As we progress through the latter stages of life we began to experience the reality of our existence-advanced age. It's essentially unavoidable with only one way to escape it - death. However it does not have to represent a diminished quality of life if we established and adhered to a healthy diet and lifestyle during our earlier years or if we begin to become more proactive and self empowering with healthy behaviors and diet now. You must remember not to confuse or conflate getting older with getting sick or sicker. While the probability of having a disease increases with age, it is quite possible to age and stay healthy and avoid or minimize sickness.
While both vision and hearing loss require some adjustment to experiencing life, vision loss has a more negative impact on a person's perception of the world, while hearing loss diminishes a person's mode of communication and can lead to social isolation( NCMJ vol. 78(2) 118 - 120). When both vision and hearing losses occur simultaneously there can be challenges to perform normal activities of daily living such as personal hygiene, shopping, cooking and cleaning.
The most common eye diseases and conditions are dry eye, cataracts (both of these are considered a function of the normal aging process), glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. For diabetic retinopathy it is extremely important to keep blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control to prevent or slow the progression of the disease (National Institute of Aging - NIA).
To protect your vision it is important to have at least yearly eye exams with an ophthalmologist or optometrist. However, there are things that YOU can do to keep your eyes healthy such as:
Avoid/stop smoking
Eat healthy foods
Get/stay physically active
Maintain a healthy weight
Keep your blood pressure in a normal range (NIA)
Older adults with hearing problems may develop mental health issues due to not being able to fully engage in conversations and follow instructions. They may be mistaken as being uncooperative, confused, or unresponsive. There's also growing evidence for hearing loss being a risk factor for dementia.
One of the most common causes of hearing loss is loud noise which includes loud music, firearm use when hunting, lawnmowers/snowplows, sirens and boating/motorcycling..
Tips for preventing hearing loss include use of earmuffs when exposed to loud noises and making a decision to get/stay healthy by eating healthy, unprocessed foods, increasing physical activity, getting restful sleep, managing "bad" stress(distress), having strong social support networks and avoiding exposure to tobacco, illicit drugs and alcohol - having a strong spiritual foundation helps, too. Hearing aids and assistive- listening devices such as cochlear (inner ear) implants and mobile apps can be valuable for improving hearing ability in many cases.
Sources:
National Institute of Aging
North Carolina Medical Journal
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