Vision Quest

by Molly M. Ginty

Patty Jacobs could not believe her eyes. While driving on the highway, she suddenly saw the yellow median line bend and ripple in front of her. "The curve in the road would disappear, then straighten out, even though the road ahead was curving," says Jacobs, a public relations consultant in Boston. "It was the fi rst sign I was developing agerelated macular degeneration — an eye problem that runs in my family and that blurs your central vision."

Jacobs, 57, is one of 3.4 million Americans who suffer from visual impairment. During April, which is Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month, health advocates are raising awareness that half of American women have some kind of problem with their eyes. They want us to protect our sight by maintaining good habits, getting regular screenings, and taking corrective–care steps that Jacobs herself is using to help keep her condition in check.

"Women account for two–thirds of the blind and two–thirds of the visually impaired," says Ilene Gipson, a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and a senior scientist at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston. "Because we live longer than men, we suffer more from age–related eye problems. Hormonal and biological differences also put us at higher risk."

While pregnant or breastfeeding, women experience hormonal changes that can cause puffiness around the eyes or necessitate stronger eyeglasses or contact lenses. Women are nine times more likely than men to develop dry eyes, and 50 percent more likely to have autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis — all of which can negatively affect the eyes.

Common vision problems among women include nearsightedness (myopia, in which faraway objects appear out of focus); farsightedness (hyperopia, in which nearby objects are blurred); and astigmatism (blurring in one direction because the cornea, which focuses images and is at the front of the eye, is not perfectly spherical).

After age 40, most women develop some degree of presbyopia, in which the eye’s lens begins to harden and lose its elasticity. This makes it difficult to focus up close — and may require reading glasses or bifocals. As they grow older, women are more likely than men to develop age–related macular degeneration (AMD, in which the central vision deteriorates); cataracts (in which clumps of protein cloud the lens); glaucoma (in which pressure builds up inside the eye and damages the optic nerves); and floaters (in which the vitreous or clear jelly in the eye forms small, dark clumps that obstruct vision).

Frustrating and debilitating though eye problems may be, a quarter of them are preventable, and half are correctable. "For this reason, we can’t stress enough how important it is for women to take care of their vision throughout their lives," says Daniel Garrett, senior vice president of the Chicago–based Prevent Blindness America.

Molly M. Ginty lives in New York. Her work has appeared in Ms., Marie Claire, Redbook, and Women’s eNews

For more information
National Eye Institute, www.nei.nih.gov

Women's Eye Health Task Force
www.womenseyehealth.org

This article is published in Lutheran Woman Today, April 2007