There are several types of eye problems and visual disturbances. These include blurred vision, halos, blind spots, floaters, and other symptoms. Changes in vision, blurriness, blind spots, halos around lights, or dimness of vision should always be evaluated by a medical professional. Such changes may represent an eye disease, aging, eye injury, or a condition like diabetes that affects many organs in your body. For the most severe form of visual loss, see blindness.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003040.htm

1. Fitango Education
Health Topics
Vision problems
http://www.fitango.com/categories.php?id=271

2. Overview
There are several types of eye problems and visual
disturbances. These include blurred vision, halos,
blind spots, floaters, and other symptoms.
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3. Overview
Changes in vision, blurriness, blind spots, halos
around lights, or dimness of vision should always
be evaluated by a medical professional. Such
changes may represent an eye disease, aging, eye
injury, or a condition like diabetes that affects
many organs in your body.
For the most severe form of visual loss, see
blindness.
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4. Overview
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article
/003040.htm
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5. Symptoms
Growing older does not always lead to poor vision,
but age often triggers many vision problems. For
example, some typical vision problems affecting
older people include:
-- difficulty seeing well in dim light
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6. Symptoms
-- difficulty seeing when going from bright light to
dark and vice-versa
-- a sensitivity to glare and bright lights
-- difficulty distinguishing colors, seeing close
objects or reading small print.
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7. Symptoms
If you start to exhibit any of these symptoms,
speak with a health care professional about
potential vision problems.
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8. Treatment
Using reading glasses or bifocals, a magnifying
glass, and better lighting can be very helpful, and
holding reading material where the bifocal lens
focuses on the page is extremely important.
More serious eye conditions or diseases may be
treated with eye drops or medicines, while some
of the most serious problems require surgery.
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9. Treatment
A good preventive measure is a yearly checkup by
an eye doctor (description follows) to determine if
a vision problem is correctable by prescription
glasses, or if the problem needs further workup.
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10. Prevention
Not much can be done to prevent vision problems
that come with age, but a healthc are professional
might suggest the following:
-- Schedule yearly visits to the eye specialist
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11. Prevention
-- Have the older person's medicines checked
regularly for side effects on vision. The most
common problem reported is dry and irritated
eyes. Severe side effects are usually related to an
overdose of medicine
-- Make the house brighter and objects more
visible. Electrical cords, shag carpets, and knick-
knacks on the floor should be removed or arranged
so as they do not hinder walking.
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12. Prevention
http://www.healthinaging.org/resources/resource:
eldercare-at-home-vision-problems/
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13. Facts
Though there are many different types of vision
problems, the most common are cataracts, age-
related macular degeneration, **
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14. Facts
**Cataracts**
Cataracts occur when the lens of the eye, which is
transparent at birth and in younger years, becomes
cloudy. The development of cataracts reduces the
amount of light passing through the lens. This
causes a decrease in vision. Removing the lens of
the eye and replacing it with a clear plastic lens
implant is a safe and effective operation that can
be done as an outpatient procedure. Normal
activities can be resumed as early as the day
following the procedure. There is an immediate
and dramatic i
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15. Facts
**Age-Related Macular Degeneration**
People with this condition have trouble seeing
with their central, or straight-ahead, vision. This
happens when the macula, a very small part of the
inside of the eye, degenerates. The macula is
responsible for seeing fine details in the center of
the field of vision. The straight-ahead vision
becomes distorted or missing.
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16. Facts
**Age-Related Macular Degeneration**
Once the vision loss has stabilized, the older
person should see a low vision specialist to help
maximize the use of his or her remaining useful
vision. Laser surgery might help in some cases of
macular degeneration.
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17. Facts
**Age-Related Macular Degeneration**
There are many low-vision aids available which can
be beneficial. Consult a local medical or optometry
school, or other organizations that help the visually
impaired for a low vision evaluation. It is important
to remember that macular degeneration affects
only the macula and, therefore, only central,
straight-ahead vision. This is important to know
because the rest of the back of the eye still
functions. Macular degeneration will not cause
one to go completely blind. People with macular
degener
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18. Facts
**Age-Related Macular Degeneration**
-- Magnifying lenses
-- Video enlargement systems
-- Computer display and enlargement systems
-- Large-print items
-- Special papers and writing aids
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19. Facts
**Age-Related Macular Degeneration**
-- Adaptive appliances
-- Speech software for computer systems
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20. Facts
**Glaucoma**
Chronic glaucoma is a disease in which vision is
slowly lost because the pressure of the fluid inside
the eye becomes too high for that person's eye.
This pressure damages the optic nerve, which is
like a "telephone wire" that sends information
from the back of the eye to the brain. The high
pressure of glaucoma can lead to blindness. In the
beginning, peripheral vision is lost, with all vision
eventually being lost.
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21. Facts
**Glaucoma**
The usual treatment is taking medicine eye drops
on a regular basis for the rest of the person's life.
Surgery is also sometimes performed, but initial
treatment is customarily by medicines. Once vision
is lost, it cannot be restored. The treatment goal is
to prevent further vision loss.
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22. Facts
**Glaucoma**
Glaucoma may be hereditary. It is more common
among Latinos, African-Americans, people who
have had previous eye injuries, and people with
diabetes. Early detection is important.
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23. Facts
**Glaucoma**
Acute glaucoma is rare, but important, because it
can be effectively treated. In this condition
pressure in the eye rises suddenly, and is
accompanied by redness and pain in the eye,
severe headache, nausea, vomiting, blurring of
vision, and seeing halos around lights. This is an
emergency and needs immediate attention by an
eye doctor.
**Diabetic Retinopathy**
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24. Facts
**Glaucoma**
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in this
country. Diabetes can cause the blood vessels in
the back of an eye to leak or get plugged up,
resulting in blindness. Regular visits to the eye
doctor and monitoring blood sugar will help
prevent this treatable condition.
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25. Facts
**Glaucoma**
A recent study has shown that better blood sugar
control may help prevent or slow the onset of
diabetic eye problems and decrease the need for
laser treatments. Laser treatment and other types
of surgery can improve vision and prevent further
vision loss.
http://www.healthinaging.org/resources/resource:
eldercare-at-home-vision-problems/
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