Conditions like presbyopia, dry eye affect many adult Americans

As people age, they face an increased risk for common and sometimes serious vision conditions. Yet most adults are unaware of two pervasive conditions: presbyopia and dry eye.

This information gap is striking because millions of baby boomers are at risk for or are already experiencing these age-related conditions.

Many baby boomers now need bifocals. The reason is presbyopia, also known as “aging eyes” or the “short-arm syndrome.”

Presbyopia, which inevitably appears around age 40, occurs when the eye loses its ability to switch focus between near and distant objects. Presbyopia does not cause blindness, but it does affect such daily activites as driving, typing, reading, or ordering from a menu.

Though an estimated 75 million adults now have presbyopia, most Americans do not understand the reason for their changing vision. A national study showed that almost 177 million people, or 97 percent of American adults, were unfamiliar with presbyopia.

Although the people responding to the national study were overwhelmingly uninformed about presbyopia, many of them appeared to have been diagnosed for this condition. Ironically, these people reported wearing bifocal contact lenses or eyeglasses, the most common method used for correcting prebyopia.

Dry eye, a common condition that is easily detected and treated, is signaled by an itchy, burning sensation, the feeling of having sand in the eyes.

Dry eye occurs when the eye loses the ability to lubricate itself. Dry eye can inhibit visual performance. A projected 33 million American adults may be undiagnosed, but are at risk for dry eye. A projected 15 million adults are more than 50 years old, the population segment at highest risk for the condition.

Dry eye is easily treated with over-the-counter artificial tears. However, the study found that the majority of people at risk for dry eye do not regularly use eye drops. Many of those people who do report using eye drops incorrectly rely on decongestant eye drops to remove redness, which aggravates the condition.