THE EYES HAVE IT
By "DocNurse" Norma Stephens Hannigan
As a trucker, you depend a lot on your sense of sight. After all, trucking is simply not a job you could do without good vision. As the New Year begins and we all seem to be focusing (pardon the pun) on our health, lets talk about how you can take care of one (or should I say two) of your most valuable assets – your eyes.
In general, the problem that younger people have with their eyes has to do with distance vision. Near-sightedness (the medical term is “myopia”) occurs when you are able to see objects that are near well but things that are farther away appear blurry. According to the American Optometric Association about 30% of the population suffers from this condition. It usually starts in school-aged children, may be a hereditary disorder and may be caused by stressing the eyes by doing very close work such as reading or using a computer. In children, this is often first noticed in school because the child will be squinting to see the blackboard. Glasses (corrective lenses) can correct the difficulty as can laser surgery. People can also get hyperopia, or far-sightedness. Anything close to the person is blurry but far away objects are clear.
As we get older, our vision naturally changes. Presbyopia, the difficulty that older people have with near vision like reading, occurs at around the time a person turns 40. The eyes simply cannot focus as well on near objects as they once did. You can now buy reading glasses over the counter and it is generally accepted that these do no harm to you and do not worsen your vision in the long run, but they will distort your vision if you keep them on while you are looking into the distance.
Another problem that arises in our vision as we get older is that we become more aware of (or develop) spots and floaters. These “floaters” are bits of protein material that float around in the liquid portion of your eye – you notice them because they are in your line of vision everywhere you look. As you move your eye, the floaters also move. They may appear suddenly one day and generally are not dangerous. However, if they do appear suddenly, it’s best to check them out with your eye care provider to make sure they don’t signal something more serious happening. Floaters usually don’t get in the way of seeing well. At first they can be annoying, but most people will get used to them and not even notice them after a while.
One of the best ways to maintain your vision is to protect your eyes from the sun. Sunglasses with UV protection are very important because the ultraviolet rays of the sun can cause damage to tissues of the eyeball and help to form cataracts. Cataracts are a clouding of the lens which helps to focus light inside the eye so you can see clearly. When the lens is cloudy, the light can no longer be properly focused and vision becomes blurry. Cigarette smoking and lack of vitamins are also associated with the formation of cataracts, and people with diabetes are more likely to get them as well. Cataracts are usually treated with surgery to replace the cloudy lens.
Glaucoma is also a disease of older people for the most part, but it can rarely occur in children. It occurs when the pressure inside of the eyeball is increased. This increase in pressure stresses the nerve that helps us see and, if left untreated, glaucoma can cause blindness. There is one form of glaucoma that comes on very suddenly causing eye pain, redness of the eye, seeing colored rings around lights and blurry vision. This is an emergency that needs to be treated right away to prevent blindness. The more common type of glaucoma, however, takes a long time to present itself and doesn’t have very dramatic symptoms. The bad news, though, is that it too can also cause blindness. The good news is that there are treatments in the form of eye drops and sometimes surgery. Glaucoma usually does not occur until after the age of 40 and occurs more in people who have a family history of glaucoma. African Americans over age 40 and Latinos over age 60 are the people most at risk for developing glaucoma.
Older people are more likely than younger people to develop macular degeneration. This is a disease which robs the person of the central area of their vision and once it is gone, there is no treatment to restore it. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness. Recent studies have shown that eating spinach several times a week can help protect against macular degeneration and cataracts. So, while carrots are good, spinach is even better. Some people take lutein supplements, which you can buy over the counter. Lutein is the substance in spinach that protects our eyes.
Some people will experience dry eye as they get older. This, too, is a natural phenomenon. The treatment is simple – buy over the counter artificial tears (drops) and use them as often as necessary to keep your eyes from getting itchy and uncomfortable.
The best thing to do for your eyes is to take care of them so they will keep on working for you as long as you need them. Just because you can buy reading glasses over the counter doesn’t mean you should neglect having your eyes checked for problems at least every two years. It’s also important to tell your health care provider if you have any eye disease like glaucoma because certain medicines can make it worse. Since things like glaucoma and cataracts usually take a long time to develop and are very subtle, the eye exam is the key to discovering potential problems that could rob you of your sight and leave you stranded on the side of the road.
~ Dr. Norma Stephens Hannigan, who recently graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, teaches at Columbia University in New York and has treated many truck drivers at the various clinics she has worked over the years. She currently writes from her home in Newburgh, New York.