Australian Eye Worries

Eyes are often the subject of songs and poetry and sight is one of our most precious senses. Still, most take theirs for granted. So how do you protect your windows to the soul?

Most people take their sight for granted, yet in the next two decades about one million Australians will go blind or suffer vision loss. They'll then also be more at risk of injuries and, perhaps because of increased isolation, they'll be more likely to suffer depression.

Vision loss cost Australia a total of $9.85 billion in 2004 - more than it costs to treat and manage coronary heart disease, stroke, arthritis or depression. But around 75 per cent of vision loss and blindness ispreventable or treatable. Looking after your eyes now may stop you losing your sight in the future.

"In a study, 80 per cent of people said sight was important for ageing in a healthy way. But when we asked people to rank the most important regular health checks, eyes wereat the bottom of the list," says Jennifer Gersbeck, CEO of Vision 2020 Australia, a national organisation which encourages eye care and works with the government to develop the National Framework for Action to Promote Eye Health and Prevent Avoidable Blindness and Vision Loss.

"People want healthy eyesight but they don't do anything in apreventative sense," says Gersbeck. "They get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked and have aregular mammogram and Pap smear, but they don't think about their eyes."
About 80 per cent of vision loss and blindness in Australia is caused by five key conditions.

Refractive Error • what is it?
Refractive error is the most common cause of vision problems. The image of an object is not focused properly on the retina - the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye - so images are blurred. Common refractive errors are myopia (short-sightedness) and hyperopia (long-sightedness).

"About 1.6 billion people in the world are short-sighted," says Professor Deborah Sweeney, CEO of the Vision Cooperative Research Centre (Vision CRC). "Partly because we spend more time watching TV, using computers and studying."
• signs - Refractive error increases with age. You'll have difficulty doing close work if you're long-sighted and you'll have trouble driving or seeing long distances if you're short-sighted.

• treatment - Over half the people with this problem would have their sight improved by wearing a correct pair of glasses or lenses. Vision CRC is also developing an anti-myopia lens. "We're developing a lens that looks at the way light enters the eye and how it focuses on the back of the retina to keep things in focus," says Professor Sweeney. "We may see something on the market in the next two years."
• prevention - Get your eyes tested every two years. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, have regular eye tests.

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