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A Subscription to the Jewish News. 810-354-6620 Smart Steps To Safeguard Sight I JENNIFER PLANTIER COPLEY NEWS SERVICE is safe to say most of us take our eyesight for granted. Con- sidering that we rely on our eyes so heavily, it's curious that we think about them so rarely. And since we revel in the sight of the setting sun and our children's glowing smiles — they surely deserve more notice than they get. Some eye-opening statistics from the National Society to Pre- vent Blindness suggest just that. A recent survey of elementary school teachers indicates that as much as 30 percent of poor school performance may be the result of unknown vision problems. More widely, 50 percent of all blindness could be prevented with more diligent vision care. About 1-in-4 school-age chil- dren suffer from some sort of vi- sion disorder, and while teachers and parents detect some prob- lems, a large number of them go unnoticed. For this reason, it is advisable for children to have reg- ular eye exams. NSPB recom- mends that children receive an examination at birth, by six months of age, during the preschool years and periodically throughout the school years. Following are some of the most common eye disorders found in children. Keep in mind that the sooner many of them are discov- ered, the better the chances that sight can be preserved. • Myopia. Better known as nearsightedness, it can usually be treated with corrective lenses. • Strabismus. There are many children afflicted with this disorder that renders them cross- eyed. Treatment ranges from glasses to surgery. • Presbyopia. Requires the use of bi-focals, which are now also available as contact lenses. • Amblyopia. Often referred to as lazy eye, it can cause irre- versible damage if not treated be- fore the age of six. How can you tell if your child has a vision problem? Be pre- pared to recognize the following signs. • Rubbing, shutting, covering, blinking or squinting the eyes more than usual. • The child has a hard time reading or seeing things clearly in the distance. • The eyes appear crossed, or the eyelids red, swollen, encrust- ed or watery. • The child complains of dizzi- ness, headaches or nausea after reading, blurred vision or an un- comfortable feeling in the eye area. Some eyesight degeneration occurs naturally with age and other disorders are inherited ge- netically, but many problems can be minimized with prompt dis- covery and treatment. Adults should schedule thorough eye ex- aminations every other year, more often as they advance in years, and at the first signs of a vision problem. AMD, or age-related macular degeneration, has become the number-one cause of blindness in America. According to the NSPD, the blinding eye disease most often strikes people 60 and older, and is more likely to appear in those with a family history of AMD. Some forms of AMD re- spond to laser treatment, but only when caught and treated early. Cataracts also develop pri- marily in older people — in fact, more than half of Americans 65 and over have them to some de- gree. Cataracts cloud the lens of the eye, making it difficult to see clearly. Vision changes brought on by cataracts can be treated nonsurgically with lenses, visu- al aids and pupil dilation. In cas- es of extreme vision loss, surgery has proven highly successful in restoring vision. •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • bout 25 percent of school -age children suffer from a vision disorder. Glaucoma, another blinding eye disease, causes a build-up of fluid pressure in the eye. It also occurs most often in individuals over 55. Family history, steroid- use or some kind of eye injury can bring it on earlier in life. African- Americans should be aware that they are 15 times more likely to develop glaucoma before their mature years. Treatment ranges from eye medication to cor- rective surgery, depending on the stage and severity of the disease. n increase in awareness should prompt all of us to pay just a little more at- tention to the eyes that serve us so well. Here are some steps you can take to safeguard them from harm. Remember that 90 percent of blindness caused by eye injury is completely preventable. When working in an environment with flying debris — such as a con- struction site — or even when tackling a home-improvement A