Enjoying reading, writing, driving, working, baking a chocolate cake, immersing yourself in the contemplation of a painting, a field of poppies or an indigo blue sky … Published in October 2019 in the review JAMA ophthalmology, a study revealed that 88% of respondents considered sight to be their most valuable sense, ahead of hearing. Seeing certainly adds flavor to existence! But it is still necessary to see well … Because if the eye is a remarkable instrument, of an incredible complexity, it is not infallible.
It may already have flaws. Being too long or too short, having a lens that loses its flexibility, a cornea flattened like a rugby ball … Moreover, this organ is unfortunately not beyond the reach of time passing. Over the years, the skin becomes wrinkled, the bones weaken, the muscles melt, the hearing shows signs of weakness … and the sight does not escape this phenomenon of aging, slow but inevitable.
Medical advances
“Old age is a shipwreck”, lamented General de Gaulle. Should we therefore resign ourselves to seeing less well with age? Certainly not ! These last years, the world of vision has made spectacular progress. Glasses and lenses are now gifted, treating – often very well – myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. Cataract surgery is successful in more than 95% of cases. If glaucoma cannot be cured, it can be stabilized.
There remains age-related macular degeneration (AMD), for which many patients go untreated. But many researchers are working tirelessly on the subject, and their initial results are extremely promising. However, to see well all your life, you have to be fully involved in your health. Defy well-known traps, like the sun or tobacco, and fight new ones, like screens or blue light. Because the saying “Prevention is better than cure” finds all its meaning here. An example to be convinced: amblyopia. This “lazy eye syndrome” can be corrected extremely well … on one condition: to be detected before the age of 6.
Prevent on a daily basis
On a daily basis, various gestures help protect your eyesight:
- If we easily think of the dangers of the sun for our skin from too long exposure, we often forget the consequences for our eyes. Gold in high doses, the sun damages our retina. The ultraviolet rays from the sun cause the cells in our eyes to age prematurely. Failure to protect yourself puts them at increased risk for cataracts and AMD.
- It is everywhere: in the rays of the sun, LEDs and screens (computer, smartphone …): it is blue light. In an expert report unveiled in May 2019, ANSES confirms “the toxicity of blue light on the retina” and warns that “chronic exposure increases the risk of developing AMD.
- Short term, screens cause eye fatigue and dryness. Beyond that, the excessive use of smartphones, tablets and computers is probably one of the causes of the surge in myopia all over the planet. The reason ? To look at a screen a few inches from our eyes, we make an effort to accommodate. “Every 20 minutes, you have to lift your eyes from your screen, to look into the distance for at least 20 seconds, recommends Marie de Fréminville, mobile optician. Otherwise, the eyes will be exhausted focusing on the screen. It is as if you are running without stopping. This visual fatigue can cause myopia, or worsen hyperopia. “
- Excessive consumption ofalcohol increases the risk of AMD. Just like tobacco. The smoke is irritating to the eye and causes dry eyes.
