The impactLC

of eye disease on
the publics health
A lenscrafters presentation
 Vision- Our #1 sense
80% of our sensory information is
from sight
 Infectious disease
Introduced through the mucous
membranes of the eye
Cornea is most frequent site of infection
Herpes simplex most common reason for
corneal blindness
Trachoma most common cause of
preventable blindness
 Preventable Blindness

the bad news

37 million people in our world are blind
124 million people on our Earth have low vision
1 in every 40 people suffer from severe visual
impairment
Almost 2 million people go blind each year
Without intervention the blind population will double to
75 million by 2020

 The Good News

75% of this blindness is preventable
 Preventable blindness
Ignoring minor eye problems can lead to blindness
Three most common in USA
 Cataracts
40,000 cases lead to blindness each year
 Glaucoma
African Americans 8X more cases than Causations
 Macular degeneration
2 million cases of visual impairment without knowing

Free radicals cause these three preventable diseases

 What can I do ?
Develop good habits for eye health

 Exercising protects your vision

 Sunglasses and hats protect your eyes from

UV rays

 Antioxidants from fresh fruit offer

protection from free radicals
 cataracts
By age 80 more than half of all Americans
have cataracts or surgery to remove them
Clumps of protein in the lens cloud the vision
and turns yellow then brown

Some form after eye surgery for eye

problems like glaucoma
They can be congenital or form in childhood
They can also form in response to radiation
exposure
glaucoma
 Macular degeneration
AMD
Age related macular degeneration has two types wet & dry
Vision loss occurs with either form
Risk factors:
 Age Obesity
 Smoking Family history

 Women at greater risk than men

 Caucasians have greater risk than African Americans

 What should you do ?
 Your lifestyle can make a difference

 Don’t smoke

 Exercise

 Eat a diet high in fish and green vegetables

 Maintain normal weight and blood pressure

$ the impact on our economy $
direct medical expenses

disease management

Medical care costs

 $ $ $ $ $
$Direct medical costs
Inpatient services
$Outpatient services
$Rx medications
Emergency room visits
Home care and medical supplies

Glaucoma, AMD, Cataract

Diabetic retinopathy and refractive error
 $ $ $ $ $
Some other direct costs
$
Nursing home care
Guide dogs
Government programs
Library of Congress publications for the blind
 $ $ $ $ $

Lost productivity
Lower labor force participation
Costs an estimated $6.3 billion
Lower wages due to vision impairment
Costs an estimated $1.7 billion
 Worldwide impact
37 million people are completely blind and will double by 2020
An additional 124 million suffer with low vision
On average 1 in 40 people have severe visual impairment
90% of these people live in the poorest sectors of the world
1.5 million children are blind with 82%of all blindness is with people
over 50 years of age
 Restoration of sight
One of the most cost effective interventions in
health care
 blindness
Enormous personal, social and economic cost
Limits the education and life choices of the affected people
Places significant burden on family and community
Strongly affects social services and health care agencies
Associated with lower life expectancy
 blindness
Four easily preventable causes
Trachoma
River blindness (Onchocerciasis)
Cataract
Refractive error low vision