Ethnicity, risk for eye disease linked

We found the following article at the MiamiHerald.com. Something every American should have checked out is their eyes. It's inexpensive and eye doctors can be found everywhere! We're sure once you read the below article, you'll agree!

America's 78 million aging baby boomers -- especially Hispanics and blacks --
are at risk for a big jump in eye disease over the next generation, including
glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, the American
Academy of Ophthalmology said Friday.
And most are unaware of the risk, the
group said.
More than three-quarters of Hispanics and blacks do not know that
their ethnicity is a major risk factor for glaucoma -- with rates more than
three times that of non-Hispanic whites, according to a national survey for the
Academy.
Another survey, the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study, estimated that 75
percent of Hispanics with glaucoma were undiagnosed. Hispanics and blacks also
are less likely to have health insurance.
For some, risk factors can build
up: ''If you're Hispanic, over 70, a family member has glaucoma and you have
diabetes, there's a 50 percent chance you have glaucoma,'' said Dr. Francisco
Fantes, ophthalmology professor at the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye
Institute, at a Friday news conference in Coral Gables.
The news conference
launched a statewide campaign to raise awareness among Florida's four million
Hispanics. Glaucoma screenings also will be offered -- free to those who cannot
pay. The campaign is organized by EyeCare America, a 7,200-member volunteer
public service group of the San Francisco-based Academy. Fantes is its local
spokesman.
Glaucoma damages the optic nerve, which carries images to the
brain. It is the leading cause of blindness in the United States, Fantes
said.
Serious eye disease in the baby boom generation is predicted to jump by
more than 50 percent -- from 28 million today to 43 million in 2020 -- according
to the Eye Disease Prevalence Group of the National Institutes of Health.
And
the survey of 1,200 Americans found that, while people older than 65 are at
greatest risk, only 10 percent of them acknowledge the risk, and one-third do
not get annual eye exams. The survey was dome by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
Research for the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
For its
Florida Hispanic campaign, EyeCare America announced an English-only toll-free
line, 800-391-3937, for information, a free screening and treatment for those
who need it. Those eligible must be at high risk for glaucoma because of age,
race and ethnic group and family history, have not had an eye exam in 12 months
or more, be U.S. citizens or legal residents and not have insurance.
Asked
why the new campaign is aimed primarily at Hispanics when the glaucoma risk to
blacks is equally high, EyeCare spokeswoman Allison Neves said it is a pilot
program, which, if successful, will be expanded to other states and other
population groups.