Below is a compilation of news you can use relating to low vision and eye health in the month of August.

Here’s how to protect your vision as you age
Washington Post
As baby boomers age, more people will be confronted with vision problems. While there’s no way to prevent presbyopia — the fuzzy close-up vision that requires reading glasses — doctors say you can do a few things to lower your risk for — or at least slow the progression of — other age-related problems.

Needle Treatment for Glaucoma Shows Promise
The Wall Street Journal
Scientists are working to develop new techniques to administer medication for glaucoma patients that replace the usual regimen of twice-daily eye drops, a sometimes unreliable treatment. A promising approach, reported in the August issue of Experimental Eye Research, involves a monthly injection of a slow-release drug directly into the eye.

iStent provides permanent relief for glaucoma patients
Fox News
Most glaucoma patients use eye drops to treat the disease. However, managing the eye drops— which sometimes need to be administered multiple times during the day— can be cumbersome. One new solution for managing glaucoma is a new minimally invasive surgical procedure that inserts a device called iStent, providing a more permanent solution for glaucoma patients.

Smoking linked to risk, progression of macular degeneration
Reuters
People who smoke, or have smoked a large number of cigarettes over time, are more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration or to have it worsen sooner, according to a long-term study.

Take a look at this different approach to cataract surgery
Daily News
Dr. Scott Greenbaum, an assistant clinical professor in the department of ophthalmology at New York University, developed the method for treating cataracts — the clouding of the eyes’ lenses — that eliminates the need for glasses in 90% of patients.

Learn symptoms of macular degeneration
The Courier Journal
Odds are that more than half of boomers will suffer at some point from an age-related eye problem. One of the biggies is macular degeneration (MD), and the risk increases substantially with age, starting at 2 percent at age 50 and jumping to 30 percent by age 75. All told, some 15 million Americans suffer from this condition, and it’s a major cause of losing the ability to perform everyday activities necessary to live independently.