Photo by: Fashionsalad
April is designated by Prevent Blindness America as “Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month.” It is certainly worthwhile to draw attention women’s eye health, given that according Women’s Eye Health.org women comprise nearly two-thirds of the world’s population of blind and visually impaired persons.
Women’s Eye Health.org estimates that of the one million legally blind people in the United States, more than 700,000 are women and that women comprise about 2.3 million of the more than 3.4 million Americans suffering from visual impairment.
Why is that? It may be because, on average, in the industrialized world women outlive men, which makes them more likely to suffer the blinding eye diseases that accompany aging. Age is indeed one of the major risk factors to women’s eye health, as are smoking, poor nutrition and obesity.
The good news is that an estimated three quarters of blindness and vision loss is either preventable or treatable. Both women and men can optimize their eye health by taking steps that include practicing a healthy lifestyle, having regular eye exams and protecting their eyes from injury.
