Eye exam houston,Ophthalmology houston

For those of us who have had to watch a loved one suffer through dementia, we would likely all agree about how heartbreaking and gut-wrenching a disease it is.

A new article on bbc.com shares that vision loss can actually be linked to this dreadful disease. The article points to the new Lancet Commission’s report which presents 14 health related issues that can be linked to dementia and if reduced or eliminated, could theoretically prevent nearly half of dementias in the world.


Could vision loss be linked to dementia?

According to the article, scientists do not know the answer to this exactly, but they say that the brain shrinking later in life due to it no longer needing to process certain aspects of vision could be happening later in life and could cause vision loss to be linked to the disease.

According to the Lead author of the report, Prof Gill Livingston, from University College London, vision loss can also “restrict people’s lives, making them go out less, [be] more isolated and have fewer new experiences.”

And since social isolation is one of the late life risks of dementia, it implies that this could lead to the disease.

As we have learned throughout recent years, there are ways to diagnose the disease earlier now and take action in order to prevent its progression.

One of the recommendations from the researchers in this article includes ‘screening for eyesight problems and giving glasses to those who need them.’ They pointed out that in several health systems like in the NHS, impaired vision can be treated but something simple like screening for sight and providing glasses is much larger problem in low-income countries which don’t have the access or the same resources.

There has been shown to be a reduction in dementia in high-income countries, which we believe comes from lifestyle changes like fewer people smoking cigarettes. Luckily in the United States, we have access to vision care screenings and eyeglasses – what we do need more of is awareness that taking care of our vision early can really help later in life. We hope this article brings that message across.

Call us at 713-626-5544 or email us at info@visiontexas.com to get your vision checked and if you are not located near us, we are happy to refer you to outstanding doctors in our neighboring communities! 

#visioncare #dementiaprevention #visionanddementia #eyeexamHouston