Gender difference in ocular diseases, risk factors and management with specific reference to role of sex steroid hormones

Abstract

Our eyes are windows to the world and to our soul. The approach to them offers an incredible space for conducting research to learn more about gender differences in ocular health and disease. There is inadequate data about gender differences to accurately plan and implement strategies to address the gender disparities. In this article, we discuss several conditions with ocular manifestations, focusing on those that disproportionately affect women more, with a specific emphasis on the role of sex hormones and the management of the conditions. Articles in the past two and a half decades were selected for this mini-review from the MEDLINE/PubMed database. The search terms used were: “Age Related Macular Degeneration,” “Blindness,” “Cataract,” “Diabetic Retinopathy,” “Dry Eye,” “Glaucoma,” “Ocular Diseases.” To restrict the articles found, we limited search results with the terms: “Estrogen,” “Gender difference,” “Hormone,” “Menopause,” “Sex Steroid Hormones.”

Keywords

• age-related macular degeneration
• blindness
• cataract
• diabetic retinopathy
• dry eye
• estrogen
• gender difference
• glaucoma
• hormone
• menopause-related ocular pathology
• menopause
• ocular diseases
• ocular health in women
• prevalence
• sex steroid hormones