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Sensory impairment
Sensory impairment
• Sensory impairment involves the eyes
and hearing. Both of these conditions can
have an adverse effect on the health of
older people.
• It is, however much easier with today's
medical knowledge to do something about
most conditions that present themselves.
Visual degeneration:
• Cataracts – occurs when the lens of the
eye becomes opaque and impairs vision.
This can cause blindness.
Symptoms
• Your vision may get worse which may make you
feel like your vision is cloudy, fuzzy or filmy.
• Spots in your vision.
• Glare and halos from lights or the sun. This may
be severe and you may also have difficulty
driving at night.
• Double vision in one eye.
• Your colour vision may become washed out or
faded.
Causes of cataracts
• Cataracts are caused by changes in the lens protein of the
eye, which makes them cloudy.
• There are certain factors that can increase your risk of
getting cataracts. These include:
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diabetes
an injury to the eye
exposure to ultraviolet light from sunlight
medication use, such as long-term use of steroids
smoking
heavy drinking
a family history of cataracts
eating too much or too little
not eating a healthy, balanced diet
dehydration
• In later life cataracts may be
the result of degenerative
changes brought on by
aging or a systemic disease,
an example of which is
diabetes.
• Many individual over the
age of 60 exhibit some
degree of lens opacity.
• Advanced cataracts is
usually treated by surgically
removal of the lens and
implantation of an artificial
lens.
Glaucoma
• Glaucoma is a condition in which the
pressure inside the eye is raised. The
increase in pressure usually happens
when fluid in the front part of the eye
doesn't drain away properly.
• Normally, the amount of fluid produced is
balanced by the amount draining away, so
the pressure in the front part of the eye
stays constant
Vision simulator
• This simulator was made to show people how
glaucoma can change vision over time.
• To begin, click on the button and drag it to the
right, or just click different points on the white
line. You will see a simulation of how glaucoma
progresses if left untreated.
• http://www.xalatan.com/glaucoma/symptoms.asp
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Symptoms
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Blurred vision
Hazy, cloudy, white
Pain
Feel sick, vomit or faint
Misty rainbow coloured rings around white
light
• Enlarged/ protruding eyes
Causes
• Age is the main risk factor for glaucoma. Not many
people under the age of 40 will develop the condition,
but two in 100 people over the age of 40 and five in 100
people over the age of 65 will develop chronic glaucoma.
• If you are of African origin you are more at risk and it
may affect you earlier in life and be more severe.
• If you have a close relative with glaucoma, you are at
greater risk and should have regular eye tests from the
age of 35. People who are very short-sighted are also
more prone to glaucoma.
• If you have diabetes, your risk of developing chronic
glaucoma is also higher.
Sensory Impairment:
Visual
• Visual degeneration:
– After 45 yrs of age the ability of the eye to
focus begins to weaken.
– By 65 yrs of age there is little focusing
power.
Is growing old fun?
• Sight is crucial in maintaining
independence!
• The loss of sight can be devastating for
many older people.
• But early detection can be very effective.
Hearing degeneration:
• Hearing loss –as people age they will
often suffer from hearing loss. This will be
a gradual process where they begin to
lose the ability to hear sound at certain
frequencies.
• Hearing degeneration:
– The inner ear is the organ most frequently
affected by changes from ageing.
– Sensitivity of the nerve cells to sound may
decrease.
– Loss of nerve fibres may affect a persons
sense of balance.
– The amount of wax made by the ear can also
increase and become harder.
• Hearing loss can be
temporary and the most
common cause is a
build up of wax.
• This is easily solved by
dissolving or softening
the wax and then
syringing ear.
• Other problems:
– Tinnitus – constant ringing in the ears which
can become very depressing.
– Loss of hearing frequently at either the higher
or lower range of sounds.
– Deafness due to the excessive wax build up
in the ears.