the therapy of wet macular degeneration.”
If your family has a history of macular degeneration or you believe may have macular degeneration, contact your eye doctor and schedule a comprehensive eye exam. Although research continues in macular degeneration, the current treatment is still slowing the disease and the sooner it can be detected, the bigger impact treatment can have. SOURCES:
http://www.asianscientist.com/health-medicine/stem-cell-therapy-eye-disease-riken-japan-2013/
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/maculardegen/armd_facts.asp#1
As the baby boomer population begins to age, so too do their eyes. Now in their late 50’s and into their 60’s, many are developing cataracts, a common occurrence which affects 50% of the U.S. population by age 80.
“What we are finding is baby boomers with cataracts are typically still employed, and they want to return to work as quickly as possible,” explained ophthalmologist Thomas Henderson, M.D. “Laser cataract surgery provides not only greater precision, but also quick recovery for patients. Many patients comment on how soon they were able to return to life as normal.”
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Symptoms of cataracts may include cloudy or blurry vision, colors seem faded, glare, a halo may appear around lights, poor night vision, double vision, and frequent prescription changes in your eyeglasses or contact lenses.
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| Normal Vision |
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| Vision with Cataract |
Ophthalmologist Clayton Falknor, M.D. offered, “Baby boomers are more interested than prior generations in achieving partial or complete glasses independence after cataract surgery. With the benefits of laser cataract surgery and advances in lens implant technologies, such as toric lenses for astigmatism management and multifocal lenses for reduced need for reading glasses, this outcome is increasingly encountered.”
To determine if you have cataracts, you should contact your eye doctor and schedule a comprehensive dilated eye exam. In addition to cataracts, your eye doctor can check for other age-related issues such as macular degeneration and glaucoma. Early detection and treatment for eye diseases may save your sight.
SOURCE: http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/cataract/cataract_facts.asp
A red, inflamed eyelid could be caused by an infection at the root of the eyelashes – that is a stye. More commonly though, a red, swollen eyelid is caused by an infection of the oil gland in the cartilage plate that reinforces the back of the eyelid. This is called a chalazion. Chalazions are much more common than styes – perhaps 10 times more common.
The initial treatment for a stye or a chalazion is heat for 10 minutes, four times a day, for two days. If the problem is not resolved in two days and especially if it is a chalazion, it needs intense antibiotic treatment to kill the infection quickly.
A stye will disappear on its own if antibiotics are started by day 3, but chalazions will form scar tissue in the cartilage plate within the first five days. Then there will be a lump present on the lid for many months, perhaps even a year or more. Once the scar tissue forms, the only treatment is to cut out the scar tissue. It is far better to treat early if you do not want an ugly lump and a minor office surgery.
If you have a growth or swelling of any kind on your eyelids, make an appointment with your ophthalmologist.
Some research indicates sun exposure has the potential for damage to the lens and retina of the eye.
Aside from that, the white of the eye can be affected as well. The most common issues are pinguecula, pterygium and, more rarely, cancer.
Pinguecula may appear as a raised yellowish or grayish bump on the inner or outer side of the white of the eye. It may occasionally be irritated or dry out and make contact lens wear less comfortable. In and of themselves, they are not dangerous and we can treat the inflammation and drying effectively with topical eye drops. The only way to remove them is surgically, which is rarely necessary unless they become a concern cosmetically.
Pterygium is another benign growth on the inner and outer whites of the eye. They are vascularized growths that creep onto the colored portion of the eye. Pterygium may affect vision by inducing astigmatism or, if quite large, may even block vision directly. They also can be easily irritated and surgery is necessary to remove them.
Pinguecula and Pterygium are most common in people who spend a lot of time outdoors. Wearing good sunglasses with UVA, B and C protection is important to prevent them. If you develop a growth on your eye, make an appointment with your eye doctor.
If you have ever noticed that you can see more looking through an open doorway than you can see looking through the door’s peephole, you will understand why we dilate pupils.
When the pupil is small, we cannot see the details of the lens and the view of the retina is compromised. When we cannot see, we cannot adequately follow the progress of conditions such as diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and the risk of retinal tears and detachments in the peripheral retina and we may miss important details that could lead to loss of vision.
We also dilate to understand a potential source of error in eyeglass prescriptions. Individuals with astigmatism or who are far-sighted tend to overfocus. When we dilate the pupil, we can relax that tendency and get a more accurate and comfortable prescription for eyeglasses.
We do not have anything to replace pupil dilation completely, but we have a partial substitute with the OPTOMAP — photography that gives a 210-degree view of the inside of the eye or 80% of the retina. This allows us to see somethings in better detail than a dilated exam, but there is still 20% we cannot see. At least every other year, we still need to dilate to look at the details of the lens that the OPTOMAP cannot see.
It should be noted that OPTOMAP, when used to avoid dilation, is not covered by insurance and you may pay out of pocket for the convenience of no dilation. In summary, though it may be inconvenient and a bit uncomfortable, dilation allows us to take better care of your eyes.
Historically, a cataract was ready to remove when it was “ripe.” This antiquated term was used to delay surgery until the cataract was advanced. Thankfully, that era has passed. Today, wonderful improvements in both cataract surgery and lens implants, including laser cataract surgery, routinely provide excellent vision, (often without glasses, depending upon the implant).
Medicare pays for cataract surgery when vision is 20/40 or worse. If cataracts interfere with something important, such as driving or reading, Medicare may pay for surgery earlier. The key is that the symptoms must be caused by the cataract, interfere with important life activities and must not be correctable by simpler means such as new glasses.
If your vision is worse than 20/40 but meets your needs, a delay in cataract surgery usually will not harm your eye or make the surgery more difficult. Medicare has recently found that cataract surgery by itself reduces the risk of falling and breaking a hip by 20%. Do not wait so long that your cataract is visible or “ripe” in the old sense and risk breaking a hip. Instead, see your eye doctor regularly to monitor your cataract, and when the time is right, enjoy your best possible vision for the rest of your life.
