Eyesight getting worse? It may not be age-related
Dr Mark Porter says undiagnosed illnesses and medications, including Viagra, can all affect your eyesight.
Image credit: GettyImages/Inside Creative House
Dr Mark Porter says undiagnosed illnesses and medications, including Viagra, can all affect your eyesight.
Q. Why isn’t my vision as clear as it used to be?
Despite having a small degree of long-sightedness, I have never needed glasses for anything but close work and reading.
However, recently, I have noticed that number plates on cars I am following are not as clear as they used to be. I can still see pretty well, but I miss the detail.
I am in my late sixties, otherwise well, and I had a clear eye test 18 months ago.
Your symptoms are all too familiar to me. Although a few years younger than you, I have been experiencing similar problems.
The first point to make is that you should book an appointment to get your eyes tested – this is something that is best done at least every two years, or whenever you notice that there is a change.
Despite what you may have heard about long or short sight sometimes improving with age, the opposite applies to most of us.
And the difficulties you have noticed recently may be due to age-related changes – these could be anything from early cataracts (which is common) and a slight change in the shape of the eyes to dryness of the cornea and/or ‘stiffening’ of the lens.
However, there are lots of other possibilities too, ranging from undiagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes (Types 1 and 2) to side effects of commonly used medicines, including some types of antidepressants, antihistamines, bladder pills and treatments for osteoporosis.
One medicine-related cause we are seeing more of these days is in men who take Viagra or related drugs for erectile dysfunction. These can cause quite marked temporary blurring which, depending on the drug, can last up to a day or two.
Bottom line? Contact your local optician, who will be able to get to the root of the problem and advise on how to correct it, which is particularly important if you drive.
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