SENIORS AND VISION LOSS

by Orlin Sorensen 
Founder, Rebuild Your Vision Program

"I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I'm not old yet!" 
— Tina Turner, 69

According to CBS news, by 2030—when the first baby boomers reach 84—the number of Americans over 65 will have grown by 75 percent to 69 million. That means more than 20 percent of the population will be over 65, compared with only 13 percent today.

As a nation, if we’re not yet quite at senior age, chances are we’re taking care of someone who is.

Therefore, it’s important to understand the special health needs of our elders. And what usually comes to mind are the “big-picture” ailments: broken bones from a fall; hip replacements and arthritis treatments to ease aching joints; strokes, heart attacks, and cancer. When we think of vision loss at all, it feels as inevitable as gray hair and wrinkles—what’s a grandma or grandpa without a pair of reading glasses or bifocals?

So it may surprise you to learn that aging vision is a significant cause of depression in seniors. And not only that, but vision impairment may be related to earlier death.

In a study published in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers found that depression in nursing home residents can be reduced significantly when refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and presbyopia (aging vision) are identified and corrected. Rates of uncorrected vision errors were 15 times higher for nursing home residents compared with those who lived in the community. But when nursing home residents’ vision improved, so did their quality of life—and their symptoms of depression declined.

Another study found that individuals age 49 and older with cataracts and those age 49 to 74 with age-related macular degeneration appear to have higher mortality rates than those without such visual impairments. Researchers were unclear if the link between a higher death rate and visual impairment could be due to underlying conditions that cause both accelerated aging and eye problems.

What is clear, however, is that for seniors, vision impairment is a dreaded condition that has a much more profound effect upon their overall well-being and psychological health than was previously thought.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense: loss of vision means loss of freedom (particularly freedom of movement), which only exacerbates the other losses the aging body is experiencing. In a lecture, Lighthouse International’s Barbara Silverstone perceptively wrote, “These meanings are not lost on older people who, understandably, for the sake of their own self-esteem, often hide their condition from themselves and others, or paradoxically view it as a normal part of aging, a perspective reinforced by the blurred boundaries between normal and pathological changes in the aging eye.”

Silverstone goes on to note that “vision impairment has been identified as a precursor of lowered morale and reduced self-esteem. It is not an exaggeration to conclude that vision impairment at any age is a highly emotional issue; and no less so in late life, as reflected in high rates of depression among older people with impaired vision.”

As the baby boomers age, they are likewise changing the face of aging. Think of Madonna, who recently celebrated her 50th birthday—and who is in better physical shape than some folks half her age. Well known for her rigorous adherence to a healthy diet and exercise, she leads the way for the seniors of the future: move over shuffleboard, Jell-O, and canasta; make way for eye exercises, vitamins, and strutting your stuff like Tina Turner.

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