"Waning eyesight may hasten the pace of cognitive decline in older people suggests a U.S. study.     The results suggest that vision fixes like a new eyeglass prescription or surgery to remove cataracts can go a long way toward helping older people stay mentally sharp said lead author D. Diane Zheng of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.     Taking care of your vision is important in order to maintain good cognitive function she said in a telephone interview.     Poor eyesight and weakening mental function are common in older people and related to one another but the question of whether vision influences cognition or vice versa has not been clear the study team writes in JAMA Ophthalmology.     To investigate Zhengs team followed  adults for eight years testing their vision and cognitive status every other year.     Over the course of the study average visual decline was roughly equivalent to losing the ability to read one line of an eye chart. People who had worse vision at the beginning of the study had worse scores on the cognitive exam as well. A persons vision at their previous checkup was related to their mental function at the following checkup. While mental function at one checkup was also related to vision at the following exam the effect of vision on subsequent mental function was significantly stronger.  While the mechanism behind the visioncognition relationship isnt well understood Zheng said worsening vision can discourage people from brainstimulating activities like doing crosswords and engaging with other people.  She recommended that older adults get regular eye checkups and have any vision symptoms checked out and treated promptly.   This study provides additional evidence that would suggest that people who can keep their vision healthy as they age might also be protecting their cognitive health said Dr. Heather E. Whitson of Duke University School of Medicine and Durham VA Medical Center who wasnt involved in the research.     If youre aging without good vision not only are you giving your brain less stimulation you might be altering your brain at a structural level she said in a phone interview.     The good news Whitson added is that poor vision is one of the few risk factors for cognitive decline that is potentially modifiable. Even incurable causes of agerelated vision loss such as glaucoma and agerelated macular degeneration are highly treatable so we can reduce the amount of vision loss that people suffer from if theyre detected early.     SOURCE bit.lyKNEY httpsbit.lyKNEY and bit.lyKKPqfN httpsbit.lyKKPqfN JAMA Ophthalmology online June  . Our StandardsThe Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. httpthomsonreuters.comenaboutustrustprinciples.html"