Already having trouble reading this? Eye problems could start earlier than expected
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Already having trouble reading this? Eye problems could showtime earlier than expected
Cataracts, glaucoma and presbyopia aren't just old people's issues. With diabetes and myopia on the ascension in Singapore, y'all could develop these earlier than y'all thought.
(Photo: Unsplash/Nong Vang)
24 Mar 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 08 Aug 2022 02:37PM)
You squint, put on your reading glasses, or grab someone to read for you lot when it comes to deciphering the fine print on a food label or WhatsApp messages.
If you're in your 40s, that's probably presbyopia (or lao hua in Chinese) starting to take over your vision.
But at that place may also be times when your optics begin to come across things. For example, your eyesight could be marred past "floaters" that look like dark specks or squiggly lines. Or things appear to accept taken on a yellow tone, as if your optics have put on a sepia filter. And life is all rainbows – or rainbow-coloured circles, to be precise – when that's what you literally meet when you expect at vivid lights.
It may not occur to y'all yet merely these eye-related issues can accept their beginnings in your 40s, and can point to retinal tears, cataracts or glaucoma – conditions you associate with your elderly parents or grandparents.
For instance, cataracts and glaucoma typically manifest in patients in their 50s simply when there are diabetes and high myopia present, those eye problems can testify up earlier.
And the risks of developing these common center conditions expect high. For instance, 80 per cent to 90 per cent of Singaporean adults are projected to be myopic by 2050, and 15 per cent to 25 per cent of these individuals may accept high myopia, said the Ministry of Wellness.
Furthermore, 1 million Singaporeans are expected to develop diabetes past 2050, from the 440,000 in 2014, according to HealthHub.
And then the before you learn well-nigh some of these common centre bug, the better you can delay or prevent their onset. Here's what the experts say.
PRESBYOPIA
Causes: Your eyes are able to focus on nigh and far objects with the assistance of tiny ciliary muscles attached to your optics' natural lenses. These muscles contract when yous're using your handheld device, and relax when you're looking out for the bus.
READ: Why you shouldn't use eye drops that are not meant for contact lenses
Merely as yous age, the ciliary muscles weaken, said assistant professor Dr Mohamad Rosman, who is the caput and senior consultant of Singapore National Eye Centre's (SNEC) Refractive Surgery Department. Ageing too affects your optics' lenses, causing them to become rigid and less piece of cake to reshape, he explained.
Presbyopia unremarkably begins from age 40 and is oftentimes gradual, said Dr Marcus Tan, an associate consultant with National University Hospital'due south Department of Ophthalmology. "More than one-half of people in their 40s would have some form of presbyopia, but not all may be symptomatic."
Ageing bated, in that location are other factors that tin exacerbate presbyopia, said Dr Yap Zhu Li, a consultant with the Department of Ophthalmology with the SNEC Eye Clinic at Changi Full general Infirmary. "Having certain diseases such equally diabetes, multiple sclerosis or cardiovascular risk tin increase one's risk of premature presbyopia," she said.
If yous're taking certain medicines, such as antidepressants or antihistamines, you may too be more decumbent to early presbyopia, said Dr Yap.
READ: Living with 'lao hua': How to deal with presbyopia
What are the signs: Your eyes can't focus on things near you, such every bit reading the text messages on your handphone. Yous find yourself having to hold the material farther away in order to read more conspicuously. In addition, your eyes feel unusually strained when reading or doing near-sighted piece of work.
What you lot can do now: There's zero you can do to preclude presbyopia. Nevertheless, it is always good to keep to the twenty-twenty-twenty rule: For every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, expect at something xx feet (or 6m) away for 20 seconds.
"Ensure good and comfortable lighting during reading to prevent eye strain," said Dr Tan, who likewise advised to go along a healthy and active lifestyle to prevent any chronic weather condition such as diabetes.
Unfortunately, anybody will eventually develop cataracts as they age, similar to white pilus or wrinkles.
CATARACTS
Causes: Instead of existence clear and transparent, the natural lenses in your eyes turn cloudy over months or years. "The vast majority of cataracts are age-related, and then almost people start developing them from the age of 50 onwards," said Dr Yap. "Unfortunately, everyone will eventually develop cataracts every bit they age, similar to white hair or wrinkles."
