From Slashdot.com:
Aging Eyes Blamed For Seniors' Health Woes103
Posted by timothyon Tuesday February 21, @12:15PM
from the posting-this-from-the-villages dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Scientists have looked for explanations as to why certain conditions occur with age, among them memory loss, slower reaction time, insomnia and even depression looking at such suspects as high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and an inactive lifestyle. Now Laurie Tarkan writes that as eyes age, less and less sunlight gets through the lens to reach key cells in the retina that regulate the body's circadian rhythm, its internal clock that rallies the body to tackle the day's demands in the morning and slows it down at night, allowing the body to rest and repair. 'Evolution has built this beautiful timekeeping mechanism, but the clock is not absolutely perfect and needs to be nudged every day,' says Dr. David Berson, whose lab at Brown University studies how the eye communicates with the brain. Dr. Patricia Turner, an ophthalmologist who with her husband, Dr. Martin Mainster has written extensively about the effects of the aging eye on health, estimate that by age 45, the photoreceptors of the average adult receive just 50 percent of the light needed to fully stimulate the circadian system, by age 55, it dips to 37 percent, and by age 75, to a mere 17 percent and recommend that people should make an effort to expose themselves to bright sunlight or bright indoor lighting when they cannot get outdoors and have installed skylights and extra fluorescent lights in their own offices to help offset the aging of their own eyes. 'In modern society, most of the time we live in a controlled environment under artificial lights, which are 1,000 to 10,000 times dimmer than sunlight and the wrong part of the spectrum,' says Turner. 'We believe the effect is huge and that it's just beginning to be recognized as a problem.'"
I have, for some years, been aware of the correlation between the presence or absence of sunlight on my own mental outlook.
We moved from Kansas to Seattle in late 1965 - and stayed for some of the least sunny 15 months in Seattle's (then) history. It took me nearly the whole 15 months to regain my equalibrium. I loved the verdure of the area, but the gloominess was quite depressing. We returned (for Hunky Husband's professional reasons) to Kansas where I stayed until 1981.
In the 1970s, I could not understand how a caretaker in our extended family could inflict plastic, do-it-yourself storm windows (in a sparsely windowed apartment) on his Alzheimer patient wife - year round! So gloomy.
In 1981, I moved to Florida. Although we had a daily "duty rain shower", it was sunny when it wasn't rainy. No problem. Then, in 1983, I moved to Albuquerque NM. I was in heaven for the seven years that I lived there. My house had huge skylights and windows and, excepting in August, sun abounded.
In 1990, I returned to Kansas - to the Wichita area - back to a house that had neither skylights nor lots of glass. The Wichita area averages 30 fewer sunny days per year than the Albuquerque area. It took me a while to adjust. When, in 1999, we built this house, I added a couple of modest skylights and a couple of modest windows to the floorplan that had already included mostly glass on the front and back walls of the house. I am, again, a happy camper.
Now, Hunky Husband's most-frequented parts of this house (yes, our house is pretty well partitioned into "his" and "her" areas!), his den, workout area, and laundry room, comprise the portion of the basement that is below grade and has no windows. He doesn't care a fig! What is wrong with that man?! *laughing*
Most recently (18 months ago), I've had cataracts removed. How life changing! Not only because I see better, not only because I regained the ability to discern colors, but because the whole world is so much brighter. Wow!
This is something I suspected but had no proof of. We have plenty of light in the day, and at night it's very dark. Not only that but the days do not vary much in length from season to season. We feel lively in the daytime and sleep well at night. Unless we travel, that is, when our circadian rhythms get all screwed up.
Posted by: Hattie | February 23, 2012 at 02:18 AM
Well, this is interesting CC...and actually makes perfect sense to me. I'm like you....I love the natural light shining in the house...it gives me a whole different outlook than those dark, gloomy days. I definitely think it affects a lot of people. I found what Mr. Pickens wrote to be VERY interesting indeed. I need glasses for reading, but am still surprisingly good for far-sightedness. I do have some concerns since my mother and uncle had macular degeneration as they got older....and it can run in families. ~Joy
Posted by: Joy | February 23, 2012 at 08:18 AM
Hattie--Travel has its price. In earlier days, when a journey of a thousand miles might take weeks, the price was apt to be seriously life threatening. Nowadays, the price is in brain adjustment which can be, but usually is not, life threatening to the traveler.
