Focus on Your Ocular Well-Being during Healthy Vision Month

May is Healthy Vision Month, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) are encouraging individuals and organizations to make vision health a priority.

In an effort to prompt more Americans to consider the value of sight, the NEI released what are perhaps some jarring statistics regarding the nation’s overall ocular health:

• Some 14 million Americans are currently visually impaired due to eye diseases and disorders
• More than 4 million adults over the age of 40 have eye complications related to diabetes
• More than 2 million adults over 40 have glaucoma
• Nearly 2 million adults over 40 have age-related macular degeneration

Millions more suffer from correctable eye conditions including:

• Astigmatism (blurry vision caused by an irregular cornea shape)
• Hyperopia (farsightedness)
• Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Presbyopia (age-related loss of near vision)

According to a 2009 NEI study, the prevalence of nearsightedness alone has increased 66 percent in the past 30 years.

And while a study conducted by NEI’s National Eye Health Education Program and the Lions Club International revealed that a vast majority of participants believe loss of eyesight would have an “extreme” impact on their daily lives, more than 25 percent said their last eye exam was at least two years prior. Another 9 percent said they never had an eye exam.

The best way to detect a vision problem at the earliest and most treatable stage is with a comprehensive dilated eye exam. A dilated eye exam can reveal common, correctable refractive conditions as well as eye diseases that have few early warning signs; early detection of risk factors for these conditions can lead to early and vision-saving treatment.

To learn more about LASIK vision correction options or to find an ophthalmologist near you, please contact The LASIK Directory.