The eyes have it. Americans would rather lose a limb — or their minds — over going blind.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
took an online nationwide poll of 2,044 U.S. adults, and found almost
half of them (47%) listed losing their vision as the worst possible
health outcome. Blindness was ranked worse than AIDS/HIV, loss of limb,
heart disease, arthritis, and deafness by all racial and ethnic groups.
Many also ranked going blind worse than losing their memories or the
ability to speak.
Perhaps this is because those surveyed have already gotten a peek at a
bleak vision-impaired future. Some 63% of those surveyed reported
wearing glasses already, so it’s not surprising that 88% of them also
believe good vision is vital to good health.
The subjects said they worried that losing their sight would worsen
their quality of life, and feared losing their independence after losing
their vision. The authors suggest this is because the blind or visually
impaired may be more likely to have a lower income, or they may have to
rely on others for basic needs such as bathing, cooking and
housekeeping. Blindness is also associated with social isolation.
The scientists dug up a few more eye-opening findings. While nearly
two-thirds of respondents were knowledgeable about eye diseases
including cataracts — the most common cause of vision loss in people
over 40 — and glaucoma, which damages the optic nerve, many were not
aware of macular degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss
in people over age 60. And half didn’t realize that smoking also increases the risk of vision loss.
Considering all racial groups see eye-to-eye on this, the study authors
believe their report “underscores the importance of educating the
public on eye health and mobilizing public support for vision research.”
In 2013, the total economic burden of vision loss and blindness in the
United States was about $139 billion, and treating eye-related disorders
cost more than $68.8 billion.
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