HEALTH & WELLNESS S P E C I A L S E C T I O N
Eye Health
It is important to visit your eye
care professional once a year for a
comprehensive eye exam. Although you
may think you are seeing fine, issues
may be lurking without any warning
signs. During a yearly visit, your pupils
will be dilated, or widened, so that your
eye care professional can examine the
back of the eye for damage or disease.
It is important to know your family’s
eye health history as well, since some
conditions are hereditary. Some of the
most common eye diseases include
diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma,
cataracts, and age-related macular
degeneration (AMD).
• Diabetic Retinopathy: This type
1 or type 2 diabetes complication is
caused by damage to blood vessels
in the retina, the light-sensitive
tissues in the back of the eye. If left
untreated, diabetic retinopathy could
cause blindness. Early stages of this
condition may go unnoticed if an
eye care professional is not visited
yearly. As the condition progresses,
symptoms may include blurred
vision, impaired color vision, floaters,
and/or dark areas in your vision.
Symptoms may occur if there is too
much sugar in your blood, which
can cause a blockage in the blood
vessels that lead to the retina. Proper
management of diabetes is the best
way to prevent vision loss.
• Glaucoma: The second leading cause
of blindness, glaucoma is a group
of diseases that damage the eye’s
optic nerve. The risk of developing
glaucoma increases with age and if
parents or siblings have the disease.
During an eye exam, glaucoma can be
detected by measuring eye pressure,
inspecting the drainage angle of the
eye, evaluating the health of the optic
nerve and testing the visual field of
each eye. Depending on the type
and severity of the disease, glaucoma
can be treated through eye drops,
medication or surgery.
• Cataracts: A cataract affects vision by
clouding the lens of the eye. Chances
of cataracts increase greatly with age,
with more than half of all Americans
either having a cataract or having
had cataract surgery by the age of 80.
People in their 40s and 50s can have
cataracts, but they are typically small
and do not affect vision. Cataracts
are detected by blurred vision, faded
colors, glare from headlights or lamps,
poor night vision, double vision,
or frequent prescription changes in
eyeglasses or contact lenses. Early
detection can improve cataracts
through new eyeglasses, anti-glare
sunglasses or brighter lighting.
Surgery can also be done to remove
the cloudy lens and replace it with an
artificial lens.
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SOUTH FAYETTE
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