2023-05-18 04:00:09
- Two thirds of people who are blind or visually impaired are women.
- At least 2.7 million women aged 40 and over have some visual impairment.
- Contraceptives, pregnancy and menopause are risk factors that increase the risk of developing eye diseases.
According to the National Eye Institute, (National Institute of the Eyes), two thirds of people with blindness or visual impairment in the world are women. They are also more likely to develop eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, dry eye disease, among others.
In this regard the Dr. Paulina Ramírez Neriaspecialist in ophthalmology attached to the retina service in APEC, Hospital for Blindness, states that hormones such as estrogen and progesterone have a direct effect on vision. They can affect the sebaceous glands causing dryness, in addition, estrogen can affect the cornea causing a refractive shift and blurred vision.
“Puberty, pregnancy or menopause are natural processes where the levels of progesterone and estrogen production change, causing an imbalance in the visual health of women.”
Women are more exposed
During puberty there is a sudden increase in estrogen that can cause an elongation of the eyeballs, resulting in myopia or a greater tendency to develop it. After the stabilization of hormones during adolescence, it is common for vision to improve; however, in the case of women, more processes will be experienced.
Such is the case of pregnancy, since visual disturbances such as myopia are common, which occurs temporarily or in case of already suffering from it, it worsens. This can occur due to fluid retention where the cornea does not function normally.
In addition, tear quality decreases, which impacts vision considerably. This situation also occurs during menopause, coupled with greater dry eyes and sensitivity to light.
However, these alterations do not only occur naturally, since the use of hormonal contraceptives also represents a risk factor for the ocular health of women, since these are used by approximately 2.7 million Mexican women.
“Therefore, a medical follow-up with the gynecologist and the ophthalmologist is essential to find the most appropriate contraceptive method that does not affect visual health.”
The role of hormones
According to a study published in the International Journal of Ophthalmologyvariations in hormonal levels, particularly estrogen in childbearing age, can cause, if not addressed, inflammation of the cornea, better known as corneal edema, lens opacity and other complications in the eyeball.
Therefore, it is urgent that women are aware of any anomaly in their vision. Although vision sometimes stabilizes once hormonal levels are balanced, when this does not happen it is important to see an ophthalmology specialist with the intention of preventing or ruling out some other condition.
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