Latino community encouraged to get eye exams

July 15, 2010

A recent study conducted by the National Eye Institute revealed that Mexican-Americans are at a greater risk of developing eye diseases like blindness and cataracts compared to non-Hispanic whites, Thousand Oaks Acorn reports.

"This study showed that Latinos develop certain vision conditions at different rates than other ethnic groups," Dr Rohit Varma, director of the Ocular Epidemiology Center at the Doheny Eye Institute at USC, told the news source. "The burden of vision loss and eye disease on the Latino community is increasing as the population ages and many eye diseases are becoming more common."

Researchers found that the Latino community developed blindness and other visual impairments more than other ethnic group in the United States.

Additionally, Latinos between the age of 40 and 59 have the highest rate of diabetic retinopathy compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Experts recommend that an annual dilated eye exam is extremely important for Latinos who already hare suffering from a visual impairment. If the conditions go untreated, they may result in complete loss of vision.