Prevent Blindness America named April Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month and for good reason. Did you know that more women suffer from eye health issues than men? According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), almost 64% of Americans age 40 and older who suffer from visual impairment are women. Two main reasons why women are affected by vision impairments more than men are that women live longer than men and hormonal factors.
To help insure you are not one of the 64%, it’s very important to schedule a comprehensive eye exam. Eye exams are imperative for your eye doctor to discover the early onset of any eye diseases. Ophthalmologist Clayton Falknor, M.D. explains, “Women are certainly more likely to develop dry eye syndrome than men, as well as inflammatory diseases of the eye related to auto-immune diseases. They may be slightly more at risk for age-related macular degeneration.”
Other risk factors for eye disease include poor nutrition and smoking. This is yet another reason to eat a healthy diet rich in vitamins and to quit smoking. For more eye health tips, visit our Facebook page and follow us @EyeClinicAustin on Twitter.
Souce: https://coopervision.com/blog/women%E2%80%99s-eye-health-and-safety-month