Preventing Vision Loss: What You Need to Know
Approximately 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated. Understanding how to avoid eye damage versus the natural effects of aging is crucial for maintaining eye health.
Our eyesight is fundamental to how we perceive and interact with the world. Despite its importance, many take their vision for granted until problems arise.
“Blindness is a very scary disability,” says , deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia at the University of Melbourne.
“But people don’t realise actually about 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated.”
Maintaining eye health often involves a balanced diet, regular physical activity, and consistent eye examinations.
Eye issues tend to become noticeable during two key life stages. Currently, there is a global increase in myopia (shortsightedness) among school-age children, with the number of affected children and adolescents rising. Although the exact causes remain unclear, research indicates that screen time plays a role, but not in the commonly assumed manner.
Screens Versus Outdoor Exposure
Despite widespread concerns about screen time harming eyesight, there is no conclusive evidence that focusing closely on screens causes myopia.
“The direct evidence for screens in and of themselves being problematic is pretty, pretty weak,” says , Lions Eye Institute UWA chair in optometry research in Perth.
More likely, increased screen time replaces activities beneficial to eye health.
One such beneficial activity, especially for children, is spending time outdoors.
“Getting enough sunlight is actually important for the growth of their eye,”says , a clinical scientist at the Centre for Eye Research Australia. Sunlight may stimulate the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential for healthy eye development. Additionally, outdoor play encourages focusing on distant objects, which supports proper eye growth.
“I say ‘green time over screen time’,” Hui says. Encouraging children to spend one to two hours outside daily
“has been proven to actually slow down the progression of shortsightedness.”
The Inevitable Vision Changes in Midlife
For those who avoid myopia in childhood, vision changes typically become apparent in midlife, often humorously referred to as the “my arms are too short” problem. This condition, presbyopia, is age-related and unavoidable.
“The need for reading glasses is linked to the number of birthdays you’ve had,” Ayton explains. Presbyopia results from the eye’s clear, flexible lens losing elasticity with age, reducing its ability to focus light on the retina, making close-up vision difficult.
There is currently no prevention or cure for presbyopia.
Correction is achieved through reading glasses, which do not weaken the eyes.
Ayton notes, “I often get people complaining that as soon as they got glasses, their vision got worse and worse, but that is the natural course of eye ageing.”
“It’s not going to make your eyes weaker by wearing glasses,” she says. “Pretty much every two years, your reading prescription is going to get updated.”
Another common age-related condition is cataracts, which also involve changes to the eye’s lens.
“As the lens grows, it gets hazier, so now instead of looking through a nice clear lens, you’re starting to look through a hazy one,” Hui explains.Cataracts cannot be prevented but can be treated by surgically replacing the lens with an artificial one.
Early Diagnosis is Key
Two age-related eye diseases that can be prevented or slowed are glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Glaucoma results from progressive optic nerve damage, while macular degeneration affects the central retina.
While a healthy diet and avoiding smoking reduce risk, early diagnosis is critical.
“The message that needs to go out to people in their 40s and 50s, is that it is really important that you do have regular eye examinations,” McKendrick emphasizes.
These diseases often have no early symptoms and can progress unnoticed for years. By the time symptoms prompt specialist visits, significant vision loss may have occurred, which is irreversible.
The key to maintaining healthy eyes and vision involves the “three O’s,” according to Ayton: minimizing screen time, spending time outdoors, and regular visits to eye care professionals.
“For general check-ups, people should be seeing the optometrist – if they’re below the age of 60 – every two to three years, and then over 60 becomes more regular as the risk of eye diseases get higher.”
