World Sight Day is an international “day of awareness,” coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). The purpose of World Site Day is to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. It is held each year on the second Thursday of October. This year, World Sight … Continued
Low vision and blindness affect a substantial portion of the older adult population in the United States. Although new research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine indicates that the annual number of new cases of blindness and low vision among people aged 45 years and older is estimated to double during the next 30 … Continued
At the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 11-14, 2017, Dr. John D. Shepherd, Director of the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, delivered a powerful lecture on older adults, depression, and vision loss. Dr. Shepherd discussed his own experience … Continued
November is Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, which aims to increase awareness of diabetes and diabetic eye disease and encourage people with diabetes to seek treatment for vision problems related to diabetes. You can learn more about diabetes at What Is Diabetes? and ¿Qué es la diabetes? at VisionAware. According to Prevent Blindness America, diabetes … Continued
According to the United States National Eye Institute, “Older adults are at higher risk for certain eye diseases and conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, dry eye, and low vision. Eye diseases often have no early symptoms, but can be detected during a comprehensive dilated eye exam.” “More than 40 million … Continued
A growing body of diabetes, vision, and health care research indicates that significant disparities in the quality and equity of eye care exist throughout the United States, specifically within African American patient communities. This research includes evaluating the disparities in screening rates for diabetic retinopathy among minority patients, examining the rates of vision loss of … Continued
As our readers know, VisionAware is committed to providing current and reliable information about eye and vision research that is relevant to adults and older adults, many of whom experience late-life vision loss resulting in low vision. During the past several years, gene therapy has gained traction and offers promise for treating (but not yet … Continued
Vision rehabilitation professionals, including Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Vision Rehabilitation Therapists, and Low Vision Therapists, have long been aware of the need to incorporate sensory input, including echolocation, in their instructional programs. Human echolocation describes the ability of humans to detect objects in their environments by sensing reflected sound waves from those objects. Now it … Continued
New genetic research in diabetes, led by a team from Harvard Medical School, has identified a potential new therapy targeting RUNX1 (explained below) that significantly reduced abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, which is a hallmark of advanced diabetic eye disease. Although the research has been conducted only with “in vitro” (explained below) laboratory … Continued
May is Healthy Vision Month, a national eye health observance established by the National Eye Institute (NEI) in May 2003. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This year, NEI is encouraging women to make eye health a priority and has … Continued