1. How many different medical conditions can a comprehensive eye exam detect?
More than 270
A comprehensive eye exam can detect more than 270 different medical conditions, such as diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma and retinal disorders such as macular degeneration. It can also determine your risk of developing heart disease or stroke.
Yet about half of adults in the United States at high-risk for vision loss did not visit an eye care professional within a 12-month span, and one-third of children in the United States under the age of 18 never receive an eye exam, according to a 2018 survey.
To find an eye care professional near you for a comprehensive eye exam, click here. And while routine eye visits may be delayed due to COVID-19, call your optometrist or ophthalmologist if you have an urgent issue, such as loss of vision, eye injury or pain.
2. What percentage of young adults in the United States have myopia?
50%
Myopia, which is an eye-focusing disorder also known as nearsightedness, has become so common in the United States and around the world that it’s considered an epidemic. By the year 2050, it’s estimated that half the world’s population will be myopic.
While cases of myopia have been rising rapidly—statistics show the prevalence has nearly doubled over the past 20 years—experts have yet to identify definitive causes. Although the exact ways myopia develops are not known, changes in lifestyle over the past 50 years, including reduced time spent outdoors and more time spent on close-up work, are associated with myopia onset and progression.
This is why Johnson & Johnson Vision launched a research collaboration with the Singapore National Eye Center and the Singapore Eye Research Institute in November 2018 with the goal of identifying how myopia develops and ways it could be prevented.
“This work is extremely important because myopia is a more serious problem than many people realize,” says Rajesh Rajpal, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs, Johnson & Johnson Vision. “It’s associated with an increased risk of several diseases that threaten your sight, such as glaucoma, cataracts and retinal detachment.”
3. Symptoms of dry eye include:
Eye redness, a burning sensation and watery eyes
Did the “watery eyes” option fool you? Although it seems counterintuitive, dry eye can make you tear up because it’s your body’s natural response to eye irritation.
So why doesn’t tearing resolve dry eye? Unfortunately, this type of tearing doesn’t contain all of the components necessary to properly lubricate the eye, Dr. Rajpal says. Most cases of dry eye are caused by meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), a condition in which the meibomian glands that supply the oil to your tears with every blink become blocked or secrete poor-quality oil. It’s this oily layer that helps keep your tears from evaporating too quickly.
While applying warm compresses or eye masks periodically throughout the day can help support the meibomian glands, they often do not stay warm long enough to unblock glands and can be quite time-consuming for patients. Fortunately, treating MGD has become more convenient with the development of the LipiFlow® Thermal Pulsation System, which uses a novel device to clear blocked meibomian glands with heat and massage in just 12 minutes, reducing such additional symptoms of dry eye as fluctuating vision and optical aberrations, and creating a healthier eye surface.
Unfortunately, while more than 60% of cataract surgery patients and contact lens wearers may have signs of MGD, many do not receive treatment, which could result in better cataract surgery results and a better contact lens wearing experience.
“The procedure feels quite comfortable,” Dr. Rajpal says. “And you may find you only need the treatment once a year.”
4. True or false: Everyone eventually develops cataracts.
True
If you live a long life, developing cataracts—a clouding of the lens of the eye—is an inevitable part of aging, Dr. Rajpal says.
“From the minute you’re born, the lens begins to thicken and becomes denser over time,” he explains. “Once the lens becomes so opaque that it interferes with your vision, you’ve met the medical definition of cataracts.”
Other symptoms of cataracts include sensitivity to light and glare, difficulty seeing at night, seeing “halos” around lights and fading or yellowing of colors.
Aging isn’t the only cause of cataracts, however. Factors such as diabetes, obesity, smoking, excessive exposure to the sun, a family history of cataracts at a young age and past eye injury or inflammation may increase your risk of developing cataracts.
5. True or false: Cataracts can be removed surgically, but the procedure is risky.
False
While it isn’t totally risk-free, cataract surgery is considered to be one of the safest surgical procedures.
“It’s the most commonly performed surgery because everyone eventually gets cataracts,” Dr. Rajpal says.
Johnson & Johnson innovated an improved solution for treating the condition with the Tecnis Symfony® extended depth-of-focus intraocular lens (IOL). Previously, during cataract surgery, the lens of the eye would be removed and replaced with a monofocal intraocular lens, which improved only distance vision. As a result, patients could still struggle with near vision and had to wear glasses.
“Our extended depth-of-focus lenses provide a range of vision with high levels of clarity,” Dr. Rajpal says.
6. The eye condition in which damage occurs to the optic nerve is called:
Glaucoma
There are at least 6.9 million people globally living with vision impairment due to glaucoma that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. Glaucoma usually occurs due to abnormally high pressure in the eye. This pressure is what causes the symptoms of acute angle-closure glaucoma—the most common form of the condition—which can include headache, eye pain and redness, blurred vision and even nausea and vomiting.
Unfortunately, most forms of glaucoma don’t have any warning signs, so the disease may already be at an advanced stage by the time it affects your vision, Dr. Rajpal says. While glaucoma is treatable, particularly when caught early, any vision loss you experience is irreversible.
7. True or false: If you start to have trouble reading it’s fine to buy reading glasses at the pharmacy.
False
Even though it’s normal to develop difficulty reading small print (a condition called presbyopia) as you age, you should visit your eye doctor before buying reading glasses to make sure the problem isn’t a sign of a more serious condition, Dr. Rajpal says. Plus, those over-the-counter reading glasses aren’t appropriate for everyone.
“Most people don’t have the exact same prescription in each eye, so over-the-counter glasses may not be a good choice,” he explains. These glasses also don’t correct for astigmatism—a curvature of the eye that causes blurred distance and near vision—which is something many people have to some degree.
8. Which of the following vision challenges can you expect to experience as you age?
Sensitivity to bright light, difficulty seeing at night and difficulty distinguishing certain colors.
While it’s possible for some people to experience these issues in their younger years, they become a problem for everyone with age as the lens of the eye naturally becomes thicker and cloudier, explains Dr. Rajpal.
If any of these problems are bothering you, you may be able to address all three issues with the Acuvue Oasys® with Transitions™ Light Intelligent Technology™ contact lenses, which correct your vision and provide other visual-performance benefits, including reducing exposure to bright light, filtering blue light and blocking UV rays.
“They’re a true breakthrough product,” Dr. Rajpal says. “They’re the first and only contact lenses on the market that provide superior visual performance, while adapting the amount of light entering the eye.”
Learn more important information for contact lens wearers, as well as indications and important safety information for the Lipiflow® Thermal Pulsation System and Tecnis Symfony® Extended Range of Vision IOLs here.
