On the Senescence of Human Vision

This book addresses the questions of why we age, why our eyesight sometimes deteriorates as we get older and what harm can be caused by light. It shows how the questions are interlinked - the older we get, the more we are exposed to light, but the roles of the modern environment and basic processes of ageing need to be kept separate. The current increase in life expectancy in the Western world is not always matched by the rise in the health span or the number of years with a high quality of life. In the case of eyesight the problem is complicated because occasional disabilities in later life are attributed by some authorities to age, and by others to cumulative effects of exposure to light. These problems are examined in this book. Notable advances have been made during recent years in our grasp of causes underlying senescence in general. They are based on considerations of genetics, immunology, the environment and diet. This book attempts to relate these advances to ageing phenomena in the eye and its performance.
Recent research regarding the lens, retina and vision in general is integrated with modern theories of ageing to give greater and deeper understanding of the ocular aging process. This book should be useful to those on courses concerned with visual science, opthalmologists, optometrists, gerontologists, psychologists and lighting engineers.