Greetings to all and sundry,
It is another beautiful day today and a wonderful opportunity for us to learn something new and improve ourselves in diverse ways. It is said it is only through our examination of ourselves and the effort to be a better version of ourselves daily do we get to upgrade.
Learning is an everyday thing and so we make effort daiIy towards it, which is wIy i am always excited when i get to come your way with yet more discussions on our ocular and general health. Today, we would be looking at a common phenomenon that most people go through as they age and what we need to do to avoid the bad side of this phenomenon. Do stay with me.
Introduction
Aging has lots of effect on the eye and our general body. Knowingregardf these effects with regards to our health would keep you alert and prepare us both psychologically and physically to face what may be yet to come. It could also help you do thextentful in minimizing the extend of damage or effect that may be presented as a result.
When it comes to the eye we have some common inevitable conditions such as presbyopia (difficulty reading small prints after age 40), cataract (clouding of our eye's lens which results in blurred and cloudy vision), arclipidsnilis (accumulation of lipid around the cornea or limbus) and some amount of ptosis which is seen mostly with the octogenarian due to the weakening of the lid muscles.
This doesn't mean that growing old spells doom fomany aged individuals are walkingany aged individuals walking around enjoying the fullness of their vision due to the steps they took to ensure that they protect their sight and the ocular adnexa so it could remain strong at all times and be able to function accordingly.
Today we would be looking at conditions like that which are mostly related to senility, it is mostly harmless and may only present some slight discomfort with the patient however it could also be an early warning to some more harmful and thus knowing what to do could just save your sight.
Synchisis (Vitreous Liquefaction)
The vitreous is a jelly-like substance that fills the inner part of the eyeball. It is found between the retina and the posterior portion of the lens and it has the function of keeping the retina in place as well as providing nutrition to the lens well as the retina. It is also adds to the strength and integrity of the eye ball.
Now as we age this jelly-like substance tends to liquefy, thus losing its nature and becoming more watery. When this happens it tends to sometimes leave crystalline bodies made of cholesterol which starts to float or move through the now liquefied vitreous, it is noticed in ones vision when they move their head or follow and gaze.
Patient would normally report to the hospital that they are seeing objects move in their vision when they look at a bright background, they get perturbed because previously it wasn't there and wonder what could be wrong because they not experiencing any pain or any other discomfort aside this.
What is happening is that aside the crystalline bodies any other bodies or physiological opacities that may have been trapped in the jelly of the vitreous before are now free to roam about and so you could even have bodies that may have been there since childbirth now having the opportunity to move around and enjoy their freedom.
Normally this should subside some few months once the liquefaction process is complete however even if it doesn't subside completely it should be much of an issue or pose any threat so long as the retina remains intact. What happens sometimes is that due to the function of the vitreous is keeping the retina intact, when it starts to liquefy it can pull the epithelial layer of the retina resulting in a detachment.
Retina detachment is an ocular emergency and should be treated as such because the cells responsible for converting light to vision are highly active and would die off within short period of time when they remain detached from the choroid where they get their main nutrition. Retinal detachment could easily result in permanent blindness for an individual and when detected early can only be saved through surgical intervention.
But the retinal detachment has some signs which should trigger you to visit your Optometrist as soon as you notice, thus aside the floaters you may notice in your vision, if you see any lightning in your vision or flashes of light coming and going, it could be that the RPE is been pulled from the rest of the retina and thus should be looked at right away.
It is better safe than sorry, it is better to go and be informed that all is well and that you are just experience an effect of vitreous liquefaction which is very much fine and not much to worry about that to assume all is well and loss your vision to retinal detachment.
Management/Conclusion
As already stated, retinal detachment is best treated via surgery which has to been done within the shortest possible time of it happening lest one may not benefit from the surgery. The liquefaction itself is a senile process and normally doesn't need any pharmaceutical intervention.
However, over the years we noticed that the use of eye supplements such as vision ace, eyecopen, cellgevity etc that are full of antioxidants and nutrients and minerals such as lutein, zeaxanthin, glutathione etc did a lot in helping to resolve the floaters quickly and bringing more comfort to the patient and so it is likely that you doctor may prescribe some of these for you if available and also depending on your financial status.
If you have any other symptoms though then your Optometrist would treat you accordingly, for instance if you happen to have vitreous liquefaction starting as a result of trauma to the eye then pain meds may be added as well as cycloplegics to ease up the intrinsic muscles in the eye.
Whatever the case may be though, it is always advisable to seek immediate care once you notice anything with your eye or vision, as i always say, early detection not only save lives but also sight. Remember to love your eyes and have regular checkups and please do well to avoid over the counter medication. Thank you once again for reading today and i wish you the best.
Further Reading
Gastaud, P., Paoli, V., & Freton, A. (2012). Le vieillissement du vitré [Vitreous body aging]. Journal francais d'ophtalmologie, 35(5), 371–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfo.2012.02.007.
Milston, R., Madigan, M. C., & Sebag, J. (2016). Vitreous floaters: Etiology, diagnostics, and management. Survey of ophthalmology, 61(2), 211–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.survophthal.2015.11.008.
Sebag J. (2020). Vitreous and Vision Degrading Myodesopsia. Progress in retinal and eye research, 79, 100847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.preteyeres.2020.100847.
Levin, M., & Cohen, N. (2021). The effects of aging on the mechanical properties of the vitreous. Journal of biomechanics, 119, 110310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110310.
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The eye is always affected when it comes to aging but at some point, they are people who may not have this issue in their aging time. I think early dictation should be noted for general eye issues and treatment should be followed immediately.
You couldn’t have said it any better, early detection is quite crucial for most eye conditions. Thank you very much for reading and for your time
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