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AGING AND VISION: ADAPTATION AND MEDICAL HELP
How to Adapt
Because we need brighter light to see as well at seventy as at twenty-five, increasing the wattage of the light bulbs in your home or office may aid vision. Use incandescent lighting (regular household bulbs). Fluorescent lights (overhead tubular fixtures) may heighten seeing problems because they cause glare.
Adapting also means taking unusual care in dimly lit or glare-filled places. If you go to the movies, get there before the lights go down, or ask an usher to take you down the aisle. Go slower traversing fluorescently lit passageways. Be careful in situations where you must continually shift your gaze - such as going up or down steps. Because of poorer side vision, scan any crowded place thoroughly.
When to Get Medical Help
See a doctor immediately if you have any of these symptoms: loss or dimness of vision, eye pain, excessive discharge from the eye, double vision, or redness or swelling of the eye or eyelid. The National Institute on Aging recommends having a complete eye examination every two or three years, more often if you have diabetes or a family history of eye disease.
Some illnesses, such as glaucoma, produce symptoms only when it is too late. If they are caught in time they can be treated. Other problems, such as cataracts, can be cured by simple surgical techniques. And have regular checkups to detect high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which may affect your eyes.
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GENERAL HEALTH
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