Study: Visual impairment and blindness to double in America by 2050.

Be sure to check out our other Link Posts.

A study published May 19 by researchers at the USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute in JAMA Ophthalmology found that the U.S. prevalence in visual impairment (VI) and blindness is expected to double over the next 35 years. By 2050, the number of Americans with a variety of eye disease and impairment issues, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy (DR) and cataracts, will dramatically increase impacting both individuals and society.

Read the full article from USC.edu

Dr. Dexter's Take

A recent study published by investigators at USC found that the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in the United States is expected to double by the year 2050. Furthermore, it is thought that 16.4 million Americans over the age of 40 will be considered visually impaired due to uncorrected refractive error (as compared to the current 8.2 million in 2015). In addition, more than 2 million Americans will be considered blind, and 6.95 million will be considered visually impaired in 2050 (compared to 1.02 million and 3.22 million respectively from 2015). 

This is surprising to me based on the fact that our technology in diagnosing and treating eye conditions is very advanced, education about the importance of eye exams was gaining speed, and I was also under the impression that access to eye care was improving. I suspect that a lot of this is due to increased amount of patients with diabetes and other health conditions that can have a detrimental effect on the eyes, but what do you think?!