New Report from Prevent Blindness America Shows Sharp Increase in Eye Disease Prevalence
According to the 2012 update of the “Vision Problems in the U.S.” report, a study released today by Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute, the number of those ages 40 and older with vision impairment and blindness has increased 23 percent since the year 2000.
In addition, a preliminary update to the 2007 Prevent Blindness America “Economic Impact of Vision Problems” report shows a $1 billion increase in costs of excess medical care expenditures, informal care and health-related quality of life related to visual impairment and blindness.
Statistics from the 2012 Vision Problems in the U.S. report on the four most common eye diseases highlight alarming increases since 2000, including:
- 2,069,403 people age 50 and older have late AMD (age-related macular degeneration), a 25 percent increase
- 24,409,978 million people age 40 and older have cataracts, a 19 percent increase
- 2,719,379 million people age 40 and older have open-angle glaucoma, a 22 percent increase
- 7,685,237 million people ages 40 and older have diabetic retinopathy, an 89 percent increase