By taking care of the health of your eyes - as you would your heart or brain - you can maintain your visual acuity as you age.
How can that be?
In a report published by the French newspaper "Le Figaro", writer Aline Richard said that the eye is prone to diseases and aging, which may cause eyesight to deteriorate.
On the other hand, to maintain eye health with age, prevention should start at an early age.
Here are tips to maintain eye health:
1- Protect your eyes from UV rays
The first tip is to protect the eyes from UV rays.
As with the skin, sunlight accelerates the aging of the eyes.
"The older children get, the more essential sunglasses are," warns Professor Laurent Kodjikian, president of the French Society of Ophthalmologists and an ophthalmologist at Croix-Rousse Hospital in Lyon.
Ultraviolet rays can cause burns on the surface of the eye.
"UV rays also cause more profound damage, including an increased risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration," said Professor Jean-Francois Korobelnik, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Bordeaux University Hospital.
Age-related macular degeneration is a common eye condition and a leading cause of vision loss among people 50 years of age or older.
In macular degeneration, damage occurs in an area of the retina called the macula, a small area near the center of the retina responsible for sharp central vision, which allows seeing objects directly in front of the eye.
In some cases, the disease progresses very slowly, and in other cases the disease progresses faster, and may lead to loss of vision in one or both eyes.
As for "cataracts";
It is a disease that leads to a decline in the ability to see, and it is also called "cataract" or "cataract".
In most cases, it is associated with age.
2- Avoid smoking
In contrast to the effects of blue light, there is consensus on the harmful effects of tobacco on eyesight.
According to Professor Catherine Crusoe Garci, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Dijon University Hospital, "A person who smokes increases the risk of macular degeneration from 3 to 6 times."
3- Carry out regular check-ups
Macular degeneration is not the only sight-threatening condition after the age of 50, as some diseases are hidden because they can develop without signs that help detect them early, and begin to damage the eye long before symptoms appear, such as glaucoma. Which gradually destroys the optic nerve due to the intense pressure in the eye.
Glaucoma - also known as glaucoma and glaucoma - is not a single disease;
Rather, it is a group of conditions that affect the eye and lead to damage to the optic nerve, and this damage usually occurs - not always - as a result of high pressure inside the eyeball.
It is important to go to the ophthalmologist every 3 years for an examination starting from the age of 45. Regular examination is also an opportunity to detect cataracts.
And diabetics should pay special attention to the health of their eyesight.
For her part, Catherine Crusoe-Garchi emphasized that "diabetic retinopathy is one of the main causes of blindness in France, and to avoid it, it is necessary to maintain a stable sugar level and undergo a check-up once a year."
What about blue light?
Some specialists believe that the blue light emitted by all screens contributes to the acceleration of eye aging, although there is no consensus on this hypothesis among specialists.
Professor Laurent Kodjikian said: "The effect of this light on the retina has only been seen in animals. This in itself is evidence. In addition, the eye naturally contains yellow anti-blue light filters in the macula, which is the central area of the retina. For this reason, Like many ophthalmologists, I am a proponent of blue-light filter lenses."
But Professor Jean-François Korobelnik disagrees, and believes that there is “currently no evidence to prove the effect of blue light on the human eye, and it appears to be nothing more than a promising marketing sector that manufacturers have rushed into. What is certain is that the use of smartphones and devices The other tablets increase the length of close-up view and may result in eye problems. Since we blink more often, the surface dries out a bit. For this reason, it is necessary to take regular breaks from watching the screen."