Women are used to receive compliments from men who admire their eyes' color or general shape. On the other hand, although men are not used in hearing compliments from women, let alone other men, when they become the subject of positive remarks regarding their eyes, they usually feel rather happy that someone has noticed not their lack of hair or big arms, but one of their most distinctive facial features, their eyes, and decided to pay them a compliment. But human eyes, as any other organ, need special attention of their beholder and particularly good care. Especially men, who usually avoid wearing regular or sun-glasses or visiting the office of an eye-doctor, have to know why performing a regular eye check is important and what types of vision problems they might have to face one day.

In fact, many serious developing eye problems have no obvious onset symptoms, so it is important to see an eye doctor regularly even if the visiting person does not suffer from any pains or headaches or does not have an already detected eye problem and wears glasses. The right doctor to visit is an ophthalmologist, an M.D. eye specialist. Optometrists also examine a person's eyes but they are not physicians. Neither are the opticians who are trained to fit glasses and contact lenses.

In addition to checking one's eyes, recommend the right type of glasses and/or contact lenses-after determining whether or not one actually needs them-an eye doctor will use an ophthalmoscope to examine the optic nerve and retina-the light sensitive membrane at the back of the eye that captures images from the lens and cornea. It is also recommended that everyone gets an eye pressure test to detect at an early stage the second most common kind of serious eye problem, after the macular degeneration, the glaucoma. This type of eye problem, affects about 2 percent of people over 62 in the United States-making it one of the most common causes of vision loss. Detected in people of all ages-though older people are at higher risk-glaucoma is now considered a cluster of diseases that damage the optic nerve and cause limited peripheral vision. Thus, if it is not treated, glaucoma may lead to blindness. Most glaucoma is caused by a buildup of pressure within the eye, but more women than men develop an insidious form, called normal pressure glaucoma. That is why a checkup needs to measure eye pressure as well as to examine the optic nerve. If it is caught early, it need not cause blindness. Eye-drops, laser treatments and surgery keep glaucoma in check in most cases.

Another type of serious eye problem is macular degeneration that causes vision impairment by destroying the center of the retina. It wipes out central vision and gradually makes driving, reading and any other close work impossible. Although its cause is still unknown, genetic predisposition and family history have pinpointed that it is more common in people with light-colored eyes and those who smoke.

Finally, there is the well-known eye problem of cataracts, which is a clouding of the lens that interferes with vision, affecting usually more women than men, mainly because they live longer. But due to aging, ultraviolet light, and smoking, all men have to be aware of the danger to develop cataract. Fortunately, 20 to 30 minutes in surgery restores sight to 95 percent for both male and female patients.