Taking Vision For Granted Can Cost You

Dr. Emily Senay Offers Commonsense Ways To Protect Eye Health

(CBS)  Many retailers nationwide are pulling Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution off store shelves after federal health officials linked it to a dangerous eye fungus.

The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay says the concern serves as a reminder that we all have to be vigilant about our vision.

She stresses the need to see a doctor if you experience any symptoms of infection or disease. Signs of infection can include redness, itching, and swelling and irritation around the eye or eyelid. But people also need to be alert to any loss of vision or blurred vision, light flashes, and eye pain.

Diseases that cause blindness, such as glaucoma and diabetes, can be treated more effectively the sooner they are diagnosed and managed. There have been major medical advances for diseases that threaten vision, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts, Senay notes.

All adults over the age of 20 should have a regular eye exam, including a test for glaucoma, every two years until age 64, then every year thereafter, Senay observes.

Glaucoma often develops slowly over time, gradually robbing people of peripheral vision before they notice they have a problem. If left untreated, it can eventually cause blindness.