As per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, more than 4.2 million Americans aged 40 and above are legally blind with the best corrected visual acuity of 6/60 or worse in the better-seeing eye, or have a low vision with the best corrected visual acuity of less than 6/12 in the better-seeing eye. These numbers exclude those who have been categorized as being blind.[1]
The leading causes of blindness and low vision include cataract, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and retinopathy. Cataract is the clouding of the eye’s lens, and can occur at any age, even at the time of birth. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes damage to sharp and central vision. AMD can be either Wet AMD or Dry AMD.
Wet AMD: Abnormal blood vessels behind the retina start to grow, leading to blood, fluid leakage, and scarring that can lead to rapid central vision loss.
Dry AMD: Your eye’s macula (center of the retina) begins to thin due to aging, gradually blurring central vision. Dry AMD is more common, accounting for 70-90% of all AMD cases. It progresses more slowly than wet AMD, gradually affecting central vision. The condition occurs in both eyes. The most common sign of Dry AMD are tiny yellow or white deposits under the retina, known as drusen. The presence of a large and more number of drusens increases the risk of developing advanced dry AMD or wet AMD.
Glaucoma can damage the eye’s optic nerve and results in the loss of vision. It occurs when the normal fluid pressure inside the eyes beings to rise slowly. Glaucoma can be either open angle or closed angle. Open angle is a chronic condition that progresses slowly with the person not noticing vision loss until the disease is very advanced. Closed angle glaucoma can appear suddenly and is painful, leading the patient to seek medical attention.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is characterized by progressive damage to blood vessels of the retina. The condition progresses through four stages. The risk to DR can be lowered with good control over blood sugar level, blood pressure and lipid abnormalities. Early diagnosis of DR and timely treatment reduces the risk of vision loss.
Amblyopia and Strabismus
Other reasons for eye diseases include Amblyopia and Strabismus. Amblyopia, commonly called “lazy eye”, is one of the most common causes of vision loss impairment in children. The eye looks normal, but it is not being used normally, because the brain is favoring the other eye. The condition can result in the imbalance in the positioning of two eyes, and more near sightedness. Unless not diagnosed in the childhood itself, the condition usually persists in adulthood, and can lead to permanent one-eye vision impairment in 2% to 3% children, young and middle-aged adults.
Best treatments for eyes disorders and health insurance plans
Although treatments for eye diseases are widely available, access barriers such as insurance coverage, treatment costs and patient choices prevent many people from receiving the proper treatment. Many people are not even aware of the best treatment and insurance plans that are available to them. One can get information related to various health insurance plans available to them from a reliable source, such as PrudentRx. info. The site is a rich source of all information for the employers where they can get all the information they require to provide the best health insurance plans to employees. The experts at PrudentRx will help you devise the custom health insurance plans, and also the best copay options, such as CVS copay optimization.
PrudentRx program and PrudentRx FAQs are a rich source of information related to various health insurance plans. For more information, PrudentRx drug list can be referred.
Reference
