Study Find Older Americans See Better Today

Improved cataract surgery techniques, less smoking may be reasons why

Older Americans see better than their parents did in old age, according to a new study that finds visual impairment among the U.S. elderly has declined 58% since the 1980s.

Improved techniques in cataract surgery and lower rates of macular degeneration may be two of the main reasons for the trend, say researchers from Northwestern University.

"From 1984 until 2010, the decrease in visual impairment in those 65 and older was highly statistically significant," said the study's first author, Dr. Angelo Tanna, vice chairman of ophthalmology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

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