One in seven Canadians living with vision loss

May 9, 2012 at 10:19AM

One in seven adult Canadians are living with some form of vision loss, a new study has found as part of Vision Health Month.

The research, which was conducted by vision charity CNIB and the University of Waterloo's School of Optometry, found that many of these people could have their sight corrected with contact lenses or glasses.

That is because their issue is a refractive error in the eye meaning that it can't focus properly, meaning the effect is blurry vision.

Dr Keith Gordon, vice president of research at CNIB, said: "People with vision loss are more likely to fall, have a higher risk of fractures and other injuries and they may be more likely to limit or stop driving."

Results from the study also found that despite being able to see normally, 40 per cent of the test subjects could actually have an eye disease.

Dr Barbara Robinson, principle investigator, said: "More worrisome, however, is the fact that many serious eye diseases - for example, glaucoma - have no symptoms in the early stages.

"So if people aren't getting their eyes examined, they probably aren't getting early treatment that could potentially save their sight."

Paying close attention to the health of one's eyes is vitally important in order to make sure that no lasting damage is sustained.

Regular eye tests ensure there are no problems, detectable in normal life or only come across when specific tests are carried out.

The fact that 75 per cent of vision problems can be prevented from occurring in the first place or treated shows that people need not struggle on without getting help for their eyes.

Dr Robinson said: "In fact, 70 per cent of study participants who had reduced vision could correct the problem by simply wearing the right glasses or contact lenses."

Posted by John Hughes

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