Lila Womack, Life Enrichment Coordinator, Helene S Mills Multipurpose Senior Facility

Lila Womack, the Life Enrichment Coordinator for the Helene S Mills Senior Facility, took the opportunity to bring 17 seniors to Prevent Blindness Georgia today for retinal imaging screenings that detect glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Known as the Georgia Retinal Imaging Project or GRIP, the screenings use a camera to take photos of the backs of the eyes. The photos are encrypted and sent via the Internet to an ophthalmologist/glaucoma specialist to be read. If signs of blinding eye diseases are found, the seniors are referred to an eye doctor for sight saving treatment.

The screenings are part of a Healthy Eyes field trip program that is being offered to Georgia’s senior centers by Prevent Blindness Georgia. Womack was already familiar with Prevent Blindness Georgia’s work so she leaped into action to reserve spaces for her seniors to attend this sight saving opportunity.

About 10 years ago, Womack worked as a family resource worker at AD Williams Elementary School in the Atlanta Public School System. At the time, Prevent Blindness Georgia offered vision screenings at her school to detect amblyopia or “lazy eye” blindness. Womack was instrumental in ensuring that a child who failed the vision screening, along with his family members, received sight saving eye treatment.

“You were gentle with the family as you worked with them. You provided them with resources and had a wonderful way of handling the situation,” she said. “Through the years, I’ve referred people in the community to Prevent Blindness Georgia.”

More Healthy Eyes field trips are planned and include the retinal screening, an educational video about blinding eye diseases, and a tour of The Visibility Store, a retail shop with low vision aids run by the Center for the Visually Impaired. To learn more or to schedule a Healthy Eyes field trip, call 404-266-2020 or email info@pbga.org.

Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, diminishes central vision and currently affects the vision of more than 2 million Americans, ages 50 and older and is a leading cause of blindness.  AMD is a progressive disease that if left untreated, can result in severe vision loss and even blindness.  The exact cause of AMD is unknown, but risk factors for the disease include age, race, smoking, family history as well as those with cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

A wide variety of foods including lentils, grapes, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, kale, certain kinds of fish, turkey and some kinds of nuts, have been shown to aid eye health.

Prevent Blindness Georgia offers a dedicated online resource for patients and caretakers to learn more about the disease. The website, preventblindness.org/amd, offers a variety of tools and information on everything from risk factors to treatment options.

Professor Jeffery said ”Researchers need to run full clinical trials in humans before we can say confidently that older people should start taking vitamin D supplements, but there is growing evidence that many of us in the Western world are deficient in vitamin D and this could be having significant health implications.”

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The 2012 Prevent Blindness America Investigator Award provides funding for research investigating public health related to eye health and safety.

Applications will be accepted in the following priority areas in adult vision, children’s vision or eye injury:

• burden/economic aspects of eye disease/vision loss on society
• best practices to integrate vision screening/follow-up care to system care access
• vision program effectiveness/evaluation

All research grants need to promote the core mission of Prevent Blindness America – preventing blindness and preserving sight. Basic laboratory science research will not be supported under this program.

The deadline for the ninth annual Prevent Blindness America Investigator Award is March 30, 2012. Grants are for a one-year period, up to $30,000, reviewed by ARVO, and commence on July 1, 2012.

For more information, visit: http://www.preventblindness.org/investigator-awards. Contact Nita Patel, PBA Director of Public Health at 312-363-6019 or npatel@preventblindness.org with any questions.

Prevent Blindness Georgia is working to encourage 100 percent participation in the Congressional Vision Caucus by all Georgia Congressional Members. Pictured are Barbara Myers, Director of Community Education & Advocacy for Prevent Blindness Georgia; US Representative Phil Gingrey, Co-Chair of the Congressional Vision Caucus; and Jenny Pomeroy, CEO of Prevent Blindness Georgia.

The Congressional Vision Caucus is a bipartisan coalition of Congressional Members dedicated to strengthening and stimulating a national dialogue and policy on vision-related problems and disabilities.

