LatinaLista — February is heralded as the month of the heart — Valentine’s Day, the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign to heighten awareness of heart health among women — but this month is also low vision awareness month.
Latino Americans have higher rates of visual impairment, blindness, diabetic eye disease and cataracts than whites in the United States, researchers have found.
It’s not surprising with more Latinos afflicted with diabetes and vision being a health coverage that is more of an afterthought than a priority.
In the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES) conducted last year, it was found that:
Latinos were more likely to develop cataracts in the center of the eye lens than at the edge of the lens (10.2% versus 7.5%, respectively), with about half of those aged 70 and older developing cataracts in the center of the lens.
Latinos develop certain vision conditions at different rates than other ethnic groups. The burden of vision loss and eye disease on the Latino community is increasing as the population ages, and many eye diseases are becoming more common.
