Aging eye--its specific features and diseases

Practically oriented overview of the anatomical and physiological changes in the eye during aging is presented together with the description of diseases typical for the advanced age. The growing number of patients with eye diseases of advanced age and the comparatively low awareness of this fact within the medical community brought us to the publishing of the presented overview. It is necessary to increase the understanding of geriatric problems among ophthalmologists as well as to enhance the awareness of the age related changes in the eye during ageing among the physicians--non-ophthalmologists (namely among the general practitioners, internists, geriatrists) who treat seniors for other diseases. Namely they can meet in their everyday praxis the problems of drug interaction and the general and ophthalmologic side effects of various types of treatment. The use of ophthalmologic drugs (e.g. anti-glaucoma remedies) is connected with undesirable effects on the organism in any age and namely in elderly patients.