Friday, June 22, 2012

Vision of Older Americans Better Than a Generation Ago

"Despite a general increase in health conditions like diabetes that can harm vision, Americans over 65 are about half as likely as their counterparts a generation ago to report having seriously impaired vision, according to a new U.S. study," according to a Reuters story posted on MSNBC. "Using two large national surveys, researchers found the percentage of older adults who said they needed help performing daily tasks because of severe vision problems fell from 3.5 percent in 1984 to 1.7 percent in 2010. Those whose poor eyesight made it difficult to read or make out certain objects declined from 23 percent in 1984 to 10 percent in 2010." Read more.

On the surface, this appears to contradict the Prevent Blindness America study, which this blog reported about a couple of days ago. It stated, "The number of Americans at risk for age-related eye diseases is increasing as the baby-boomer generation ages." It doesn't. The difference is simple. Baby-boomers have better eye health than their parents and grandparents, but the vision of baby-boomer still is slipping. Why? They're getting old. 

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