There’s no better time to shed light on some important facts about women’s vision than the present. Research shows that there are key discrepancies between men and women when it comes to their vision. Here are three things you probably didn’t know about women’s vision.
Women make up roughly 2/3rds of all people with blindness or vision problems
According to the National Eye Institute women make up a disproportionate amount of the population with vision problems. Even though women are roughly 50% of the population, they make up almost 2/3rds of people with blindness or vision problems.
Women are almost twice as likely as men to have dry eye
Dry eye, or dry eye disease, is an uncomfortable but common condition that occurs when a person’s tears aren’t able to adequately lubricate their eyes. More than 3 million women have dry eye compared to only 1.5 million men. The difference is partially due to an increased likelihood of dry eye after menopause.
Pregnancy can have short-term or lasting negative impacts on vision
Women’s bodies go through numerous changes during pregnancy. Some of those changes can put an expectant mother at risk for conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and migraine headaches. These conditions can impact vision by putting increased strain on the blood vessels of the eyes, which may only be temporary or could be permanent.
Ready to take charge of your eye health?
With women having a higher rate of major vision problems like Age-related Macular Degeneration, Cataracts, dry eye, Glaucoma and more, it’s important to make eye health a top priority! If you haven’t seen your eye doctor in a while, make your appointment, and if you don’t have a regular eye doctor, check out our doctor locator to find one near you.