Presbyopia is a degenerative pathology that is characterized by the loss of the ability of the eye to focus both from afar and near and can also occur with headache and loss of attention.

As Professor Paolo Vinciguerra, Head of Humanitas Eye Centre, a guest in the studio at “Buono a sapersi” on Rai Uno, explained: “This occurs due to the loss of elasticity of the lens, a lens present inside the eye with an elastic capacity and movement that ensures precisely a good vision. In the presence of presbyopia, the crystalline lens becomes rigid and even though it is stressed it does not change shape and so we have only one position in which the focus is precise. Presbyopia can then degenerate into cataracts and when the crystalline lens becomes affected with cataracts it swells and can induce myopia.

 

Risk factors

“Presbyopia has a very close relationship with age, the most frequent line of passage is 45 years; it should be noted that in the presence of a defect in vision that is not correct and that has been compensated by the lens, presbyopia can arise even before. Men are also more at risk, and other factors that promote the aging of the lens are, for example, smoking, exposure to radiation and diabetes.

 

Corrective lenses and surgery

“In the presence of these signs, it is advisable to consult the ophthalmologist who will confirm the diagnosis and direct the patient to the most appropriate treatment. For presbyopia, corrective lenses or surgery can be used in different age groups.

At the first sightings it is not always necessary to prescribe glasses to the patient: in fact, exercising the focus helps to keep the lens more elastic, beyond a certain limit, however, it is only a matter of fatigue without any advantage and therefore it is necessary to wear appropriate corrective lenses.

With regard to surgery, however, surgery on the cornea is a compromise: it reduces presbyopia but never obtains the maximum performance that the eye can give, the surgery of the lens, which is used in the presence of other diseases such as cataracts, provides for the insertion of a lens that corrects both vision from afar and near,” specified Prof. Vinciguerra.

 

Watch the interview with Professor Vinciguerra from minute 37:44, click here