Dr Bhavani Raina
Eyes are windows to the world and since ages paeans have been written to describe their beauty.Beauty is incomplete without women.Maintaning the health and beauty of the eyes is essential to live a fruitful life and enjoy God’s creations. While taking care of their families, women forget that taking care of their own health is also their duty. Women generally live longer than men and this longer life expectancy exposes them to various types of age-related diseases.Prevalence of autoimmune diseases is more in women and many of these affect eyes. Genetic diseases are less common in women but when they occur in women, their severity is more. Harmonal changes that take place in a woman,s body from puberty to pregnancy to menopause also exposes her to various eye related disorders. As more and more women are joining work force, incidence of injuries and occupation related ailments is also on an uprise.
It is very important that women take good care of their eyes and go for regular eye checkups especially after the age of 40 so that age related diseases like cataract, glaucoma and other degenerative diseases get diagnosed on time. Timely intervention can go a long way in preventing blindness due to these diseases. Life style related diseases like diabetes and hypertension usually develop during middle age. These diseases can affect different organs of the body including eyes. Thus, it is essential to go for eye chekup if one is suffering from any of these diseases.
Women are at a greater risk of developing autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, SLE,etc. Autoimmune diseases are those diseases in which immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy cells of the body. These diseases can affect different parts of the body. In eyes they can cause pain, redness, internal swelling and visual impairment. Besides, the disease, the treatment given for these diseases can also damage the eyes. Therefore, it is imperative that any woman suffering from these diseasesshould consult not only a physician but also an eye specialist.
Genetic eye diseases are a group of disorders that are caused by abnormalities in the genes responsible for the development and function of the eyes. These include diseases like Retinitis Pigmentosa which causes night blindness and Macular Dystrophies which affect central post part of the eye where 90% of the vision is formed. As many of these diseases can pass from one generation to another, timely detection is important to reduce the risk of transmission.
A woman’s body is constantly dealing with variations of various harmones. Dry Eyes are common during menopause due to decrease in female specific harmonewhich causes reduction in natural tear production by eyes. During pregnancy, there is generalised water retention by the body which increases thickness of cornea and wearing of contact lenses becomes uncomfortable. Blood pressure rise during pregnancy can impair vision. Harmonal imbalance can aggravate damage to the eyes by diabetes.
Due to societal pressures and cosmetic concerns, many times women refuse to wear spectacles even when suffering from refractive errors like myopia. Uncorrected refractive errors can lead to development of a condition called amblyopia in which an eye has subnormal vision which could have been prevented if spectacle correction was given on time.
As role of women in increases, there susceptibility to suffer from occupation related hazards will also increase. The chances of suffering from ocular trauma due to machine related injuries, road traffic accidents, etc, will rise. So, as women embrace more and more differing and additional roles and responsibilities, their armamentarium in related facets to face them should also be up-to-date.
Good vision is a blessing and all of us have an equal right to it. While some diseases are inevitable, how we deal with them is totally in our hands. Proper care of eyes and timely intervention can go a long way in helping us lead a productive and happy life. Women have the duty to take good care of their health which will enable them to take good care of their families.
KEY POINTS FOR HEATHY EYES:
*Eat healthy food like fruits, nuts, greens and fish
* Maintain healthy weight to keep diseases like diabetes under control
* Get regular eye check ups
* Say no to smoking
* Don,t keep family history a secret, share it with your doctor
* Wear protective eye gear if working in injury prone areas and while playing sports
* Reduce your screen time and take regular breaks from screen while working
* Use sunglasses to reduce exposure to uv lights
* If glasses have been prescribed, wear them regularly
(The author is Additional Professor, Dept. of Ophthalmology, AIIMS, Vijaypur Jammu.)