Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a condition associated with aging in which the eye exhibits a progressively diminished ability to focus on near objects. Presbyopia’s exact mechanisms are not fully understood; research evidence most strongly supports a loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens, although changes in the lens’s curvature from continual growth and loss of power of the ciliary muscles (the muscles that bend and straighten the lens) have also been postulated as its cause.

Eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive addition lenses (PALs) are the most common correction for presbyopia. Bifocal means two points of focus: the main part of the spectacle lens contains a prescription for distance vision, while the lower portion of the lens holds the stronger near prescription for close work. In Ireland, about 357,260 cases of presbyopia are reported each year. Approximately 8% of the Ireland population is suffering from presbyopia.