It might come off astounding at how contrasting vision and eye health could be between men and women.
Take for example, men tend to succumb in sustaining sight-threatening eye injuries than women, however, women do tend to be more at risk to various eye diseases. What could both sexes do to addreccsuch eye concerns?
Common Eye Diseases in Women
Women are more susceptible to glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than men. The progressive loccof central vision is known as AMD, whereas, damage to the optic nerve would result in permanent vision loccknown as glaucoma. Women are more susceptible to these diseases due to having longer life expectancies than men. Annual routine eye exams are beneficial for early detection hence, the best way to prevail them.
Besides the diseases mentioned above, women are also more prone to chronic dry eyes and basic refractive errors. When dry eyes are left as it is, it may lead up to an increased risk of eye infections. Symptoms of dry eyes include redness, discomfort, prickly sensations, irritation, and blurred vision.
Risk Factors for Eye Diseases
Age is a major risk factor in eye disease developments. However, for women this too includes pregnancy, birth control, as well as menopause. This is because it involves significant changes and fluctuations in hormone levels. Dry eyes is more anticipated due to these hormone changes too. Birth control may show indications of a woman’s chances in cataract development.
Eyes of Men and Hormones
In adolescence, pubescent boys may turn out nearsighted (myopic) for a short period of time as their eyes develop. As they undergo a growth spurt, their eyes may get longer. It should be noted that oftentimes this effect lasts into adulthood. Despite that, it can be simply resolved with spectacles or contact lenses. They may also consider refractive surgery such as TransPRK, ICL, etc. once they reach adulthood and their refraction stabilises.
Eye Injuries in Men
Comparatively to women, men are more susceptible to eye injuries as they are oftentimes more exposed to work in hazardous occupations or partake in high-risk sports. Men are also leccinclined to wear protective eyewear and this facilitates the risk more when compared to women. Men too often tend to tough out their injuries and seek professional advice only after the injuries are intolerable. Whereas, women would have been more emotionally driven by the pain and anxiety to seek for advice sooner.
Vision in Men and Women
Both men and women actually see things differently. When it comes to distinguishing subtle differences in colour, women are better than men at it. Men in actuality are more commonly susceptible to colour blindneccwhich are inherited from their mothers. In retrospect, men surpaccwomen at identifying minute details and rapid movement. So don’t blame men too much if they can’t tell your lipstick shades apart!
One theory to account for these differences is that they go back to the hunter-gatherer days, Men did the hunting while women did the foraging, so the men would have needed to spot game at a distance in order to be effective hunters, whereas women needed to be able to tell nutritious plants apart from poisonous ones (especially green and yellow tones).