Eyes: looking after your sight

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Have your eyes tested, whether or not they seem fine

   Most sight loss after 60 comes on so gradually that you adapt without noticing. A test every year or two catches cataracts, glaucoma and macular changes while something can still be done, and many of these have no symptoms at all in the early stages.

   Learn more: Fall prevention
2. 2

   Step 2: Understand what poor sight costs you beyond seeing

   Falls, largely. Also withdrawal: if you cannot read faces across a room or follow what is on a page, you stop going. Vision loss is on the list of dementia risk factors for exactly that reason, and correcting it is one of the more fixable things on that list.

   Learn more: Dementia: what it is, and what lowers the risk
3. 3

   Step 3: Get the light right at home

   Older eyes need considerably more light than younger ones, and most homes are lit for someone of thirty. Brighter bulbs on stairs, a lamp by your chair, a light on the route to the bathroom at night. This is cheap and it prevents falls.

   Learn more: Home safety checklist
4. 4

   Step 4: Wear the right glasses for the job

   Varifocals and bifocals distort the ground at the edge of your vision, which matters going down stairs or over a kerb. Many people do better with a separate distance pair for walking outdoors. If you have had a fall, mention your glasses to your optician.

   Learn more: Footwear & mobility
5. 5

   Step 5: Look after the eyes from the inside too

   Blood pressure and blood sugar both damage the small vessels at the back of the eye, often before you notice anything. Keeping both in hand is eye care. So is not smoking, and eating plenty of colourful vegetables.

   Learn more: Blood pressure in women, and why it changes after 55

All topics in this guide

• Fall prevention
• Dementia: what it is, and what lowers the risk
• Home safety checklist
• Footwear & mobility
• Blood pressure in women, and why it changes after 55

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