Why Blindness Is More Common In Menopausal Women + What To Do

Let's take a closer look at what happens to a woman's eyes during menopause and the steps you can take to protect your eyes—a precious and underappreciated aspect of our health—before it's too late.

Most women aren't aware that sex hormones have power outside of menstruation and reproduction. But in fact, they have more responsibilities outside the reproductive system than they do inside it. You can see evidence in the brain and central nervous system1, which has more receptors for sex hormones than anywhere else in your body. The eyes are a part of the central nervous system, and so our sex hormones play a key role in eye health2.

Even small variations in the shape, elasticity, and moistness of the eye as we age can have dramatic effects on our vision. These shifts may seem subtle at first: dry eyes after a long day at the computer, itchy eyes during certain seasons, red eyes, slight vision loss. But each symptom is a message from the vision center in our brain trying to tell us that something in our body is out of balance.

Sex hormone imbalances are partly responsible for the four most common eye problems: glaucoma, macular degeneration, thyroid eye, and cataracts. Let's take a closer look at the role that hormones play in each:

Your eye makes fluid to nourish the parts of the eye that do not have blood vessels. However, too much fluid or problems in draining the fluid can cause damage to the optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve and increased pressure in the eye cause peripheral vision loss.

While the link between sex hormones and AMD is still undergoing study, estrogen is known to have the capacity to be both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative. This implies that lower estrogen levels may cause an increase in inflammation and oxidation.

Since the thyroid hormones and the eye are so tightly tied together, changes to our hormones influence the health of our eyes. A hypoactive thyroid can cause testosterone to drop. Estrogen helps spread the thyroid hormone throughout the bloodstream. Too little estrogen results in inadequate thyroid tissue, while too much can result in the formation of a goiter, the irregular growth of the thyroid gland.

Cataracts can occur postmenopause, but their link to hormones is still inconclusive. The same way the headlights on your car accumulate a film over time that blocks the light from getting through, your eyes can start to cloud with age. Most older women experience problems with cataracts at some point or another. Studies show that low estrogen levels6 may increase the likelihood that you will develop cataracts.

Healthy eye habits and practices can prevent the onset of many eye diseases including glaucoma, AMD, and thyroid eye. Try a few of these healthy eye habits to prevent vision problems:

While preventive measures may seem like a hassle, they are still easier than treating an irreversible case of AMD or glaucoma later in life. Incorporate a few or all of these vision habits for healthy eyes in midlife and beyond.

Our vision is precious, but you may not realize how precious until it's gone. If you don't want to know what it's like to forget your loved one's face, miss the sparkling of light on water, or miss out on the beauty of a full moon, you have to be proactive about vision health. Hormonal changes are often asymptomatic, so get your eyes checked regularly and nurture them always so that they can function optimally for decades to come.