Ageing and ocular problems

Abstract

Ageing is a common problem in modern societies. Due to sophisticated new methods in medicine, the average life expectancy significantly increased in recent years. 70 is the new 50. The new principles of food intake and processing, more exercise, and less smoking contributed to a health benefits and a longer life span of human kind. Nevertheless, there are the special problems of ageing. Numerous dysfunctions of the body may arise affecting a broad range of organs and the musculoskeletal system. The eye can also be severely affected by ageing. Vision gained more importance recently especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elderly people who never used computers before, had to learn computer technology in order to communicate with their family and to accomplish their everyday tasks or pay their bills. Therefore, good near vision has become crucial for elderly people. In this review article the most common ageing problems of the eye, therapies and pathophysiology of ageing processes will be reviewed and discussed. There are physiological problems of ageing and there are ocular pathologies which can be treated efficiently in time to preserve near and far visual acuity.