Characterized by the body's inability to use and store sugar properly, diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the entirety of the body. Over time it can cause severe damage throughout the body, including damaging small blood vessels and capillaries. 

When this damage to blood vessels affects the retina (tissue at the back of the eye that senses light), it can cause blood and other fluids to leak out, leading to swelling of the eye called diabetic retinopathy. 

No two eyes are the same. They are a literal visual fingerprint for our unique look and how we look at the world. Affected by a host of genetic markers, hormonal changes, and environmental factors, their development and health can vary widely from individual to individual. 

A large share of those differences comes down to your biological sex. In other words, men and women do quite literally see the world differently.

While some individuals develop vision issues early in life, either due to genetics, environmental factors or eye injuries, pretty much every adult will begin to develop some degree of visual loss beginning around age forty. This gradual loss of near vision is called presbyopia and occurs due to the natural hardening of the eye’s lens. 

This hardening means the eye cannot easily focus on things close up or far away as easily, narrowing our clear visual scope.

Symptoms progress gradually but are marked by needing to hold reading material further away and developing headaches when focusing on objects close up for extended periods. One of the most common fixes is the use of corrective lenses, especially in the absence of any other visual problems.

And the go-to for many people is to grab a pair of reading glasses from the drugstore or supermarket. But are they safe, and do they work?

Glaucoma is one of the most common eye diseases among adults. Three million Americans have the disease, and it is the second leading cause of blindness. 

It encompasses a range of conditions that cause damage to the optic nerve due to increased pressure in the fluid of the eye. This fluid drains typically where the iris and cornea meet through mesh-like tissue. When the body overproduces fluid or drainage is inhibited, pressure builds up.

The gradual damage to the nerve is painless, with vision problems developing very slowly. With little to no symptoms at the onset of the disease, nearly half of the people affected do not know they have the disease.