What Will Happen To Rosanne Barr’s Vision?

Comedian and outspoken advocate on many issues, Rosanne Barr is now sharing with the world a different type of message. That is: appreciate your vision.

Barr, 63, announced to the press this week that her eyesight is weakening and she knows that eventually she will be completely blind. Barr also said that because she’s aware of this, she’s trying to appreciate her vision as much as possible.

She suffers from something called age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Two different eye diseases that can each lead their victims to a future of vision issues.

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss for people aged 50 and over. According to some estimates, ARMD as it is abbreviated, impacts more than seven million Americans. The main challenge of ARMD is not being able to see things straight on.

Barr also suffers from glaucoma which degrades the side vision. As you can guess, if you lose your side vision and your central vision, together, you are looking at eventual blindness—or total vision loss.

Though Barr jokes that she’ll just hire someone to read for her when she’s blind, vision loss is nothing anyone wants to take lightly. Diseases like glaucoma and AMRD can be warded off, if not slowed down by healthy habits. Some of these habits include eating foods high in Omega 3-fatty acids (like avocados and fish) and eating lots of leafy greens (Yes, carrots are good for your vision but not as good as the dark green vegetables!).

Another important thing to do is to make sure you are getting regular eye examinations. If you are over the age of 60 and have a history of either of these diseases, you’ll likely want to visit your optometrist every year to keep their progress in check.

If you are under the age of sixty, you should still consider a full eye examination, including a glaucoma test, as part of your annual health check-ups. Prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. And, it’s much better to have diseases like AMRD and glaucoma diagnosed early rather than after they’ve already progressed and caused vision disruption.

Have more questions about age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma and the impact of these diseases? Contact your closest America’s Best and schedule an appointment with a licensed optometrist who can answer all of your questions.

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