Presbyopia

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Presbyopia
Other namesThe aging eye condition[1]

A person with presbyopia cannot easily read the small print of an ingredients list (top), which appear clearer to someone without presbyopia (bottom).
SpecialtyOptometry, ophthalmology
SymptomsDifficulty reading small print, having to hold reading material farther away, headaches, eyestrain[1]
Usual onsetProgressively worsening in those over 40 years old[1]
CausesAging-related hardening of the lens of the eye[1]
Diagnostic methodEye exam[1]
TreatmentEyeglasses,[1] contact lenses[2]
Frequency25% currently;[3] all eventually affected[1]

Presbyopia is a physiological insufficiency of optical accommodation associated with the aging of the eye; it results in progressively worsening ability to focus clearly on close objects.[4] Also known as age-related farsightedness[5] (or as age-related long sight in the UK[6]), it affects many adults over the age of 40. A common sign of presbyopia is difficulty in reading small print, which results in having to hold reading material farther away. Other symptoms associated can be headaches and eyestrain.[4] Different people experience different degrees of problems.[1] Other types of refractive errors may exist at the same time as presbyopia.[1] This condition is similar to hypermetropia or far-sightedness, which starts in childhood and exhibits similar symptoms of blur in the vision for close objects.

Presbyopia is a typical part of the aging process.[4] It occurs due to age-related changes in the lens (decreased elasticity and increased hardness) and ciliary muscle (decreased strength and ability to move the lens), causing the eye to focus right behind rather than on the retina when looking at close objects.[4] It is a type of refractive error, along with nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.[4] Diagnosis is by an eye examination.[4]

Presbyopia can be corrected using glasses, contact lenses, multifocal intraocular lenses, or LASIK (PresbyLASIK) surgery.[2][7][4] The most common treatment is glass correction using appropriate convex lens. Glasses prescribed to correct presbyopia may be simple reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, or progressive lenses.[4]

People over 40 are at risk for developing presbyopia and all people become affected to some degree.[1] An estimated 25% of people (1.8 billion globally) had presbyopia as of 2015.[3]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Facts About Presbyopia". National Eye Institute. October 2010. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b Pérez-Prados, Roque; Piñero, David P; Pérez-Cambrodí, Rafael J; Madrid-Costa, David (March 2017). "Soft multifocal simultaneous image contact lenses: a review". Clinical and Experimental Optometry. 100 (2): 107–127. doi:10.1111/cxo.12488. PMID 27800638. S2CID 205049139.
  3. ^ a b Fricke, Timothy R.; Tahhan, Nina; Resnikoff, Serge; Papas, Eric; Burnett, Anthea; Ho, Suit May; Naduvilath, Thomas; Naidoo, Kovin S. (October 2018). "Global Prevalence of Presbyopia and Vision Impairment from Uncorrected Presbyopia". Ophthalmology. 125 (10): 1492–1499. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.04.013. hdl:1959.4/unsworks_79548. PMID 29753495. We estimate there were 1.8 billion people (prevalence, 25%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7–2.0 billion [23%–27%]) globally with presbyopia in 2015 [...].
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Khurana, AK (September 2008). "Asthenopia, anomalies of accommodation and convergence". Theory and practice of optics and refraction (2nd ed.). Elsevier. pp. 100–107. ISBN 978-81-312-1132-8.
  5. ^ "5 Facts About Age-Related Farsightedness You Probably Didn't Know". www.webmd.com. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Age-related Long Sight". patient.info. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  7. ^ "PresbyLASIK - EyeWiki". eyewiki.aao.org. Retrieved 27 August 2020.