Read The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies Online
Authors: Martha Schindler Connors
The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (10 page)
Getting older also affects your eyes. They begin to produce fewer tears and also undergo structural changes: The retinas get thinner, the lenses get cloudier, and the irises lose flexibility, all of which mean loss in eyesight. In addition, seniors with diabetes are at risk of diabetic retinopathy, which can also cause vision problems.
A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens. It doesn’t hurt, but it can interfere with your vision and make it harder to read or drive a car. Age is the biggest risk factor for cataracts: About half of Americans over the age of sixty-five have some degree of cataract formation, and by the age of seventy-five, about 70 percent have cataracts serious enough to interfere with their vision.
Other factors that can contribute to cataracts include diabetes, excessive sun exposure, smoking, and prolonged use of corticosteroid medications.
Glaucoma, a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States, is actually a group of diseases that create excessive pressure inside the eye and damage the optic nerve, which takes the images that your retina picks up and transfers them to your brain. Glaucoma can reduce your peripheral vision or create “blind spots.” If left untreated, it can cause total blindness.
To save your sight, most experts recommend upping your dietary intake of plant foods such as leafy green vegetables and brightly colored fruits, which contain antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, riboflavin, lutein, and lycopene. There’s extensive research that these nutrients can stave off age-related eye problems.
As with cataracts, age is the biggest risk factor (anyone over sixty is considered at risk). Glaucoma strikes blacks and Hispanics more often than whites, and is also more common in people who are nearsighted. Other risk factors include diabetes and corticosteroid use.
Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of blindness and serious vision loss in seniors and affects more than 10 million Americans. AMD involves deterioration of the macula, which are cells shaped like cones and rods in your retina that control your ability to see what’s in the center of your field of vision.
Age is the biggest factor in developing AMD, but it’s also more common in women and whites (especially people with light-colored eyes). Cardiovascular disease, smoking, obesity, and long-term exposure to sunlight can also up your risk.
As its name implies, this is a disease of the retina that often accompanies diabetes—in fact, as many as 45 percent of diabetics have some degree of retinopathy. It’s caused by diabetes-induced damage to the blood vessels in the retina and can create symptoms ranging from mild vision problems to total blindness. It’s one of the biggest causes of blindness in U.S. adults. For more on diabetes, see
Chapter 7
.
Because these conditions can advance rapidly and cause serious consequences, you should see your doctor immediately if you experience any significant changes in your vision. Advanced cases of eye disease may require surgery or other procedures (macular degeneration is sometimes treated with a laser).
Consuming lots of omega-3 fatty acids—the essential fatty acids (EFAs) found in flax
(Linum usitatissimum)
seeds and oil—has been associated with lower rates of age-related macular degeneration. Flax is one of the few nonanimal sources of omega-3s (they’re mostly found in fatty fish like salmon).
Anti-inflammatory drugs, including steroids, are also prescribed in some cases. Several herbs have been proven effective in preventing eye diseases and lessening their progression and symptoms. They include:
| • Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) | Bilberry and its cousin the blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) contain a number of antioxidants. They’ve been proven effective against several age-related eye disorders, including cataracts, macular degeneration, and retinopathy caused by diabetes and hypertension. |
| • Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) | Ginkgo has proven antioxidant effects and has been shown to improve vision in people with diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and AMD. |
| • Grape (Vitis vinifera) | Grape seeds contain powerful antioxidants called proanthocyanidins, which reduce oxidative damage to eye tissues. Research shows that grape seed extracts can improve vision and decrease eye stress. |
| • Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) | Taking pine bark extracts can halt the progression of diabetic and other types of retinopathy and improve vision. |
Getting older means losing bone mass and density: Bones are at their peak in your early thirties and go downhill from there. This creates changes, some harmless (you might get shorter) and some problematic (you can develop osteoporosis and be more prone to fractures). Many seniors also develop osteoarthritis from years of wear and tear on their joints.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition that attacks the cartilage in the joints, wearing it away and eventually leaving bone rubbing against bone. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, in seniors as well as the rest of the population. See
Chapter 8
for more.
Osteoporosis involves a loss of bone mineral density that can lead to fractures. It occurs most often—about 80 percent of the time—in postmenopausal women, but it can also strike men or people with hormonal imbalances or who have used steroidal medications.
Around age thirty, most people stop building more bone, and the process of degradation begins. In women, this process accelerates right after menopause, but by age seventy, the rate of loss levels off in both men and women.
Many seniors can have balance and vision difficulties, suffer from conditions like Parkinson’s disease and arthritis (which can affect gait), and take one or more medications—including antidepressants and antianxiety drugs that can cause muscular problems, dizziness, and confusion—all of which make them vulnerable to falls.
According to the CDC, one of every three U.S. seniors falls each year. Fractures are the most serious consequence of falling, and bones that are weaker than average due to osteoporosis simply break more easily. In fact, half of all women and a quarter of all men will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetimes.
Conventional medicine treats osteoarthritis with NSAIDs, which can cause stomach bleeding and increased risk of heart attack. Many people also use topical creams that contain capsaicin, which is the primary constituent of the herb cayenne
(Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens).
Osteoporosis is usually treated with a class of drugs called bisphosphonates, the best known of which is alendronate (Fosamax). Fosamax can cause abdominal pain, gas, acid reflux, bone and joint pain, and nausea. Herbal treatments for osteoporosis include:
| • Evening primrose oil (Oenothera biennis) | The seeds of this plant are rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and linoleic acid, which are used in the body to manufacture anti-inflammatory substances. Studies show that taking evening primrose oil can decrease bone turnover and increase bone mineral density in people with osteoporosis. |
| • Red clover (Trifolium pratense) | The isolflavones in red clover seem to inhibit bone loss in women by acting like weak estrogens in the body. |
| • Soy (Glycine max) | Soy can both prevent bone loss and increase bone mineral density. Research has shown that soy can reduce signs of osteoporosis in pre-and postmenopausal women. |
| • Tea (Camellia sinensis) | Tea contains compounds that seem to build and strengthen bone. Research suggests that drinking green tea for several years can increase bone mineral density in both men and women. |
Herbs for osteoarthritis include the following:
| • Devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) | Studies show that extracts of this South African herb can reduce osteoarthritis pain. |
| • Ginger (Zingiber officinale) | Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, and studies have shown that ginger extracts can reduce the pain of osteoarthritis. Ginger also seems to act as a structure-modifying agent, meaning it can foster changes in the arthritic joints instead of just masking the pain. |
| • Guggul (Commiphora wightii, C. mukul) | This Indian shrub produces a resin that’s a traditional Ayurvedic remedy for arthritis. Modern researchers have shown that oral preparations can relieve osteoarthritis pain. |
| • Nettle (Urtica dioica) | Best known as an herbal remedy for allergies, nettle extracts—taken orally or applied topically—seem to reduce arthritis pain, too. |
As you age, the number of neurons, or nerve cells, in your brain naturally decreases, and you may notice changes in your short-term memory and other cognitive functions. Everyone can expect to develop some degree of age-related cognitive impairment, but some seniors will also develop dementia, which is a more serious condition.
Research shows that maintaining an active social life can significantly reduce your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Older people who have large social networks—and maintain daily contact with friends and loved ones—are much less likely to develop dementia and more likely to maintain cognitive functioning.
