Ageing Gracefully - Raffles Medical Group

Raffles HealthNews Feature 25
“ My eyesight will start to fail and this will limit
my activities (e.g. sewing, reading and painting).”
“As you age, so do your eyes,” said Dr
Lee Jong Jian, an Ophthalmologist, and
Consultant at Raffles Eye Centre.
Common changes in your vision include:
• Reduced sensitivity to light
You might need brighter lighting to
read or work.
• Decreased visual acuity
Colours appear dim and glare forms
when light shines directly at you.
• Difficulty reading small print
You might need reading glasses or
a magnifying glass to read small print
due to a condition called presbyopia,
where the lens in your eye becomes
less elastic and loses its ability to
focus.
Besides these changes to your eyes, ageing
makes you more prone to developing eye
diseases that can impair your vision.
Cataracts
Your eye’s lens sits behind the iris and
pupil. If the lens becomes cloudy, you
have a condition called a cataract.
Cataracts are usually associated with
blurred vision.
Some other signs and symptoms include:
• Sensitivity to light and glare
• Halos around lights
• Fading or yellowing of colours
• Double vision or multiple vision
in one eye
Surgery is highly successful and is a
common solution for cataracts. Most
cataracts can only be detected with
special eye instruments, so make an
appointment with your eye doctor if you
notice your vision clouding.
Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
occurs when your central part of the
retina, the macula, deteriorates, resulting
in loss of vision.
AMD is one of the most frequent causes
of vision loss in people age 60 and older.
If AMD is detected early, you might be
able to reduce the extent of your vision
loss. AMD leads to a blind spot in the
centre of your visual field. Signs and
symptoms include:
• The need for increasingly bright light
when reading or doing close work
•
•
•
Printed words that appear distorted
or increasingly blurred
Colors that seem washed out and dull
A gradual haziness of your overall
vision
Floaters
As you age, your vitreous can also
become more liquid than jelly-like,
causing floaters, which appear as spots
floating across your field of vision. They
are actually small clumps of gel and cells
floating in the vitreous.
Most floaters are harmless, but if you
suddenly develop a large number,
especially if accompanied by flashes of
light, it might signal a retinal tear or retinal
detachment. In such cases, seek medical
attention immediately.
Therefore, you should seek to protect
your eyes by wearing sunglasses to
shield your eyes from strong sunlight.
Adopt a healthy lifestyle by exercising
regularly and eating healthily. You should
also have regular eye screening done
when you reach 50 years old and seek
immediate medical attention when your
vision is not clear.
“ I will look bad when all my teeth fall out.
Dentures will also be highly uncomfortable. ”
Dr Ng Chee Hon, a Consultant Oral &
Maxillofacial Surgeon at Raffles Dental,
agrees that we should not take healthy
teeth for granted. Missing teeth are a
problem, not just in appearance but also
in function.
The loss of one or several teeth usually
has direct effects on appearance and
chewing. In addition, the stability of the
surrounding teeth is lost because of the
gap and can result in further problems.
Such gaps may be closed with a bridge
for a complete row of teeth and proper
chewing.
Larger gaps between the teeth can be
bridged with denture. This option is
economical but does not always provide
satisfaction and can result in oral hygiene
problems and eventual tooth loss.
The most natural and attractive solution
to tooth loss to-date is dental implants.
They fit harmoniously into the dental
arch and are fixed to the jawbone. They
cannot be distinguished from real teeth in
function and appearance. Neighbouring
teeth do not have to be reduced to
support replacements. The palate is not
covered and the tongue not encroached
by denture surface.
Just like natural teeth, dental implants
transmit chewing forces evenly to the
jawbone and preserve the natural shape
of the jaws. If this pressure is missing, the
jawbone slowly shrinks away, resulting in
a shorter lower face.
Regular removal of plaque makes a major
contribution to the long-term success of
the implant therapy. Apart form the dental
care at home, regular check-ups to the
clinic providing care is recommended.