The number of older motorists has reached a history record since people over 50 are still likely to maintain active lifestyles. On the other hand, poor night vision in older individuals is a serious traffic hazard.

People above 60 are quite susceptible to age-related vision problems. For these older individuals, regular eye exams including critical tests for older eyes are helpful to detect potential eye diseases. Doctors will suggest proper treatments for specific vision problems. For example, advanced cataracts always require a cataract surgery, which replaces the cloudy lens with a healthy artificial lens. In most cases, cloudy or hazy vision can also be removed after a cataract surgery.

August is the Cataract Awareness Month in the United States. The American Academy of Ophthalmology takes this opportunity to propagate certain knowledge of cataracts every year. For instance, there are many factors that increase the rate of developing cataracts, such as family history, diabetes, smoking, sun exposure, eye injury, eye inflammation and prolonged steroid use.

Women over 50 are more susceptible to mild or severe dry eye. Women in this older group are showed to suffer dry eye at a percentage of 7.8, versus a 4.7% among men. Dry eye in women involves various causes. Common problems such as inflammation can cause tear reduction in the eye, which brings dry eye. Particularly, women after menopause may have unstable tear film caused by abnormal chemical signals. Hormone androgen decease can also be a possible cause of dry eye in older women. But no evidence has showed that estrogen hormone replacement therapy is effective in alleviating dry eye in women.

As hardened fats, trans-unsaturated fats are associated with heart diseases because they can raise levels of bad cholesterol and lower levels of good cholesterol. However, higher amounts of trans-unsaturated fats are also reported to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration, according to the Archives of Ophthalmology. Lots of trans-unsaturated fats intake is suspected to be closely related with late AMD.

Besides vitamin A and C, vitamin E is also one type of antioxidants that are recommended by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. The study revealed that a nutritional formula containing vitamin E brought down the rate of advanced macular degeneration by 25%. The effect of vitamin E in dealing with cataracts is still obscure.

Both belonging to xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin add yellow pigment to plants and vegetables, making them appear orange in the fruits or leaves. Experts point out that lutein and zeaxanthin also occur in the lens and retina of human eyes. These two compounds can protect our eyes from free radicals’ damage, which causes oxidation. Lutein and zeaxanthin in the lens and retina also filter out harmful blue light, protecting underlying cell layers.

Age-related decline in eye is common among people in their 60s or older. Some eye problems such as presbyopia and cataracts are quite normal, while more serious age-related eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy may affect old people’s daily lives.