Why are There More Women Blind and Visually Impaired in Developed Countries?
In developed nations, such as the United States, part (but not all) of women’s increased risk of blindness is due to the fact that, on average, women live longer than men. At ages over 90, there are five times as many women alive as men. Therefore, women have a greater chance of getting the serious, aging-related eye diseases—macular degeneration, cataract, and glaucoma.
But there’s more to the story. For largely unknown reasons, probably rooted in gender differences in hormones, women constitute 75% of the 8.5 million Americans with autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren’s syndrome, all of which can have serious consequences for the eye.
Dry eye disease and uveitis (inflammation of the eye) are also much more common in women, an estimated nine million people have dry eye and women are 5 times more likely than men to have these diseases. Postmenopausal women are particularly at risk.
Furthermore, even in America, women tend to underutilize health-care services, including visits to eye doctors. The reasons for this may be that many women feel they are too busy, as their families’ chief caretakers, to find time for themselves, and that women are less knowledgeable and, hence, more fearful of medical procedures.
What are the Risk Factors That Cause Eye Problems?
The risk factors that lead to premature death (due to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers) in developed nations are virtually the same as those that lead to vision loss—smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, “fast food” diet, and high blood pressure. For example, smoking is responsible for an estimated 30% of age-related macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease for which there is no good cure. These negative life-style factors not only promote premature death, but they also degrade the quality of a person’s life. Loss of vision is a major factor in poor quality of life.
References
Abou-Gareeb I, Lewallen S, Bassett K, Courtright P. Gender and blindness: a meta-analysis of population-based prevalence surveys. Ophthal Epidemiol. 8:39-56, 2001
National Eye Institute of National lnstitutes of Health: Eye Data
American Autoimmune-Related Diseases Association: Women and Autoimmunity
