The Miami Herald

MIAMI – America’s 78 million aging baby boomers – especially Hispanics and blacks – are at risk for a big jump in eye disease over the next generation, including glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, the American Academy of Ophthalmology said Friday.

More than three-quarters of Hispanics and blacks do not know that their ethnicity is a major risk factor for glaucoma – with rates more than three times that of nonHispanic whites, according to a national survey for the Academy.

For some, risk factors can build up: “If you’re Hispanic, over 70, a family member has glaucoma and you have diabetes, there’s a 50 percent chance you have glaucoma,” said Dr. Francisco Fantes, ophthalmology professor at the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, at a Friday news conference in Coral Gables, Fla..

Serious eye disease in the baby boom generation is predicted to jump by more than 50 percent – from 28 million today to 43 million in 2020 – according to the Eye Disease Prevalence Group of the National Institutes of Health.

And the survey of 1,200 Americans found that, while people older than 65 are at greatest risk, only 10 percent of them acknowledge the risk, and one-third do not get annual eye exams. The survey was dome by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

For its Florida Hispanic campaign, EyeCare America announced an English-only toll-free line, 800-391-3937, for information, a free screening and treatment for those who need it. Those eligible must be at high risk for glaucoma because of age, race and ethnic group and family history, have not had an eye exam in 12 months or more, be U.S. citizens or legal residents and not have insurance.

Asked why the new campaign is aimed primarily at Hispanics when the glaucoma risk to blacks is equally high, EyeCare spokeswoman Allison Neves said it is a pilot program, which, if successful, will be expanded to other states and other population groups.

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(c) 2007, The Miami Herald.

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AP-NY-09-14-07 1904EDT