Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a physiological insufficiency of optical accommodation associated with the aging of the eye, resulting in progressively worsening ability to focus clearly on close objects. Also known as age-related farsightedness, it affects many adults over the age of 40. A common sign of presbyopia is difficulty reading small print, which results in having to hold reading material farther away, and other associated symptoms can include headaches and eyestrain. Different people experience different degrees of the problem, and other types of refractive error may exist at the same time as presbyopia. Despite exhibiting similar symptoms of blur in close vision, presbyopia has nothing to do with hypermetropia, or far-sightedness, which is almost invariably present in newborns and usually decreases as the child gets older.