Walsh & Hoyt: Visual Loss in Aging and Dementia

Many adults experience a decline in their ability to function effectively and independently in later life. Such a decline is multifactorial and includes impairment of vision from common eye conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataract. For instance, cataract can cause yellowing of the lens, producing a relative tritanopia; glaucoma causes visual field defects; and macular degeneration impairs central visual acuity and spatial contrast sensitivity and may also be associated with visual hallucinations, as described above. The risk of cerebrovascular disease increases with age, and ischemia with infarction causes the majority of visual impairments described earlier in this chapter.