Like presbyopia, sure conditions tin can create early on cataracts. These include high myopia, diabetes, chronic steroid utilise (such as steroid inhalers for asthma, or steroid creams for eczema), heart trauma and smoking, said Dr Yap.
What are the signs: You may have cataracts, said Dr Tan, if you lot detect a blurring of vision, glare or sensitivity to lite, difficulty seeing or seeing halos around lights at night, or colours appear faded or yellow.
What yous can do now: Sunglasses aren't just for looking proficient. In fact, they are important in sunny Singapore, said Dr Tan. "Ultraviolet or UV light from the sun can increase the risk of developing cataracts earlier. This is particularly true for patients who are exposed to the sun for long hours during activities such equally golfing or sailing," he said.
Better starting time wearing those shades because there is no medication to "cure" or slow down cataract formation, said Dr Yap.
READ: How to properly become tested for new glasses and then you're non wasting money
GLAUCOMA
Causes: This common middle status occurs when the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the encephalon, becomes damaged, said Dr Yap. The impairment is usually caused by a build-up of fluid within the eyeball, which increases the force per unit area inside the eye. "If not diagnosed and treated early, it can atomic number 82 to irreversible blindness," she said.
"Approximately three per cent of people over the age of 50 in Singapore take glaucoma, and this increases to x per cent after the age of lxx," said Dr Tan.
Glaucoma can fix in before if you take diabetes, high myopia, a family history, chronic steroid use or eye trauma.
Interestingly, those with obstructive slumber apnoea are besides constitute to have 10 times the risk of glaucoma, co-ordinate to the Glaucoma Enquiry Foundation. Its website noted that it might exist due to a driblet in oxygen levels in the blood, which happens when you finish animate. "Routine low oxygen concentration in the blood may contribute to the degradation of the optic nervus, potentially leading to glaucoma."
Those with obstructive slumber apnoea are also establish to have 10 times the risk of glaucoma.
What are the signs: Insidiously, glaucoma has no symptoms in its early on stages and as such, it is often called the thief of sight, said Dr Tan. "In the afterward stages, the loss of peripheral vision occurs and in avant-garde glaucoma, you may knock into objects or have decreased vision."
When people do have symptoms, said Dr Yap, "it is generally during the very tardily stage of the disease when they may notice blurred vision or run across rainbow-coloured circles around brilliant lights". "Acute glaucoma tin can also develop suddenly and cause a ruddy, very painful centre and blurry vision associated with headache, nausea and vomiting," she said.
READ: Why snoring loudly could exist linked to centre disease, hypertension or worse
What you can practise now: If you lot have whatsoever of the above risk factors, Dr Yap brash to go for early screening with an ophthalmologist to aid with early detection, treatment and forestall possible visual loss. And if you play sports, wear protective eyewear. "A surprisingly frequent cause of eye trauma is beingness hit in the eye by a badminton shuttlecock," said Dr Yap.
RETINAL DETACHMENT
Causes: "Equally yous get older, the gel inside the middle called the vitreous shrinks. It tin slowly pull abroad from the inner nerve layer at the back of the eye called the retina," said Dr Yap, describing posterior vitreous detachment or PVD.
"Visual problems caused by PVD commonly improve over a few weeks, and in fact, nearly people don't have symptoms, so they may not even realise that it has occurred to them."
Co-ordinate to Dr Tan, this eye condition usually occurs after age twoscore or fifty. "More than than one-half of adults above fifty years former would have some form of vitreous degeneration. This is often harmless," he said.
What are the signs: Information technology is normal to sometimes see what look like dark specks, squiggly worms, flying hairs or spider webs in your vision. Just if you of a sudden see a lot more of these floaters or fifty-fifty flashes of low-cal, information technology could be vitreous degeneration caused past PVD, said Dr Yap.
What you tin can exercise now: "Direct injury to the heart from sports or accidents can cause retinal tears or detachment," said Dr Tan. "As such, habiliment appropriate protective eyewear when playing high-velocity racquet games such every bit squash."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/eye-problems-singaporeans-cataract-glaucoma-presbyopia-237861
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