When it comes to vision problems, women are at a higher risk for eye disease than men. Women are more likely to develop cataracts, macular degeneration, and dry eye due to longer life expectancy and hormone imbalances.
Dr. Ashley Cowart, an optometrist at Florida Eye Specialists, sat down with local TV station News4Jax to discuss why women face these higher risks. She explained symptoms to look out for and the need to visit your eye doctor regularly.
Watch the full TV news clip or click the link below to hear from Dr. Cowart. Learn why women are more susceptible to eye disease and what preventative measures they can take.
Read the full story on News4Jax.
Video Transcript
When it comes to vision problems, women are at a higher risk for eye disease than men. According to the National Eye Institute, women are more likely to develop cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, and are two times more likely to develop dry eye. To talk more about this is Dr. Ashley Cowart, an optometrist with Florida Eye Specialists. Good morning.
Why are these issues that impact women more often than men? As women, we have a longer life expectancy, so eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration — things that happen at a greater frequency with age — affect women more. But even accounting for age, we think there may be some hormonal differences with women that can also make us more susceptible.
Another issue is dry eye. How does someone know they may be suffering from it? Dry eye is a very common condition. We previously thought it was just due to a lack of tears, but what we’re learning is that, while that’s true for some people, a large percentage of people actually make enough tears — we just don’t have the right chemical mix. And as women, there are a lot of things we do that can throw off our tear chemistry, like not completely removing eye makeup, wearing contact lenses, and being on digital devices a lot. That can impact men too, so let’s not leave them out.
What are the treatment options for dry eye? First-line therapy: there are some great options at your drugstore — preservative-free artificial tears, hot compresses, and over-the-counter lid hygiene products. After that, if those aren’t working, it’s really important to see your eye doctor. There are great new options: prescription medications, in-office treatments, biologic treatments, and, believe it or not, for people who don’t like eye drops, there’s now a prescription nasal spray to treat dry eye. And the signs of dry eye? Itchy eyes, but also some you may not realize: blurry vision, light sensitivity, and even watery, irritated eyes can be from dryness.
Is there something we should all be doing to preserve our vision? UV protection is very important, so wear your sunglasses. Also get an eye exam; there are a lot of things you might not detect just from changes in your vision until it’s much later. And don’t smoke — with conditions like macular degeneration, you’re much more likely to have vision problems if you’re a smoker. A rule of thumb for regular eye exams? It’s important at all ages, but a few benchmarks: at 40, definitely get an eye exam, and then adults 60 and up, get an annual eye exam, because that’s when conditions like cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma tend to show up more frequently. If you catch them early, you can prolong or delay the onset. At Florida Eye Specialists, we treat a wide variety of eye conditions, and we have a lot more treatment options if you come in early. These things sound scary, but they’re very treatable and very manageable — a lot of times it’s just about catching things early. Thank you for your time.
