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    Ogling elderly eye ailments
Slight loss of clarity is normal, but yearly exams detect bigger problems
      
Dr. Charles Hollas checks a patient's retina for floaters or other common eye problems.


Story and photo by Dave Schafer

What looked like a dark bug just off center in Darby McKaye’s eye moved every time he shifted his eye to focus on it, staying just in his peripheral vision. So McKaye (not his real name) went to see Dr. Charles Hollas, an optometrist with the Berkeley Eye Center.

Hollas put drops in McKaye’s eyes and peered at the retina through a lighted lens. He saw an opaque, comma-shaped piece of tissue floating about a millimeter in front of the retina.

A piece of the thin membrane that acts as an interface between the vitreous and the retina of the eye had come loose, casting a shadow into the back of the eye.

It’s called a floater, and it’s common for people 60 and older, Hollas said.

As people age, the liquefied vitreous body thins and separates from the retina, and the membrane that held it in place can float around until gravity settles it. Sometimes, pieces of that membrane float up behind the retina.

The vitreous detachment usually happens in the early 60s. For about 80 percent of all people, it happens by age 70.

“In a geriatric setting, almost daily a person comes in with acute flashes or floaters, and we dilate the eye and see a benign vitreous detachment,” Hollas said. “But we need to rule out a retinal detachment.”

A benign floater is nothing to be concerned about, he said.

A retinal detachment is more serious. So is a vitreous hemorrhage, both of which occur when an attachment of the vitreous to the retina does not separate properly, tearing the retina or retinal blood vessel.

A retinal detachment is one of the effects aging can have on your eyes. For people 65 and older, it’s important to get a yearly eye exam.

“Many times, by having periodic eye-health examinations, we can detect many of these conditions early and intervene to prevent further loss of vision,” Hollas said.

Even if your eyesight seem sharp, it’s important to take good care of yourself and keep that yearly exam. That way, the optometrist can check the accuracy of your glasses or contact lens prescription.

“Many times, when there’s gradual vision loss, patients don’t realize how much they’re missing out on,” Hollas said.

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What to watch for

What older adults should be wary of when it comes to their eyes, according to Dr. Chuck Hollas:

• A general decrease in visual acuity

• A need for a lot of light to read

• Difficulty recognizing faces or reading streets signs, or a loss of clarity in the center of your vision

• Problems driving at night due to glare or starbursts

• Unexplained flashes of light, like lightning or strobe lights, or cobwebs or thread-like shadows, sometimes in the peripheral vision. These are often indications of a harmless condition, but could indicate eye or general health problems, like retinal detachments, that could be serious

• If you have a benign floater, but then you notice a change in the number of floaters; for instance, if it looks like there’s dust in your eye, contact your eye doctor. That could be a sign of something more serious