Database of diseases - Practical psychiatry and psychogeriatry

                Degradation of the elasticity of the eye tissues  

The loss of the elasticity of the eyelid skin and the loss of tissue in the eye socket cause that the eyes of the old man look sunken and as if embedded deeper in the eye socket. The change in elasticity of the entire eyeball and senile changes in small muscles cause disturbances of accommodation and, as a result, the hyperopia known to everyone, which begins to become visible around 50 years of age.
. Corneal changes
  
Since the corneal endothelial cells also disappear with age and become less sensitive, the old man may be more likely to suffer injury or inflammation, and the response will be limited. Reduced secretion of the lacrimal glands, causing the phenomenon of drying the eye, characteristic of old people, may further aggravate corneal changes.
  Cataract risk  
Although it is still debatable whether cataract is a change in age or only pathology that is more common in older age, the fact is that older people are more likely to struggle with this problem. Age-related changes are also visible inside the eyeball. The resulting flocculent turbidity gives the impression of "bow ties" or "ferns" moving in the field of view. In turn, retinal changes in the reticulum cause degenerative changes. Genes and aging of the eye      Around 1200 genes associated with retina have been identified so far. The team, under the direction of the author, compared their expression in young and old people. In the case of 24 genes, it changed with age. A typical age-related disease of the eye is senile retinal degeneration (AMD), which leads to progressive loss of vision in the central part. It is known that it depends on age and genetic factors. The research conducted by the author might allow to determine the exact mechanism of this and other degenerative eye diseases. . All these changes significantly reduce the seniors' ability to see.  

Senile changes affecting the eyes are very severe. As a result of all the changes described above and considerably more numerous, which are mentioned in specialized textbooks of ophthalmology, it is believed that only 50% of the light reaching the eye of an old man could be found if the eye were "younger". Statistics at risk     . Most of the data cited here mean that between 15 and 25% of older people have a vision capacity of 20/50 or even less, which makes them unable to drive a car, for example, according to health standards in most countries. And due to the increasing changes about 5% of the "old" population can not read.

Presbyopia or presbyopia The most common elderly eye changes associated with age include the so-called prebioskopia. The key symptom that suggests that this vision defect is already developing is the need to keep reading materials, e.g. the menu, away from the eyes to get a good vision. You can correct this vision defect with bifocal ocular lenses or contact lenses (they are available in both types - soft and stiff, permeable to air).


     Bifocal contact lenses act like bifocals:   
On one lens there are two glasses of different strength - one to correct vision at a distance, the other to look at close objects. Some bifocal lenses are composed of the upper part for looking far and lower to the near, similar to glasses with a line separating glass of different strength.Other lenses work like progressive glasses, and different parts with different strength are mixed on the lens. The eyes learn to distinguish the appropriate focusing force depending on the distance of the image being viewed. Bifocal lenses may not be suitable for everyone.    . Because eyes need time to get used to differentiating individual parts with different focusing forces, they also need time to get used to bifocal lenses. Different people need different time. Similarly, different people have different vision defects and needs that can not be met by the currently available range of lenses. . Doctor of Medicine Janusz Krzyżowski
Psychiatrist
Private office tel. 22 833 18 68
00-774 Warsaw, Dolna 4 lok. 15