Its mission is to set forth a national vision strategy to raise awareness about the increasing number of Americans at risk for age-related diseases; provide a better understanding of the personal risk of vision loss and stress the importance of necessary steps to preserve and protect eyesight; inform communities so that they may prepare the treatment and rehabilitation services that will be needed; educate Members of Congress so they comprehend the scope of eye problems in our country; and ensure adequate resources are directed toward the research, prevention and treatment of eye disease.

We are grateful that Georgia’s US Representative Phil Gingrey has stepped up to Co-Chair the Caucus. Other US House members from Georgia who are members of the Caucus include: Representatives John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson, Jack Kingston, John Lewis, and David Scott.

We met with Representative Phil Gingrey last week to offer our assistance in urging Georgia’s other US House members to join the Caucus. They include: Representatives Paul Broun, Tom Graves, Tom Price, Austin Scott, Rob Woodall, and Lyn Westmoreland.

If you are a constituent, please thank your Congressman for either being a part of the Caucus or ask them to join. Go here to communicate with your Congressman. Let us know your progress so we can help.

As part of January’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month, we want you to make a New Year’s resolution to schedule an eye exam.

Glaucoma has long been termed the “sneak thief of sight” because it slowly takes away vision, often without the patient even realizing it.

Glaucoma damages the optic nerve which sends information from the eyes to the brain. When the optic nerve is damaged, peripheral vision begins to diminish.  If left untreated, over time, glaucoma may also damage central vision. Unfortunately, once symptoms are detected, the effectiveness of treatment diminishes. Early detection is key. Medication is available to reduce elevated intraocular pressure and prevent damage to the optic nerve.

Risk factors for glaucoma include advancing age, family history, nearsightedness, eye injury or surgery and the use of steroid medications.  Race is another major risk factor as, according to the National Eye Institute, glaucoma is five times more likely to occur in blacks than in whites and blacks are four times more likely to go blind from it.  Hispanics are more likely to develop glaucoma after age 60 than any other group.  For more information about glaucoma, click here.

Pictured below:  Grant presentations were made by John O’Kane, Kiwanis Foundation Chairman. And see the photo of the 2011 Kiwanis Foundation grant recipients. Laurie Irby and Jenny Pomeroy of PBGA are in the photo. We are honored to have been chosen as a grant recipient again this year.

It causes an array of problems such as aging skin, increased weight, a heightened risk of osteoporosis and cancer, and even having children with birth problems.

According to a study this week, winter can make a woman’s eyes look almost five years older.

Experts who studied 5,000 women throughout the seasons say circles and bags under the eyes appear significantly darker in the colder months.

They concluded that this appearance of aging is caused by a lack of sunlight, which leads to paler skin and emphasizes under eye bags. This is made worse by us all feeling more tired and lethargic in winter due to a lower level of vitamin D, which is vital for bone health and is generated by the body when it is exposed to sunlight.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2071360/Why-WINTER-makes-eyes-look-5-years-OLDER.html#ixzz1gRZjDxBv

The University of Georgia Delta Gamma chapter created a "Star Pupils" tree for Prevent Blindness Georgia.

displaying trees at the free festival, which is hosted by Embassy Suites Atlanta Galleria, through January 5.

The Prevent Blindness Georgia tree celebrates the more than 30,000 prekindergarten children who are vision screened throughout the state each year by Prevent Blindness Georgia certified vision screeners. Approximately six percent of the children fail the screenings and are referred to an eye doctor for further evaluation.

Amblyopia is a condition that develops in children and, if left untreated, causes permanent vision loss. Any condition that prevents the eye from having a normal visual experience can lead to amblyopia. The most common causes are strabismus (abnormal alignment of the two eyes), refractive errors (focusing problems), ptosis (droopy eyelid), and cataracts. Amblyopia can only be treated while visual development is ongoing. Visual development is essentially complete by age seven or eight.

The Galleria aims to raise $20,000 through this fundraising event. Visitors are asked to vote by donating money to their favorite tree. The money raised will be given to the charity of choice. Last year’s event raised $14,000 for the 25 Atlanta area non-profits that participated.

The hotel, which is located at 2815 Akers Mill Road, SE, Atlanta, is providing visitors with free hot chocolate and cookies while they visit and view the decorated trees. View more photos of the “Star Pupils” tree on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/preventblindnessgeorgia.

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