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PRIME TIME
June 2020
Ask A Health Care Professional Wei-Ann Bay, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico
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s we age, our vision changes. The changes can affect our ability to do daily things like read the newspaper or, more significantly, drive safely. Eye diseases are common and can result in problems ranging from blurry vision to blindness. As our aging population increases, the number of people with vision loss will increase. In fact, vision loss is considered a public health problem. It is estimated that as many as 80 million Americans have potentially blinding eye diseases, and the cost of vision loss is estimated to be $35 billion or more. What are the common eye diseases? The common eye diseases are refractive errors, cataracts, macular degeneration, retinopathy and glaucoma. Refractive errors are the most common eye problems. This condition is usually corrected with a pair of glasses. Presbyopia, or trouble focusing up close, is
an example of a refractive error related to aging. Many of us started experiencing presbyopia in our 40s and 50s. Cataracts occur when the lens in your eye becomes cloudy. Things may look blurry, hazy or less colorful. This can be treated with surgery that removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with a clear, artificial lens. Which eye diseases can lead to blindness? Macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are common eye diseases that can lead to blindness if not treated. Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration, causes loss of central vision. The cause is still unclear, but the risk increases with age. Objects look blurry in the center of your vision and clearer off to the sides. There are two types of macular degeneration: wet and dry. This condition can be treated with a certain combination of vitamins and minerals, special medicines called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors that go
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directly into the eye, or other treatments. The most common form of retinopathy is diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of uncontrolled diabetes. High blood sugars can lead to damaged blood vessels in the eyes, causing decreased blood flow and abnormal growth of new blood vessels. This condition can be treated with laser surgery, VEGF inhibitors, and surgery if needed to remove blood from the vitreous humor. The vitreous humor is the clear, gel-like fluid behind the lens in the eyeball. Retinopathy can also be caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure. Glaucoma is a disease that affects the main nerve in the eye called the optic nerve. There are two types of glaucoma: open-angle (the more common one) and angle-closure. Open-angle usually does not cause symptoms. However, when vision
loss is noticed, it is described as having tunnel vision — vision is clear in the center but not off to the side (opposite of macular degeneration). Angle-closure glaucoma happens when the fluiddraining system in the eye gets blocked, which can cause the eye (continued on next page)
