What is it?

"Ahh...my old eyes are not working too well with me!" Many of you have heard your old folks say this when they tried to read a newspaper or book. What they suffer from is presbyopia.

Throughout a person's life, their eye lens changes. We start with a very flexible lens capable of quickly changing size and shape to focus light. The ciliary muscle is what makes the lens change shapes.

As we age, the lens becomes firmer and more stubborn to change shape. This makes it harder for the ciliary muscle to apply force and change the lens's size. Distant vision is normally unaffected, but near vision becomes blurry.

People who were nearsighted when they were young do not suffer from presbyopia's effects as much as farsighted and 20/20 people. In fact, their distant vision may even improve

What causes it?

Most people acquire this condition as they become older, normally around age 40.

Symptoms

Treatment

Glasses and contacts allow people to fully enjoy clear vision again. Normally only near vision is affected, so only reading glasses are needed. If presbyopia affected both far and near vision, then bifocal lenses would be necessary. Bifocal glasses are split into two sections—one for distant power and the other for near power.

Index of Diseases