Understanding Women’s Vision Health Across the Lifespan
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October 7, 2020 - October 8, 2020
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) convened an interdisciplinary group of researchers, clinicians, and other relevant stakeholders for a closed roundtable meeting on women’s vision health. The purpose was to identify the unmet needs and knowledge gaps in research, treatment, and disease awareness and identification.
Evidence shows the majority of ocular diseases affect women disproportionately compared to men. In the United States, the majority of the 4.4 million Americans age 40 and older who are visually impaired or blind are female. More women are at risk for eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. Thyroid eye disease, an autoimmune condition, is almost five times more common in women than in men. More than 3 million women have dry eye, which is more common after menopause.
Despite these alarming statistics, the root causes of ocular diseases risk are not well understood and a focused research agenda is greatly needed to develop and implement comprehensive diagnostic, preventive, and treatment strategies to address disparities in women’s eye health.
Objectives
- Highlight the current state of the science regarding sex and gender disparities and women’s eye health
- Identify unmet needs, burden and root causes of sex differences in ocular disease
- Develop recommendations to advance the research agenda, develop diagnostic, preventive, and treatment strategies and raise awareness
Roundtable Participants
Kira Baldonado and Julie Grutzmacher, Prevent Blindness
Emily Chew, MD, National Eye Institute
Janine Austin Clayton, MD, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health
Kathleen Digre, MD, University of Utah
Tamara Fountain, MD, Rush University Medical Center
Lynn K Gordon, MD, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, University of Utah
James Jorkasky, National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research
Laura Periman, MD, Dry Eye Master Clinic
Erin Shriver, MD, University of Iowa
Nora Wong, PhD, National Eye Institute
Sponsor
This program is supported by an educational sponsorship from Horizon Therapeutics. SWHR maintains editorial control and independence over educational content.
