Authored by AIF Fellow Silpaa Gunabalan
Our eyes play an essential role in our day-to-day activities, so it is crucial not to take them for granted. Vision impairment is defined as any kind of vision loss that cannot be returned to the “normal,” whether that is total blindness or partial vision loss. Globally, at least 2.2 billion people experience vision impairment. Almost half of these cases could have been prevented or have yet to be addressed. Since working at Forus Health, I have learned the importance of prioritizing eye health to prevent blindness. My project focuses on scaling up the company’s eye screening solution to make comprehensive eye exams more accessible to people throughout India. In this blog, I hope to convince you to prioritize eye care.
How Does Vision Loss Impact My Quality Of Life?
Good eye health is crucial to maintaining a good quality of life. We use our eyes to read, watch movies, go on hikes, and do work. Vision impairment can severely hinder one’s quality of life. Changing vision can cause symptoms including headaches, dry eye, and eye strain. With the increasing role of technology in work-life, the issue of vision loss is becoming more prominent. Adults with vision impairment often have lower rates of workplace productivity and participation, and they are more likely to experience anxiety and depression.
If one’s vision continues to regress, the impairment can have severe impacts on one’s independence. Additionally, vision loss can have a substantial economic impact as a result of added medical expenses and loss of productivity. In 2020, the estimated annual global productivity loss due to vision impairment was about US$ 411 billion.
How Do I Take Care Of My Eyes?
There are a few things we can do in our day-to-day to maintain healthy eyes. First, diet plays a role in preserving vision. Eating foods high in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, especially, helps to keep your eye healthy. Additionally, protecting your eye by wearing glasses and eye shields can be beneficial depending on your activities. For example, if you work in the manufacturing industry, wearing safety goggles is necessary to prevent damage.
The most important step one can take to care for their eyes, however, is to get routine, comprehensive eye exams. During my fellowship, I experienced the importance of these eye exams for one’s eye health, as I witnessed optometrists at my host organization diagnose patients with vision impairment. The comprehensive eye exams provided by Forus Health test visual acuity, eye movement, colorblindness, dry eye conditions, intraocular pressure, and retinal health. By getting routine eye exams, eye doctors can identify eye problems at their earliest and most treatable stage, thereby preventing further damage or blindness.
Who Should Get Their Eyes Checked?
Everyone should get their eyes checked! While the majority of people who experience blindness are over the age of 50, vision impairment affects people of all ages. Most people should get their eyes checked every two to three years. However, if you have existing vision impairment or are at risk for eye disease, it is recommended to get a comprehensive eye exam every year.
Why Are Comprehensive Eye Exams Necessary?
Many people think their eyesight is normal, but this is impossible to know without a comprehensive exam. When you experience vision loss over time, your brain adapts in a way where you will not notice a vision change. Many eye diseases do not have visible symptoms until they are too late to be effectively treated. It is essential to get your eyes tested for the following reasons.
Early Detection Of Eye Diseases
As mentioned earlier, preventing blindness is one of the most important reasons to routinely get your eyes checked. Early on in my fellowship, I learned that the most common diseases that contribute to preventable blindness are glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and cataracts. All of these diseases do not display symptoms at early stages. Ophthalmologists often detect eye diseases by observing changes in the appearance and structure of eye anatomy over time. As a result, these diseases can only be effectively treated through routine eye exams.
During one of my visits to an eye screening camp, one of the people being tested complained about blurred vision. After performing fundus images and taking the person’s intraocular pressure, the optometrist referred her to an ophthalmologist, fearing that she had glaucoma which needed to be addressed immediately. Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve which eye care providers detect by measuring your eye pressure. With early detection, eye care specialists can offer multiple treatment and medication options to decrease eye pressure and significantly slow or prevent vision loss. When people fail to get their eyes checked, they often sustain permanent eye damage before they are aware of having glaucoma.
Detection Of Other Chronic Diseases
Not only can eye exams tell you about your eye health, but they can give you information about your overall health as well. The retinal examination portion of an eye exam can be life-saving by allowing eye doctors to look at the small blood vessels in the back of your eyes. Retinal images can help ophthalmologists detect chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis, all of which can be life-threatening. The image to the right provides more information about what eye doctors look for when diagnosing these conditions.
While the results of an eye exam can help healthcare professionals detect these chronic diseases, they are not a diagnosis. However, the information from a comprehensive eye exam encourages patients to seek treatment for potential chronic diseases and address them earlier. This leads to lower medical spending, less loss in work productivity, and better overall health outcomes.
Currently, Forus Health is working on an artificial intelligence program to detect possible chronic diseases using retinal images. This system could revolutionize preventive care and early detection of chronic diseases in India.
Maintaining one’s eye health is necessary for maintaining good overall health. It is important for everyone to regularly get their eyes checked to prevent irreversible damage to vision. Through my work with Forus Health, we are trying to make eye care more accessible to people throughout India, ensuring that those who are most susceptible to eye disease will have access to care.
References:
Impact of Eye Exams in Identifying Chronic Conditions – Unitedhealth Group, www.unitedhealthgroup.com/content/dam/UHG/PDF/2014/UNH-EyeExamsChronicConditions.pdf. Accessed 10 May 2023.
“Keep an Eye on Your Vision Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Oct. 2020, www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/resources/features/keep-eye-on-vision-health.html.
MA, Blue Cross Blue Shield. “3 Big Reasons to Get Your Eyes Checked Regularly.” Coverage, 13 Apr. 2023, coverage.bluecrossma.com/article/3-big-reasons-get-your-eyes-checked-regularly.
Vision Effects on the Quality of Life – Shreejieyecare.Com, www.shreejieyecare.com/images/pdf/eye%20care/preventive%20eyecare.pdf. Accessed 10 May 2023.
“Vision Impairment and Blindness.” World Health Organization, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment. Accessed 10 May 2023.
(All pictures have been used by the author for demonstration purposes)