As the turn of the century approaches, 76 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1961 face the prospect of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a potentially blinding eye disease affecting many older Americans.
To help inform baby boomers and others over 60 of their risk of AMD, the Sight & Hearing Association is distributing free information during the February observance of AMD awareness month.
AMD is an eye disease that attacks a small but important part of the eye called the macula, which is responsible for the most sensitive central part of vision. People affected by the disease often have trouble with many daily tasks such as reading and driving.
About 1.7 million people in the United States are legally blind and are unable to read, drive, watch television or recognize faces because of macular degeneration. More than 11 million have signs of the disease, and about 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
There are two forms of AMD that affect older Americans. In “dry” AMD, the tissues in the macula break down or become thin. While there currently is not effective treatment for this common form of AMD, vision loss tends to be moderate and slow.
In “wet” AMD, the more severe form of the disease, tiny blood vessels begin to grow and proliferate under the macula. These weak vessels often break and leak blood and fluid into the surrounding tissue, damaging vision. In approximately 20 percent of the cases diagnoses early, laser treatment can prevent further loss of vision from “wet” AMD.
It is one problem you can test for yourself by using the Amsler Grid (see illustration). A person seeing wavy distortions or a blank spot on the test may have early signs of macular degeneration.
To receive a free Amsler Grid and a fact sheet about AMD, call the Sight & Hearing Association at 651/645-2546 or 800/992-0424, or find our web site at www.sightandhearing.org.
Screening helps preschooler find a world of sound
For 4-year-old Brittany Sperr, passing a hearing screening this fall was a milestone. That’s because just one year ago, Brittany couldn’t hear anything.
Brittany and her brother, Stevie, attend the Head Start program in Forest Lake, Minn., where screeners from the Sight & Hearing Association tested their vision and hearing. Brittany passed her vision screening, but failed to hear anything during the hearing screening. When the screeners returned to test her four weeks later, she again missed all the tones.
Brittany’s mom, Cindy, immediately took her to see the doctor, who confirmed what SHA screeners had detected. Four short days later, which also happened to be Christmas Eve, Brittany had surgery.
“She was legally deaf,” Cindy said. “She couldn’t hear out of either ear. It sounds hard to believe, but we had no idea. The problem was not even detected at her physical.”
Brittany probably had problems since birth, says Cindy, because she had narrow ear canals. Since surgery, she hasn’t had any problems.
“Brittany really opened up to a new world after her surgery,” Cindy said. “She actually holds her ears because sounds are too loud. She has always been a quiet, little girl, so we wouldn’t have known. We really appreciate the great job the screeners did.”
For Cindy, the gift of hearing is not taken for granted. She is partially deaf in one ear, her father was born deaf in one ear and hard-of-hearing in the other, and Stevie, now 5, has tubes in his ears from a hearing problem he encountered when he was 11-months-old.
“My dad died Christmas Day last year, the day after Brittany received her surgery,” explained Cindy. “I remember he was so happy that day, because his granddaughter got a chance he never had.”
More than 600 people will benefit from a joint holiday promotion between the Sight & Hearing Association and InVision Eyewear, a Twin Cities specialty optical company.
In a program initiated during December by InVision President Matthew Goldberg, the company donated a pair of frames to the Sight & Hearing Association each time it sold a complete eyewear package. InVision placed advertisements in Mpls. St. Paul magazine and City Pages and aired public-service announcements on radio stations WLTE, KS95, Cities 97 and KDWB.
SHA will donate the frames to the Minnesota chapter of Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity (VOSH), an organization that sends teams of optometrists and volunteers to various countries in need of eye care help.
InVision has four metro locations: the Galleria in Edina, Minnetonka at 394 and Hopkins Crossroads, Uptown at Lake and Hennepin, and Victoria Crossing West in St. Paul.
The Sight & Hearing Association has teamed up with School Health Corporation, the nation’s leading distributor of school health products, to offer Know Noise® in School Health’s 1998 School Nurse Catalog.
The catalog will be distributed via mail to 60,000 school nurses and will be featured at more than 250 medical conferences in 1998. Sixty-two percent of school nurses recently surveyed by the National Association of School Nurses state they order from School Health Corporation.
Know Noise, developed by SHA in 1994, is a multimedia curriculum on hearing conservation that teaches elementary-school children the importance of protecting their hearing, how to deal with others that are deaf or hard-of-hearing and what it would be like to have a hearing loss.
Since the product’s inception in 1995, Sight & Hearing Association has sold approximately 230 Know Noise. With a national distribution, SHA will gain needed exposure and, as a result, added sales in its effort to prevent hearing loss.
How long will it take to damage your hearing while riding a jet ski, pushing a lawn mower or attending a rock concert?
SHA colorfully answers those questions with its new Noise Thermometer® poster. Targeted at teachers, school nurses, audiologists and other hearing care professionals, the glossy 24x36 poster illustrates the noise levels of various recreational activities and the amount of exposure time in which hearing damage will occur.
The poster is available through the Sight & Hearing Association for $9.95 plus shipping/handling. For more information, call 651/645-2546 or 800/992-0424.
The Sight & Hearing Association was recognized nationally for its public relations efforts pertaining to International Noise Awareness Day.
The Communications Section of the American Society of Association Executives recently awarded the Sight & Hearing Association its Certificate of Achievement in the category of Public Relations/Information Campaign for a Single Purpose.
The certificate is the second highest honor in the Gold Circle Awards competition. The 1997 competition attracted more than 1,000 entries in 22 categories. Sight & Hearing Association, whose annual budget is $350,000, competed against other associations with budgets of $2 million.
Julee Sylvester, SHA’s director of public relations/marketing, wrote and designed the press kit that was sent statewide to media last April in an effort to educate Minnesotans about the dangers of noise to hearing.
This issue’s spotlight focuses on Dale Olson, corporate controller for The Smead Manufacturing Company. He has three children and resides in Cottage Grove.
How long have you been involved with SHA? I was elected to the board in November 1996.
Why did you become involved with SHA? I was recruited by SHA President George May. George and SHA’s CEO, Vi Traynor, educated me about SHA and its mission, and I was convinced of the worth of the organization and that I could help contribute to its success.
What is one area where you can make an impact on SHA’s future? I have been a volunteer and board member for a variety of nonprofit organizations over the past 10 years. As an SHA board member, I can use that experience and my financial background to help ensure that the organization remains financially sound. A solid financial position is necessary for SHA to grow and accomplish its mission.
On the more personal side, what do you like to do in your spare time? My children are ages 12, 14 and 16. I enjoy the variety of activities they are involved in, as well as skiing, golf and bicycling.
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