Can we prevent people developing blindess mid-life?

[Deville]

Working for RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), I often find myself trying to help my friends to know how they can look after their own sight.

It is a frightening fact that conditions such as glaucoma can deplete a person's vision by up to 40% before there is any noticable change in their vision. So, even if somebody's eyes seem to be in perfect working order, they may not necessarily be healthy. However, there are ways to find out. By booking regular appointments with an optician, it is possible not only to test your actual vision, but also to test for conditions like glaucoma, ensuring that you know how healthy your eyes are and whether or not they need any assistance or attention. This is the first step to preserving sight and to avoiding the upsetting effects of a mid-life loss of sight.

To seek advice on eye tests, or just find more information on this, check the RNIB website:
Keep your eyes happy (http://www.rnib.org.uk/happyeyes)

[gerraint99]

I think that mid-life blindness is a terrifying prospect. Of your 5 traditional senses, sight is the one people fear losing the most. More needs to be done along the lines of the Scottish parliament's policy of giving free eye tests to all citizens, whereas in the rest of the UK you have to be either over 60 or under 16 I think. I get free eye tests through work as I use a computer a lot and as far as I know this applies to the majority of regular computer users. Just because you use a computer a lot doesn't automatically mean your eyesight will suffer obviously, and also the reverse is true, you could be doing a non-computer based job and easily develop glaucoma or something, especially if close relatives have the condition already. I think too many people are put off by the small fee to get an eye exam that could potentially save them a massive reduction in their quality of life.

Where do people think sight tests rank in terms of priority on the long list of things that would be, in an ideal world, free on the NHS?

[Trouble43]

Where do people think sight tests rank in terms of priority on the long list of things that would be, in an ideal world, free on the NHS?


As I am severely short sighted, I would say it would rate as no.1. I would hate to go blind - I have a deaf cousin and think I could handle that, but not losing my sight. I really don't think I could cope with that at all.