Latinos High-risk to Eye Disease Dr. David J. Demko, professor of gerontology and editor AgeVenture News Service, Boca Raton, Florida August 9, 2004

Ben Franklin was right. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And, as this study suggests, there is a huge cost-benefit to providing preventive eye disease programs for the elderly, especially Latinos. Without the ounce of prevention provided by such programs, the nation is destined to pay a proverbial pound of flesh for untreated eye disease and preventable blindness. Let's stop worrying about the high cost of eye disease, and do something about it. This study shows how. Latinos have high prevalence rates of visual impairment and blindness, and those who are older, unemployed, divorced or widowed, or have diabetes are more likely to be visually impaired. This is the conclusion of a multi-part study appearing in the August issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Eye M.D. Association. The study, titled, "Los Angeles Latino Eye Study" (LALES) is a population-based prevalence study of eye disease in 6,357 Latinos (primarily Mexican-Americans) aged 40 years and older in La Puente, Los Angeles County, California. Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, associate professor of ophthalmology and preventive medicine at the Doheny Eye Institute at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and lead author of the study, said, “These results suggest the importance of developing targeted programs aimed at Latinos for evaluation and treatment of eye diseases.” The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study produced the following key findings. Prevalence of open-angle glaucoma is comparable to that of African-Americans. 75% of Latinos with open-angle glaucoma were unaware of their disease. Almost one of every two Latinos with diabetes has diabetic retinopathy. The longer Latinos have diabetes, the higher the prevalence of retinopathy. Latinos high risk to early (not advanced) age-related macular degeneration. One in five Latinos are victims of cataracts. 50% of those with more than one type of cataract are visually impaired. “This study is very helpful because there is a huge health problem in the Mexican-American population that needs to be addressed,” said Academy spokesperson Jose Pulido, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “However, we cannot assume the results of this study apply to all Latinos, since Mexican-Americans are of Hispanic and American Indian descents, and this may be different than a Caribbean population, which would be of more Hispanic and African descents. Additional studies looking at the different Latino populations would be helpful.” Further study and the establishment of preventive disease programs would go a long way to improving the quality of life for America's elders. As a case in point regarding cataracts, Edward J. Holland, MD, professor of ophthalmology, University of Cincinnati, “Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world. However, in most cases, vision loss is reversible. New cataract surgery techniques have made cataract surgery one of the most successful procedures available in restoring patients’ quality of life.” Nearly half of all people will have a cataract by the time they are 65 years of age. Preventive measures might include the early identification of cataract-risk factors such as the following. a family history of cataracts medical problems, such as diabetes injury to the eye medications, such as steroids high salt intake long-term unprotected exposure to sunlight previous eye surgery The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study was funded by the National Eye Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, of the National Institutes of Health, with additional support from Research to Prevent Blindness. The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world’s largest association of eye physicians and surgeons—Eye M.D.s—with more than 27,000 members. For more information about eye health care, visit the Academy’s partner Web site, the Medem Network, at www.medem.com/eyemd. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy’s Web site at www.aao.org Image credit: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE AGEVENTURE ARCHIVES AgeVenture Lifestyle Features AgeVenture Headline News BACK TO TOP

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