Latinos have more visual problems

• April 19, 2024

Blindness, cataracts, visual deterioration and glaucoma are the main eye problems that Latinos have in the United States.

This is revealed by the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES), which was supported by the National Eye Institute.

"As the population ages, the burden of vision loss and eye disease in the Latino community is increasing and many eye diseases are becoming more common," said Rohit Varma, director of the Ocular Epidemiology Center of the Doheny Eye Institute of the University of Southern California.

Researchers examined more than 4,600 Latinos four years after they enrolled in the study to determine the development of new eye diseases and the progression of existing disorders.

The participants were mainly of Mexican descent, over 40 years old and living in the city of La Puente, Los Angeles County, California.

The researchers found that, over the four-year interval, Latinos were the ethnic group in the country with the highest rate of visual impairment and blindness when compared with estimates from other studies based on the US population.

In general, almost 3% of Latinos developed vision problems and blindness in both eyes, with a greater impact on older adults.

Latinos who had diabetes longer were more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy. In fact, 42% of those who had had diabetes for more than 15 years developed diabetic retinopathy.

The research showed that more than 60% of eye diseases in Latinos are not diagnosed or detected; specifically.

That is why it is important that once a year people have an eye exam to rule out any problem and, if they have diabetes, every 6 months.

Video Medicine: What Being Hispanic and Latinx Means in the United States | Fernanda Ponce | TEDxDeerfield (April 2024).