Still, all-in-all, it was a sobering appointment for me. I've been visiting the optometrist annually since I first got glasses at age seventeen, and other than the odd prescription change, my eyes have always gotten a clean bill of health. To think that I had to start worrying about cataracts or other eye diseases after crossing this invisible line at my fortieth birthday really affected me. Plus, I don't like to think of myself as "middle-aged".

Another fact the CURES study (Canadian Uncorrected Refractive Error Study) uncovered is that one in seven adults over 40 in the study had reduced vision at distance. This might be surprising, as most of us likely expect to be working our way into our first pair of reading glasses somewhere north of 40, and may not think as much about our distance vision. But it seems we should be. In addition, seventy percent of those with reduced vision at distance had uncorrected refractive error, which means that their vision loss could be corrected with a pair of eye glasses or contact lenses. In fact, the CNIB estimates that three million Canadians at age 40 have some form of undetected vision loss. But this isn't a story just for those of us who've entered the prime years of our lives - everybody at every age should be getting an annual eye exam.

Which really begs the question: if you're not getting your eyes examined by an optometrist annually, what are you waiting for? The study found that participants who had a longer time lapse since their last eye exam were more likely to have vision loss.

The results of the CURES study also clearly demonstrate that undetected vision loss is a huge problem in Canada. And in most cases, all it takes to fix it is a pair of glasses or contact lenses. Easy-peasy. The fact that one third of Canadians over 40 may also have undiagnosed eye disease is also incredibly sobering. Eye diseases can lead to permanent blindness - a frightening prospect to be sure - but even mild to moderate vision loss can seriously affect quality of life, especially as we age. The bottom line is that a regular, complete eye exam from an optometrist is a great way to detect many serious eye diseases that can lead to vision loss - like AMD, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts.
 
For more information or to locate an optometrist near you, visit www.eyesareforlife.ca 

This post is sponsored by the CNIB. May is Vision Health Month, and CNIB is challenging Canadians to take action to maintain their vision health so that we can eliminate avoidable sight loss in Canada.