Joy--Hunky Husband (and many of our friends) still needs no correction for driving. I, on the other hand, have never in my life driven without vision correcting lenses. Macular degeneration is a serious concern for many. Luckily, despite the other issues I've had with my eyes, they show no signs of macular degeneration. (Good news, eh, Bogie?)
Posted by: Cop Car | February 23, 2012 at 10:54 AM
When we lived in Bennington, we had few windows - but didn't block them with anything so we could get maximum light. Our downstairs neighbor had one window, which he kept a heavy curtain over at all times. I couldn't figure out how he lived like that.
I read an article a couple of years ago that said that we should be out in the sun, without sunglasses, for at least 15-30 minutes a day to help our circadian rhythm.
CC - about the macular degeneration - hopefully that translates to me as I really don't need to be susceptible to any other eye issues!
Posted by: bogie | February 25, 2012 at 06:28 AM
I'm hoping right in there with you, Bogie! I'm also happy to see that your Grandmother S's glaucoma hasn't been perpetrated (knock on wood!)
Posted by: Cop Car | February 25, 2012 at 09:38 AM
Excellent info here! Thanks for posting.
Cataract surgery some years ago made a difference for me relative primarily to reading. Think I'm more sensitive to artificial lights, computer screen, so best to avoid for awhile before retiring for the night. New lights are dimmer for me, so found some 3 ways I use on reading lamp -- bought several before they disappear. Was disappointed to have to do this, but best for me. Use other lights everywhere else. Too much sunlight gives me a headache, was especially a problem when I was young.
Posted by: joared | February 26, 2012 at 09:52 AM
Joared--You are welcome! Like you, a blast of sunlight was the source of many a migraine for me, over the years.
I am unsure how to interpret "New lights are dimmer...." Do you mean that you are choosing lights that have fewer lumins or that, for the same number of lumins, you see more dimly?
Following cataract surgery, I am much less sensitive to glare and need fewer lumins than I had required prior to surgery. Prior to surgery, glaring lights just bounced all about within my eyes, meaning that I saw many points of glare instead of one.
Of course, I still have multitudinous floaters banging around in there; so, I still have a "looking through a lace curtain" effect.
Well...at the very least, you and I can still see!
Posted by: Cop Car | February 26, 2012 at 10:34 AM
I think Joared is referencing the newer energy saver lightbulbs. I haven't noticed a difference but all of my overheads have several bulbs so put out plenty of light anyway. Then of course, there are the closed system overheads, in which I can't put the energy savers in, so still have to go with the regular bulbs.
Posted by: bogie | February 26, 2012 at 02:11 PM
Bogie--At least for some of the "closed system overheads", you may be able to find LED bulbs. Expensive, but they last a long time.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 27, 2012 at 07:31 AM
I've been looking, but no joy so far. I have found it to be a mixed bag on flouresents - in some fixtures they last a long time, in others they don't.
The funny thing is, it seems to be directly opposite of regular light bulbs; fixtures where regular light bulbs lasted forever, the new ones blow fairly quickly (just had another one go a few minutes ago); fixtures where lights used to blow quickly (living room lights) last a lot longer.
Posted by: bogie | February 28, 2012 at 03:19 AM
Bogie--Yes, some fixtures seem to burn out bulbs. I've always "blamed" it on the fixture's having the wrong size wiring in it or on lousy contacts; but, I don't really know.
In this house, I have installed at least 14 of the compact flourescent lights in the past 11 years and have not had one fail - so far. All of those fixtures seem to be "good".
As you probably recall, all of the overhead lighting in the basement (except the workshop, for a total of 11 fixtures - each with at least two light "tubes"), and the kitchen have regular, broad-spectrum fluorescent bulbs - none of which has failed in the 11+ years that we've lived here. Those fixtures have seemed to be "good" - despite a couple of them having been filled with water from an overflowing toilet tank! All of the under- or over-cabinet lighting (12 places - multiple bulbs in most) are the skinny fluorescent tubes - several of which have been replaced. One of those fixtures was "bad" and was replaced - and replaced again because I didn't like the fixture that the electrician had installed there - from Lowe's. Unlike the original, the first replacement fixture was not an "instant on" fixture and it was noisy.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 28, 2012 at 08:13 AM
Bogie is correct-- the energy saving bulbs have been the problem, but only in the lamp by the recliner where I read my newspaper daily.
Before cataracts removed I had gradually increasing starbursts with street and traffic lights, but not now.
Posted by: joared | February 29, 2012 at 03:22 AM