What Are the Symptoms?
About the age of 40, most people begin to experience difficulty reading very fine print such as the phone book, the back of a medicine bottle, or information provided on food packaging. Print seems to have less contrast and the eyes become easily fatigued when reading a book or looking at a computer screen. In the early stages of presbyopia, holding reading material further away helps the eyes focus properly.

Eventually, however, visual correction will be needed for close work. (The exception is if you are nearsighted, in which case you can simply remove your glasses to see better.)

A Closer Look at Correction
Presbyopia can be easily corrected and treatment is normally geared to a person’s age, occupation, hobbies and lifestyle. The primary means of correction are reading glasses, bifocals, or bifocal contact lenses. Other, less common, types of correction include no-line bifocals and trifocals. Recently, a simple procedure has been developed to provide close vision to people with presbyopia, providing a viable alternative to wearing glasses or contacts.

Reading Glasses: These provide magnification, and are worn only when reading or doing other close-up work. Reading glasses are inexpensive and do not normally require a prescription. (You can find reading glasses to suit your personal needs at any London Drugs location.)

Many people are frustrated when they misplace their readers, as they cannot carry out the task that requires their use. These glasses are also not recommended for people whose work requires frequent changing between close and distant vision.

Bifocals: Many people do not mind having to wear reading glasses. For others, however, having to retrieve their glasses for reading a menu, looking at a price tag, or skimming the pages of a book is too much of an inconvenience. Bifocal glasses may be a solution to this problem. Bifocals provide correction of near vision in the bottom half of the lens and, when needed, correction of distance vision in the top half. (If no correction of distance vision is necessary, the top of the lens is plain glass.)

Since bifocals are worn all the time, they are rarely misplaced in the same way as reading glasses.

No-line Bifocals: These glasses work the same way as bifocals but do not have a “separation line” across the centre. They are more expensive than regular bifocals but many people prefer them as they are more aesthetically pleasing.

Trifocals and Progressive Lenses: Trifocals are similar to bifocals, but they also have a “middle zone” for intermediate viewing, for example when reaching for an item on a store shelf, looking at a computer screen, or playing cards. Progressive lenses provide a smooth transition from distance through mid-range vision to near, with all the in-between corrections included. Many different progressive lenses are available. The differences between the lenses primarily focus on the width of the central “corridor” of optimum vision. This can be custom designed to suit the needs of the wearer. (Someone who uses the computer for work, for example, may prefer a wider area for mid-range vision.)

Contact Lenses: Wearing contact lenses offers many advantages over wearing glasses. Most people find them more aesthetically appealing and they provide more natural eyesight correction. Glasses, since they do not curve around the temples, limit side vision. (This means the wearer must turn his or head slightly, when looking to the side.) Contacts eliminate this problem.

People who participate in contact sports frequently wear contacts for safety purposes, as well as to provide better peripheral vision. Contacts also do not fog up during physical exertion, and provide clear vision in rainy or snowy conditions.

Surgical procedures: Various surgical procedures can result in a visual outcome known as monovision. This method of presbyopic correction involves correction of the dominant eye for distance vision and the non- dominant eye for near vision.

If distance vision is excellent, just one eye may be corrected for near vision, leaving the other eye untouched. After either one of these procedures, one eye will see things close up, and the other eye will see things farther away. The brain will integrate the visual information from both eyes and, eventually, filter out any blur. (For most people, this adaptation period lasts between six and eight weeks.)

Both procedures reduce or eliminate the need for reading glasses. (Often, glasses are still required for detailed tasks or for reading or viewing a computer for prolonged periods. Monovision does, however, enable close-up, functional vision allowing a person to look at a watch, and to read menus, food packages, garment tags, etc. without needing reading glasses.)

Monovision correction can also be achieved through the use of specially-designed contact lenses in each eye. Since some people are unable to adjust to the surgically-induced imbalance between their eyes, it is often recommended that anyone considering a monovision correction first undergo a three to four-week “trial period” with monovision-inducing contact lenses. Your eye doctor will be able to advise you on this matter.

It is important to understand that, while monovision will give you back the ability to read and perform work close up, your vision will not be as clear as it was when you were younger. The procedure is, however, a viable way to achieve functional vision during middle age.

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Your Pharmacist Says:
A number of eye coditions necessitate a visit to the doctor. You should seek immediate medical attention if you experience any of the following symptoms: seeing halos around lights (a sign of glaucoma), pain and/or sudden loss of vision (possible retianl detachment); blurred vision; discharge; persistent scratchiness or soreness; or redness/inflammation that is accompanied by discomfort or persists beyond 2 days.

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Help for Dry Eye
Dry eye is an uncomfortable condition that develops when the eye fails to produce enough tears, or the tears produced are of insufficient quality. The condition is more common in the middle-aged and elderly, although dry eye can affect all ages. The symptoms of dry eye include:

• stinging or burning eyes
• scratchiness and discomfort
• itching and redness
• excessive tearing or discharge
• blurry vision

New Liposic™ is a highly viscous ophthalmic liquid gel that spreads rapidly over the surface of the eye. It forms a protective, long-lasting film that helps soothe and moisten. This product should not be used with soft contact lenses.

Liposic™  is available from your London Drugs pharmacy.

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Vitamins Help the Eyes Stay Young
Just as ultraviolet (UV) light affects the skin, so it impacts the well being of the eyes. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts are two conditions that doctors believe are partly attributable to UV light reaching and penetrating the structures of the eye.

AMD is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in Canadians of 65 and over. It results in a gradual distortion and sometimes the complete loss of central vision.

Recent research suggests that taking certain vitamins, minerals and plant nutrients may play a key role in slowing progression of age-related eye conditions. These include vitamins A, C and E, and zinc, and the plant pigments lutein and zeaxanthin. Vitalux® time release supplements for eye health are available from the pharmacy at London Drugs.

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Amazing Eye Facts
Aside from your brain, your eyes are the most complex organs in your body. Take a closer look at why:

• Your eyes contribute to 85 percent of your knowledge.
• Together, they comprise more than two million working parts.
• Eyes can process 36,000 bits of information every hour...and in doing so, utilize 65 percent of the brain’s nerve pathways.
• In a normal lifespan, your eyes will bring you close to 24 million images of the world around you. 
• The average person blinks about 12 times a minute. That's close to 12,240 blinks in the average adult day.
• The muscles that move the eyes are the strongest muscles in the body, for the work they have to perform. Scientists estimate they are 100 times more powerful than they need to be.
• Your eyes are so sensitive that they allow the brain to distinguish between images only one ten-thousandth of an inch apart.    

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