#vision-loss-risk

#vision-loss-risk

The glasses, developed over ten years, can guide people living with early-stage dementia through daily activities by identifying everyday objects and providing audio commentary and putting up visual prompts.

When I moved in here it truly was my last resort. Since living here I feel like I have the same independent life that my friends have and I just don't want to lose that. The guide dog run is probably the most important thing for me. It's a safe and confined area where I feel comfortable taking my dog out, especially at night.

If we told them to look at the face, they could usually manage it. But they were mostly looking at the hands. The Prakash children eventually learn to look at faces when spoken to - usually a few months after their surgeries. Their experiences reveal that seeing doesn't come naturally the moment a person is cured of blindness. Newly-sighted people must learn to see.

When I take a walk in my neighborhood, my white hair, dark glasses, and white cane shout to the world that I am an older blind man. Some passers-by assume that I am lost and ask if I need help. It is true that blind people sometimes need help when using a mobility aid (a white cane or guide dog) to navigate their physical environment. However, once a person becomes proficient at traveling with a mobility aid, they typically need much less help.

Blindness is a very scary disability, says Prof Lauren Ayton, deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia at the University of Melbourne. But people don't realise actually about 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated. And like many other problems, keeping the eyes healthy so often comes down to good diet, keeping active, and regular check-ups.

The front of the eye, and the cornea in particular, has more nerve endings per millimetre square than anywhere else in the body, says Dr Dilani Siriwardena, a consultant NHS ophthalmologist at Moorfields eye hospital in London and vice-president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. So it can be very sensitive. The tiniest scratch or piece of grit in your eye can feel like a brick.

To make their discovery, researchers examined donated eye tissue from more than 100 people who had died with Alzheimer's, mild cognitive impairment or no signs of dementia. They were looking specifically for C. pneumoniae, because previous research has already linked it to Alzheimer's. The bacteria has also been detected in brain tissue from patients who died with the condition, sometimes found close to the sticky amyloid plaques and tangles believed to drive memory loss and confusion.