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KENNETH MISELIS, MD: Common conditions for seniors that we look for all the time are predominantly three categories, I think. Cataract formation occurs to everybody. We start noticing the early beginning of cataract formation in the late forties or early fifties, and it will gradually progress in most people over 20 or 30 years, to the point where every 80-year-old will have some degree of cataract formation, no matter how useful they might otherwise seem. So cataracts is a very common senior eye care problem.

A second one that we always look for is glaucoma, and that’s partly because it’s much more common in seniors. The risk of glaucoma increases as age increases. But the biggest problem with glaucoma is it’s silent. It doesn’t have any symptoms to the patient so they have no idea that they’re developing glaucoma or have glaucoma until the damage is already done.

The problem with glaucoma, from our perspective, is any damage is permanent. We can’t repair it so we have to prevent it. So it’s a preventative strategy, and any time we have that, that means recognizing it early, before the patient or individual knows that there’s a problem.

The third one that’s a big problem for us these days is macular degeneration. The macula is a portion of the retina. The retina’s the back portion of the eye, which is the photosensitive equivalent to film in a camera. And if there’s damage to the film in the camera, no matter how well you focus that camera or clean the lens, it’s going to take blurry pictures. And that’s how macular degeneration affects patients’ vision.

SHELLEY RICHARDS, OD: And a lot of these conditions can be managed if it’s caught early enough, and so that’s why we do recommend that they come in once a year.