Correlation Between Poor Vision And Life Expectancy

American researchers have discovered what they believe to be a direct correlation between a persons life expectancy and deteriorating sight. The project believes that such information should lead us to take further preventative steps and measures more seriously when it comes to a persons visual abilities.

The Purdue University, Indiana, where this research programme took place, is an established college in the United States which focuses on science, technology and agriculture. The university is so called due to the donation of land and money from businessman John Purdue in 1869, which made the building of the facility possible.

The project was brought about as researchers looked into whether a persons quality of life can have a marked impact on their life expectancy. Arguably the most important requirement for a rich and fulfilling life is the ability to see and see clearly. With vision being a massive part of day to day activities such as cooking, shopping, reading, watching and in todays modern world the use of phones and computers, it is easy to see the huge reliance a human being can place on their sight. One particular statistic that stood out was that what many may consider a slight deterioration, being unable to read one less letter on a vision chart each year, actually represented a 16% increase in risk to their life expectancy.

Across an eight year period, US adults between the ages of 65 and 84 were studied to see the effect that deteriorating sight had on a range of activities. The results showed that those with poorer visual acuity at the beginning of the testing phase, were more likely to have an increased mortality risk.