| Welcome
To Middle Age - And Presbyopia
By
KORKY VANN | COURANT STAFF WRITER
February 15, 2007
You're
holding menus at arm's length and squinting.
You've had difficulty reading items on your
computer. Numbers on your cellphone's tiny screen
are indistinguishable. The buttons on your iPod,
DVD player and remote seem frustratingly small.
Deciphering the fine print on a map is, well,
impossible.
Sound
familiar? Welcome to middle age.
The
condition is called presbyopia, the inability
to focus on objects close up. And it happens
to all of us once we hit our 40s or 50s. As
the elasticity of the eye naturally decreases,
closeup sight is affected, then, within a few
years, our mid-distance vision, from 2 feet
to 10 feet, is also affected. Other signs of
presbyopia can include eyestrain, headaches,
eye fatigue and blurred vision.
"It's
not a disease, it's a condition of aging,"
says Dr. Elizabeth Simmons, assistant professor
of ophthalmology at the University of Connecticut
Health Center in Farmington
For
the country's 80 million boomers, it's another
depressing sign that "Forever Young"
is a song title, not a promise. For entrepreneurs,
it's an opportunity to jump on the "silver
industries" bandwagon. (The term, coined
by Harry Moody, director of academic affairs
for AARP, refers to new companies responding
to the needs of America's aging population.)
Take
Joanie Taylor, for example. In 2002, the former
ophthalmology nurse began to notice that patients
and friends of a certain age were constantly
complaining that they couldn't make out the
numbers on their cell phones. She and a partner
created the Phone Monocle (www.thephonemonocle.com),
a soft plastic device with a magnifying lens
that slips over cell phone screens. The gadget,
available in seven colors and selling for $9.95,
was named one of the top 100 inventions of 2004
by Popular Mechanics magazine.
"It
works on cell phones, cordless phone, iPods,
insulin pumps, global positioning systems, any
small electronic device with a hard to read
screen," says Taylor, CEO of Magnifics,
Inc., Phone Monocle's parent company. "The
great thing is that you can match it to the
color of your phone and it's not really noticeable.
No one likes to admit they're getting older
and can't see as well as they used to."
Helping
the "You're So Vain'" generation disguise
the fact that they're donning reading glasses
was Mark Levit's goal. His company, VisAcuity.com,
features trendy cheaters with such names as
"English Countryside," "Smokin'
Cool," "Sassy," "Aspen,"
and Pina Colada." Glasses, featuring non-distorting
lens and optical quality frames, range in price
from $12 to $100.
"Boomers
have distinctly different tastes and preferences
than the 'Matures', a term referring to their
parents or grandparents,'" says Levit,
a former professor of marketing at New York
University. "They want style, they want
fashion and they want quality. They don't want
the vanity crushing drugstore versions hanging
from a chain around their necks. For Boomers,
reading glasses may be essential, but they'd
rather think of them as fashion accessory than
a necessity."
At
Cheatersreadingglasses.com, another online retailer
featuring stylish eyewear, customers are welcomed
with the tag line, "For anyone with near-vision
troubles who wants to look good while reading
the small type of life, you've come to the right
place."
Before
stocking up on reading glasses, Simmon advises
individuals experiencing any vision changes
to schedule an eye exam.
"If
presbyopia is diagnosed, you and your ophthalmologist
can discuss such options as prescription or
over the counter reading glasses," says
Dr. Simmons. "The reality is that if you're
40 or older, you're going to need one or the
other."
Copyright © 2007, The Hartford Courant
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