The World Health Organization reports that the second leading cause of blindness in the world is due to glaucoma. It is estimated that more than three million people in the United States have glaucoma, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation. Only half of these Americans, however, are aware that they have this condition. Currently, this treatable eye condition accounts for approximately 9% to 12% of the United States’ cases of blindness.
While some Americans may have their eyes examined more often, the Glaucoma Research Foundation conducted a survey that found 74% of the participants see an eye doctor at least every two years. When a visit to the eye doctor reveals that they have glaucoma or cataracts, many individuals opt for surgery.
Over 50% of Americans, for example, may have had a cataract or undergone cataract surgery by the time they are 80 years of age. It’s important to note that someone can have a cataract in either one or both eyes. Furthermore, this condition doesn’t spread from one eye to the other, and there is a 98% success rate with cataract surgery.
LASIK eye surgery has proven to be a successful procedure. During 2015, for instance, there were 21 million LASIK eye surgery procedures performed throughout the world. Within the United States, 596,000 procedures were performed during that year as well.
Given the high success rate of laser eye surgery for glaucoma, cataracts, and other vision issues, more and more people are choosing this option. By 2020, it is estimated that there will be 718,000 LASIK surgeries performed within the United States alone. Since this procedure has proven to be effective for a variety of vision issues, it is highly likely that even more individuals will choose to have laser surgery.
Since so many people within this country aren’t aware that they may have glaucoma or another issue that can affect their vision, it’s important to have regular eye examinations. When these conditions are detected early on, there are different types of treatments that an eye doctor may recommend. Since glaucoma in particular can lead to blindness, this underlines the importance of having regular eye examinations.
