眼科疾患が増加していることを心配しているが、ただ単に病人を心配しているのではなく、ポイントは眼科疾患の増加が医療費を増大させていることが懸念される、と言っている。ちなみにアメリカでは、白内障(cataract)単体の治療費だけで毎年$3 billion (=3180億円=3*1,000,000,000*106)使われているとのこと。
CHICAGO (AP) -- More than 28 million Americans over age 40 have eye ailments that put them at risk for vision loss and blindness, researchers say, warning that the numbers will surge as the population ages.Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide and the No. 1 cause of poor vision in the United States, affecting an estimated 20.5 million American adults. That number is expected to climb to 30.1 million in the next 20 years, researchers say.
...
Currently, 1 million Americans over 40 are blind. They are among 3.3 million who suffer from some vision loss, a number projected to reach 5.5 million by 2020.The numbers are of concern not just because of their magnitude, but also "because of the substantial increases in health care costs they spell," said Dr. Nathan Congdon, a coordinator of the research and an associate professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins.
More than $3 billion yearly is spent on cataract treatment alone, which usually involves surgery, Congdon said. Cataracts are cloudy areas that develop on the eye's lens and can result from injuries or age-related chemical changes
...read all the article, 全文を読む
Comments