April Showers Bring…Women’s Eye Health!
April is a very special month both for eye health and women’s care. Due to the organization, Prevent Blindness, April is recognized as Women’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month. It’s main mission is to help educate women about steps they can take to help prevent vision loss in their future.
So join us, in both celebrating women (for an extra month) and learning more about eye health in this blog!
Starting with, did you know that women have higher rates of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration than men? They also tend to have higher rates of dry eye and standard vision changes due to pregnancy, menopause, and hormonal changes.
The National Eye Institute stated, “women deal with greater instances of eye disorders, in part, due to the fact that they tend to live longer than men, and are more likely to undergo cancer treatments which affect vision, and experience age-related hormonal changes that can affect the eyes.”
…whew, that’s a lot!
The best way to help prevent this is to take preventative measures such as having your eyes examined by your ophthalmologist ANY time you detect a change in vision. If this isn’t something you’ve come across as of yet, then it is important that women aged 40, should have routine eye exams conducted to help catch anything early on or detect vision changes, such as vision loss.
By the time women reach the age of 90, there are 5 times more women than men alive. Studies show more women than men of this age suffer from the main leading eye diseases: age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic arthritis.
Cataracts specifically affect 61% of US women, and only 39% of US men. By the age of 65, 90% of Americans are affected by cataracts and by the age of 75-85, half of these people have lost vision due to it.
Don’t be one of them.
To prevent vision loss, routine eye exams are the easiest way to catch onsetting cataracts. But, if you or someone you know has developed cataracts, here’s how they can be treated:
A change in your eyeglass prescription may improve vision for a while. There are no medications, eye drops, exercises or glasses that will cause cataracts to disappear once they have formed. When you are not able to see well enough to do the things you like to do, cataract surgery is the only way to improve your vision.
In cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is removed from the eye. In most cases, the focusing power of the natural lens is restored by replacing it with a permanent intraocular lens implant. Over 95% of cataract surgeries improve vision.
Unlike traditional cataract surgeries, Shanbom Eye Specialist offers Laser Cataract Surgery which helps soften the cataract and makes it easier to remove. This requires less ultrasonic energy and reduces the risk of complication. Once the cataract is out, your surgeon will manually insert the new IOL through the incision.
To learn more give us a call today!