Dr Aloysius Joseph Low

THEY say 40 is the new 30! But your eyes may give you away. Having been in the eye healthcare industry for over 20 years, I've heard all sorts of stories, both funny and not so funny, from patients hitting 40 and above.

And if you're around 40 and reading this, you've probably gone through the same situation: went shopping and thought you found a great deal for a RM100 (S$43) branded shirt, only to find out it's RM700 when you took it to the cashier.

Perhaps you got all dressed up to take your client for lunch at a posh restaurant, only to whip out a pair of "oldie" reading glasses to read the menu and check the bill at the end of the meal. Despite the smart cut of your yuppie power suit and new trendy shoes, you suddenly feel old because of your not-so-perfect reading vision.

Who says 40 is the new 30?

However, this is nothing to fret about. It is a natural progression in life. The majority of people in their 40s begin to experience deteriorating quality of their reading vision. This is known as presbyopia, or in regular lingo, rabun dekat and lou fa.

For many, reading is no longer a pleasure and worse still, modern technology has increased the need to read on-the-go, from handheld objects such as handphones to the latest iPad.

What is presbyopia?

Presbyopia is when our eye's natural lens and muscles become too stiff to focus on near objects, due to age. Distance vision is still clear, but objects up close are blurry.

All these can occur:

• Smaller text is blurred and difficult to read, especially in low light conditions
• Strained eyes when reading for long periods of time
• Headaches and/or fatigue when performing near work such as handwriting and needlework
• Momentarily blurred vision when transitioning between viewing distances
• Having to hold reading material at arm's length in order to focus properly