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Episode 1: Senses Episode 2: Loneliness Episode 3: Cognitive Engagement Episode 4: Exercise Episode 5: Nutrition Episode 6: Brain-Health Resolution Episode 7: Air Pollution Episode 8: SleepEpisode 9: Keep it SimpleEpisode 10: StressEpisode 11: Caregiving Episode 12: DNAEpisode 13: Women’s Brain Health Episode 14: Stick it to StigmaEpisode 15: The Why Behind DefyEpisode 16: Lying for LoveEpisode 17: Music, Memories and the Mind Episode 18: Well-Being Episode 19: Brain Injury and Dementia Risk Episode 20: Transitions Episode 21: The Heart of a Healthy Brain Episode 22: No Brain Left BehindEpisode 23: On the RocksEpisode 24: In Focus

Defy Dementia Episode 24: In Focus - Vision Loss & Brain Health

This episode explores the connection between untreated vision loss and brain health. We follow 78-year-old Walter Kuntz, a retired Canada Post employee, as he recounts his vision challenges – and consequent triumphs – and the steps he undertook to alleviate deteriorating eyesight caused by cataracts. He also shares his experiences with eye surgery and the life-changing benefits afterwards. Dr. Walter Wittich, Associate Professor at the School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, and Québec’s first Certified Low Vision Therapist, shares his work with older adults facing vision and hearing loss, exploring dual sensory impairment and acquired deafblindness. Dr. Wittich shares how vision loss can impact the brain and tangible strategies and resources on how everyone can protect their vision and reduce their dementia risk. 
 

 

Key messages

  • Our vision changes as we age. 
  • It’s more than just blurred vision – vision loss can affect your brain health and quality of life. 
  • Correcting your vision loss may reduce your risk of dementia. 
 

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Learn more about our guests

Walter Kuntz hails from Heidelberg, Ontario, and enjoys working outdoors. He has a huge flower garden, and still shovels his over 100-foot-long driveway. He is an active card player and a member of three local card-playing clubs, as well as an avid woodworker. When he experienced worsening vision over a long period, he was prescribed stronger and stronger glasses. Eventually, he could no longer read newspaper print, even with his glasses, and it was almost impossible to see the graduations on a tape measure. When he developed cataracts, he decided to undergo a cataract operation at the Eye Clinic at the University of Waterloo. Now Walter is amazed at how well he can see. He is reading newspapers and tape measures again, and cannot believe how much his perception of colour and brightness was impaired by cataracts.


Dr. Walter Wittich, Associate Professor at the School of Optometry at the Université de Montréal in Québec, Canada, is dedicated to researching the rehabilitation of older adults facing vision and hearing loss. Originally focused on age-related vision loss, he now explores dual sensory impairment and acquired deafblindness. His research spans basic sensory science, medical aspects, psychosocial factors and rehabilitation approaches to sensory loss. Dr. Wittich has a background in Psychology (Master’s, Concordia University) and Visual Neuroscience (PhD, McGill University), and has specialized in audiology (postdoctoral fellowship, Université de Montréal). He is the inaugural chair of the Deafblind International Research Network, the 2020 recipient of the Canadian Helen Keller Centre 10th Annual JT Award, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He is also Québec’s first Certified Low Vision Therapist.