How aware are we about eye health issues?

A recent study by Bausch and Lomb show ed that almost 7 out of 10 people would rather give up a decade of their life, o r even lose a limb, than go blind. Yet less than 30% of those same people take t he most basic prevention measures to protect their vision. Bausch and Lombs study, in conjunction with its partner KRC Research, polled 11,0 00 consumers in 11 countries about their awareness, attitudes and behaviours sur rounding eye and vision health. Clearly, the benefits of having good vision are important to us, as the following key results showed: If forced to choose, people would rather lose their sense of taste (79%), hearin g (78%), one of their limbs (68%) or 10 years off their life (67%) instead of th eir eyesight. Three-fourths of people would rather have their pay cut in half than have a perm anent 50% decline in the quality of their vision. So where is the disconnect? The study showed an overall lack of understanding of how preventive eye care relates to preserving vision. Here are a number of comm on misperceptions revealed by the study: 44% of those polled admitted they thought I dont need an eye test unless there is a problem 42% said they believe If I can see, then my eyes must be healthy. 39% honestly believed The only reason to visit an eye doctor is for vision correc tions. When it came to their eyes, 30% of those surveyed believed If it doesnt hurt, its n ot serious. In fact, 80% of vision impairment is preventable, many common eye diseases have no symptoms at all in their early stages, and up to 150 different diseases of th e body may be detectable during an eye exam, including common conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Other interesting results from B&Ls study: Women were more likely than men to take steps to protect their vision, such as w earing sunglasses (81% vs. 77%), eating a healthy diet (82% vs. 75%) and refrain ing from smoking (79% vs. 73%). Married people were more likely than singles to have had a comprehensive eye exa m in the past year (46% married vs. 38% single). For those who did not have regular eye exams, 65% said they had not visited an e ye doctor because they did not have any symptoms and 60% because they had clear vision, dangerous reasoning since many eye diseases occur without any noticeable signs to the patient as mentioned above. 97% of doctors surveyed globally believe consumers do not have sufficient eye he alth knowledge. 94% of eye health professionals said women took better care of their eyes than m en. Hopefully the results of this research will help educate consumers on the import ance of routine eye examinations to help prevent eye disease, as well as detect other chronic bodily conditions. People care deeply about their eyesight, but theyre simply not taking basic steps to preserve their vision. We need to bridge that gap, said Cal Roberts M.D, B&Ls c hief medical officer. We hope this research will be an eye opener and it will enc ourage people around the world to take better care of their eyes to help improve their vision and overall quality of life.