Eyes are complex organs with highly specialized tissues, all interdependently working to provide vision. Working like a camera, light enters through its clear cornea and passes through its pupil before hitting light-sensitive retina at the back of each eye and eventually reaching its brain for interpretation.
As we age, our eyes can experience many changes that result from natural wear-and-tear as well as those caused by disease, which could potentially lead to significant visual loss.
One of the more noticeable consequences of growing older is presbyopia – or loss of focusing ability due to natural wear-and-tear of flexible lens inside of our eye that enables us to focus on nearby objects.
Cataracts, another age-related eye condition, affect most people at some point before reaching 70. Their clouding of the natural lens leads to cloudy vision with increased glare sensitivity and decreased contrast sensitivity; many will develop cataracts before reaching that age. It’s a widespread condition which will likely impact most individuals by that age.
Age-related eye diseases that often accompany aging include age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy arises from too much sugar in the blood and damage to retinal blood vessels caused by diabetic conditions; it can cause an irreparable retinal tear or detachment and permanent blindness if left untreated quickly. Retinal detachments also arise when vitreous fluid begins to shrink and pull away from the retina, as well as when gel-like fluid that fills vitreous cavity shrinking back away from touching it and pulling away from it altogether.