Blindness

SEVILLE, Spain — While glaucoma prevalence is growing, glaucoma specialists are in short supply, and accessibility to specialized centers is limited. Can this gap be filled by general ophthalmologists?

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in adults older than age 50 worldwide.

Self-reported visual difficulty had a limited ability to identify adults with objectively measured visual impairment, according to an analysis of data from a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries.

Among children, errors of refraction and strabismic amblyopia were the most common causes of low vision, with retinal diseases most often causing severe vision loss, according to a study.

Patients with glaucoma appeared to have poorer general health, mental health and quality of life, with more severe visual field impairment linked to worsening physical health outcomes, according to a study published in Cureus.

KOLOA, Hawaii — In this Healio Video Perspective from Hawaiian Eye 2025, Baruch D. Kuppermann, MD, PhD, welcomes ophthalmologists to attend the upcoming Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology in Seville, Spain.

Current entry-level optometry and ophthalmology education and training programs do not adequately teach how to evaluate and manage cerebral visual impairment, according to a study published in Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.

I was pleased to read that President Joe Biden signed the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

RhyGaze secured $86 million in a Series A financing round, which will be used to further the development of the company’s lead candidate gene therapy for optogenetic vision restoration, according to a press release.

Every year Healio covers a wide range of optometry-related news from the FDA, and 2024 was no exception.