Eye Information-station!

What is AMD?
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a disease affecting the macula, which is located in the retina (links to 1.03.04.01.00). It currently affects 1.75 million Americans and is one of the most common causes of legal blindness and vision impairment in older Americans. AMD is painless. It affects the central vision needed to perform many daily activities like reading and driving.

Signs and Symptoms:
Blurred Vision
Small blind spots
Straight lines appear crooked

Causes/Risk Factors:
Increased age
Smoking
Obesity
Race (Whites are at a much higher risk for losing vision from -AMD than African-Americans).
Family history (People with a family history of AMD are at higher risk of getting the disease).
Women have a greater risk than men.
Prevention: Comprehensive eye exams are the most important component to ensuring overall healthy vision. To find an eye doctor in your area, use our Doctor Locator to the left.

The sun and your eyes. Friends? Enemies? Both.
Every day - whether it is sunny or cloudy, and despite the season - we are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Most of the time we don't even realize it, as UV radiation is invisible to the eye. However, out of sight should not mean out of mind when it comes to UV radiation. This is why you should make sure you and your family always wear sunglasses with at least 99% UV protection while spending time outdoors during the day.

Preventive Care
You've heard the old saying, "A Penny of Prevention Is Worth A Dollar of Cure".
By following some of the simple steps outlined in this guide, you may be able to save yourself time, money and vision loss in the future. The preventive care guide has been created to encourage you to protect your eyes from hazards in order to slow vision loss and avoid eye injuries.

Eye Protection
Exercise Caution Prevent Sports-Related Eye Injuries
Each year, 38,000 sports-related eye injuries are reported in the United States. Experts say that 90% of them could be prevented.

A survey by the Vision Council of America reports that nearly 9 in 10 people (89%) believe children should regularly wear protective eyewear when playing sports, yet just slightly over 1 in 3 (36%) report that their children actually do so.

Goggles should be standard equipment
Of course, nothing can prevent all sports-related eye injuries. But simply making sports goggles a part of athletic uniforms can significantly reduce the likelihood of potentially sight damaging injuries. Anyone participating in sports and activities should wear eye protection:

Low Vision
What is Low Vision?
Low Vision is a visual impairment that consists of partial sight or sight that isn't fully correctable with surgery, pharmaceuticals, contact lenses or glasses. The term low vision is most often used when referring to vision impairment resulting from such conditions as macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It affects nearly one quarter of the U.S. population. Warning signs include:
Signs and Symptoms:
Hazy or blurred vision
Loss of peripheral vision
Color confusion
Trouble reading, cooking or doing close-up tasks
Difficulty recognizing familiar faces
Light sensitivity (complaints that lights are too dim indoors)
Problems reading street signs or crossing the street
Diagnosis:
Only an eyecare professional can accurately diagnose the conditions associated with low vision. Tests performed during a regular eye exam will allow your eye doctor to determine if you have the condition. For more on the basics of eye exams,

Prevention: Comprehensive eye exams are the most important component to ensuring overall healthy vision. To find an eye doctor in your area, use our Doctor Locator to the left.

What eye doctors look for.
First and foremost, eye doctors use exams to check your clarity of vision and formulate a corrective lens prescription that helps you achieve the best possible eyesight. Also eye exams help doctors look for diseases such as:

Glaucoma, a condition characterized by high levels of pressure inside the eye. A leading cause of blindness, glaucoma affects over 4 million people- half of whom don’t know they have it.

Cataracts; a clouding of the lens inside the eye, that continues to worsen over time.
They become increasingly common in people over 40.

Macular Degeneration; is a progressive disorder that results in a gradual loss of central vision.

Amblyopia; also known as “lazy eye”. This disorder most commonly affects children. If not treated in its early stages, it can become a permanent condition.

Fortunately, these diseases can usually be managed if they are detected early enough. The best way to do that is with annual eye exams.

What is astigmatism? Astigmatism is a vision condition in which light entering the eyes is unable to be brought to a single focus, resulting in vision being blurred at all distances. Astigmatism is not a disease, but rather, a vision condition that is quite common. It often occurs with conjunction with other refractive errors like nearsightedness and farsightedness.

Why does astigmatism occur? Typically astigmatism is caused by the front of your eye (the cornea) being more oval than round, and not allowing light to focus properly on the back of your eye (retina). The causes of this irregular shape vary. In some cases, it may be hereditary or it may result from such factors as pressure of the eyelids on the cornea, incorrect posture or an increased use of the eye for close work.

How common is astigmatism? Most people have some degree of astigmatism. However, only individuals with moderate to highly astigmatic eyes usually need corrective lenses.

What are signs/symptoms of astigmatism? People with significant amounts of astigmatism will usually have blurred or distorted vision. Those with mild astigmatism may experience headaches, eyestrain, fatigue or blurred vision at only certain distances.

How is astigmatism diagnosed? A comprehensive eye examination by your doctor of optometry will include testing for astigmatism. How is presbyopia diagnosed? A comprehensive eye examination by a doctor of optometry will include testing your near vision. This will determine the extent, if any, of presbyopia. How is astigmatism treated?

Astigmatism can generally be optically corrected with properly prescribed and fitted eyeglasses or contact lenses. In recent years, a number of options to surgically alter the shape of the cornea, to correct to correct low or moderate astigmatism, have been developed. These include procedures called radial keratotomy (RK) and photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). Your doctor of optometry can help you decide if these procedures are right for you. There is also a procedure called orthokeratology, which uses a series of rigid contact lenses to provide improved vision for extended periods of time for people with astigmatism.

How will astigmatism affect my lifestyle?You may have to adjust to wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses if you do not wear them now. Other than that, astigmatism probably will not significantly affect your lifestyle at all

Signs and Symptoms of learning-related vision problems

• frequent loss of place when reading
• confuses similar looking words
• poor reading comprehension
• sloppy handwriting
• failure to recognize the same word in the next sentence
• complains of eyes hurting or headaches after reading
• avoidance of close work
• attention problems

The ergonomics of visions and computers
There are a number of things that you can do in your work station area to improve visual efficiency:

Take alternative task breaks through out the day.

When viewing screens with dark backgrounds, use lower lighting (about 20 to 70 foot candles or about one-half the normal office lightning).

The brightness of the computer screen and the surrounding should be closely matched.

The contrast between the screen background and the screen character should be high. Dark characters on a light screen are generally more legible than light characters on a dark screen.

Minimize glare on your computer screen with a glare reduction filter (look for one with the AOA Seal of Acceptance); by repositioning your computer screen; and by using drapes or window treatments. To locate source of glare place a small mirror in front of your computer screen. Keeping your computer screen clean can also help reduce glare.

Use an adjustable chair that helps you sit at a comfortable height, angle and distance from the computer screen.

Choose a computer with a detachable keyboard; a screen that tilts and swivels; and contrast and brightness controls.

Reference material should be on an adjustable holder, close to your screen and at the same viewing distance.

Computers and our children
Millions of children use computers in school and at home…for education and recreation. Don't forget that these suggestions for comfortable, visually efficient computer use apply to them, too. A properly designed workstation and regular optometric care will help them enjoy their computer use more.

Working smarter
The purpose of your computer is to help you "work smarter." By taking care of your eyes and vision and paying attention to the environment around your workstation, you will feel better and accomplish more.