Your eyes cannot escape the hands of time. And so, your vision changes and develops over the course of your life.
Considering how much your eyes change throughout your life, it’s important to be aware of key aspects of eye health and vision changes that are specific to each phase of life.
Diabetes is one of the most serious contributors to vision issues. In fact, medical experts believe nearly everyone with diabetes will experience some form of diabetes-related vision issue. While diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic-related eye-health condition, an increasing number of people with diabetes are experiencing serious vision issues as a result of a condition known as dry eye syndrome. It turns out there’s a strong connection between diabetes and dry eyes.
Although dry eye syndrome is not considered a significant health issue, when left untreated in people with diabetes, it has been shown to contribute to permanent vision damage and even blindness.
Approximately 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with dry eye, and millions more have symptoms but remain undiagnosed. Dry eye can result from inadequate tear production or poor tear quality. Symptoms include:
Those over 65 and female are most likely to have symptoms. However, children are commonly diagnosed due to their significant digital device use. Once you have been diagnosed, it is important to understand that dry eye is a chronic condition that will always require treatment.
Your doctor will prescribe dry eye treatment tailored to your eyes, however, there are several lifestyle changes you can make to alleviate or improve your symptoms.
Remember the classic song, When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, by the Platters? While it’s true the occasional plume of smoke from a campfire wafting directly into your eyes never feels good, the discomfort is usually short-lived and typically relegated to minor irritation, stinging, and brief tearing up.
Regardless, you never want to experience eye irritation from any outside, environmental factors – and there are certainly many more dangerous, damaging, and even surprising environmental factors than a puff of wood smoke to be aware of.
