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An astonishing 33 million Americans will lose their eyesight this year due to cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Eyes have been called many things throughout time, sometimes based more on romance than reality. But from a practical standpoint, sight is crucial to the way you make sense of your world. In fact, your vision is a classic example of the 80/20 principle…..Even though you have five separate senses, 80% of the information you take in from the world is visual. Cataracts are due to a loss of elasticity in the lens of your eye, which particularly begins to creep up on you after the age of 50. Gradually, the lens (and your vision) becomes cloudy. Forget driving, golfing, reading, even watching TV clearly.

And macular degeneration is especially debilitating, because it affects the most important part of your eyesight — the central sharp vision portion of your retina. The specialized nerve cells in the macula begin dying off, causing everything in the center of your vision to become blurred. Studies even link macular degeneration to a higher incidence of heart attacks and strokes… and if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, new findings indicate you may be more at risk for cataracts. There is no treatment for the blindness caused by progressive macular degeneration. Fortunately, you can reduce your risk of diminishing vision, eye surgery…and even blindness.