Articles

[Ms. Kathy]

Scientists study tears
Source Link: Science Daily www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070119-21400500-bc-us-tears.xml
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Researchers in Ohio say they have made a new discovery about tears that could lead to a better understanding of dry eye disease and other disorders.

Scientists at Ohio State University say their discovery involves the outermost layer of tears, which scientists call "tear film."

Tears are made up of three microscopic layers. The middle, watery layer lies between a layer of mucus and an outer layer of fatty substances collectively called meibum.

In the meibum layer, the researchers for the first time have described a new class of lipids that make up part of the film. They identified one of the lipids, oleamide, not previously known to be part of tears, OSU said in a news release.

Meibum spreads over the eye with each blink, ensuring that eyes stay moist. Finding the lipids may help those studying dry eye disease, which affects 12 million to 14 million Americans, said Kelly Nichols, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of optometry.

"The lack of certain compounds in the tear film may result in a number of different eye-related disorders, including dry eye," she said.

The researchers reported their findings in the current issue of the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

[Ms. Kathy]

www.jsonline.com |


Original Story URL:
www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=555202


A work force to be reckoned with
Blind workers thrive at company
By MIKE JOHNSON
[e-mail]
Posted: Jan. 21, 2007
Jackie Ackley was despondent. Who wouldn't be?

She went blind for good in May 2001, losing the vision in her left eye less than two years after going blind in her right eye from complications from diabetes.

Ackley had to give up her job of 22 years at the Milwaukee County Zoo, where she was the animal services supervisor doing "everything else no else wanted to do" - vermin control, putting animals in crates, driving to the airport to pick up new arrivals.

She found herself sitting on the couch and watching soap operas. Strange, Ackley thought, for someone who loves to work.

"I was very dysfunctional and extremely upset," she said.

At one point, Ackley wished she would die. But then she got into a rehab program for the visually impaired and learned from a woman she met there about Wiscraft Inc.

The small manufacturing plant, 5316 W. State St. west of the Miller Valley, hired Ackley in 2002.

And as it did for so many people in situations similar to Ackley's, Wiscraft helped turn her life around.

Wiscraft has been doing that since 1903, first when it was a state agency known as the Wisconsin Workshop for the Blind. Since 1985, it has been a private, non-profit company that contracts with local, state and federal governments and companies such as Harley-Davidson Inc. and Briggs & Stratton Corp. to do assembly and packaging and machining work, including sophisticated computer numeric control machining.

Ackley, 55, of Milwaukee, said Wiscraft helped restore her independence.

"Sitting on the couch does not appeal to me. I have a strong work ethic. I like to function on my own," said Ackley, who was Wiscraft's employee of the year in 2005.

"The job gives you a feeling of accomplishment. You have contributed something," she added.

Employees at Wiscraft, where at least 75% of its direct labor force is legally blind, are quick to point out that their company is not a charity.

The 32 employees compete head-to-head with other companies for contracts. Wiscraft also does not receive tax support subsidies from local, state or the federal government. Workers rely on relatives, friends or public transportation to get to work.

"We don't want people to give us these jobs because we're blind. We don't want the sympathy kind of thing. We want the job because we can do the work for them," said Gene Hubbard, 57, ISO certification documentation assistant and a trainer at the plant.

"It's important to have a place where the culture is to encourage and adapt things for people who are blind so they can do jobs," said Hubbard, blind since 1977 from diabetes and a Wiscraft worker for 12 years.

Wiscraft isn't alone in providing employment for the legally blind. Industries for the Blind Inc. in West Allis also has a similar mission, and the majority of its workers are blind or visually impaired.

Robert Buettner, rehabilitation services director at the Badger Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, said companies such as Wiscraft play an important role in providing employment for the blind.

But Buettner said Wiscraft and similar manufacturing facilities should never be the only option for the blind.

"Our goal in our rehabilitation program is to help individuals meet whatever potential they have," Buettner said of the Badger Association, the region's leading resource on vision impairment and vision rehabilitation. "We work with people who are teachers, lawyers, people who work in information systems. They should have the opportunity to work in any field they choose and not be restricted to organizations that employ only the visually impaired or blind."

Mom's return to work works
Kathy Walters, 55, of Milwaukee, said she could have worked elsewhere, but turned to Wiscraft 14 years ago for employment because of its supportive work culture. She was returning to the job market after being a stay-at-home mom and raising her three sons.

If not for Wiscraft, Walters, who has albinism and is legally blind, said she likely would have had trouble finding a good-paying job with health benefits.

"I think I'm reasonably intelligent. But let's face it. I was a middle-aged woman with a high school education who was legally blind. I don't think there were that many job opportunities out there unless I would go back to school. And that was something I didn't want to do," Walters said. "So, Wiscraft gave me a chance whereas I don't think most others would."

Walters now is a lead person at the company, setting up the materials for the various jobs and assisting workers.

The company, meanwhile, is in the middle of a major leadership change. Bill Piernot retired as president and CEO Dec. 31. He had been with Wiscraft for nearly six years but suffered a stroke a couple of years ago.

"During his leadership time he was definitely an A-plus leader," said Kelly Draves, the company's chief financial officer. "He was able to increase business dramatically."

Piernot also led the drive for ISO 9001:2000 certification, the benchmark internationally for quality assurance.

Draves said she expects a new CEO to be selected in April or May.

The new leader will be somebody who "embraces the mission" of providing long-term jobs to the legally blind, Draves said.

College degree didn't help
That mission continues to help people like Emeric Rokay, 48.

Rokay, who has a degenerative disease that affects the retinas, is legally blind. He got an engineering degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1987, but no one would hire him when they found out he was legally blind, he said.

He started volunteering at Wiscraft, and after a few months, the company hired him in 1988 as production coordinator.

Now Rokay, who uses a computer with special screens that significantly enlarge type so he can read it, is the director of quality and engineering at the plant.

Wiscraft has "meant a lot to me," Rokay, of Wauwatosa, said. "It's provided a steady income. It's given me the opportunity to do some of the things I was educated to do.

"I think non-profit companies like Wiscraft are very important," Rokay said. "We're all human beings. We all have needs. One of those needs is to have an income and also to be able to do meaningful work that somebody actually values."


From the Jan. 22, 2007 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[Ms. Kathy]

SAMPOORN EYEYOGA for COMPUTER VISION SYNDROME
Source Link; www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=xtras&subsection=healthcheck&xfile=February2007_extraspecial_standard1040&child=extraspecial

Monday, February 19, 2007 11:24:6 IST Sampoorn Eyeyoga is a holistic method of treating eye disorders, and found mention in Chakshushopanishad - Upanishad of the eyes.
The world is getting increasingly digitised, almost everyone is spending maximum time with computers, laptops and other digital devices. Children are busy playing computer games, watching television, reading and writing for long hours. Interfacing with these devices offers us never before opportunities for information, communication and entertaining. However, this brings in its fold new types of eye disorders and vision related problems.
If asked for a solution to these vision related disorders, the only answer that comes to our mind is eyedrops, medicines, glasses or surgeries. However, the Sampoorn Eyeyoga claims to provide a solution to computer vision syndrome.
Since 1993, Sampoorn Well-being Technologies, located in 4 Kalanagar, Bandra (E) has been conducting courses to improve vision and get rid of glasses and over 6000 people around the world in the age group of 5 to 85 have benefited from this Eyeyoga.
Sampoorn Eyeyoga is a holistic method of treating eye disorders, which is a part of Vedic tradition. It has found mention in Chakshushopanishad - Upanishad of the eyes. The exercises were later rediscovered by an American Ophthalmologist Dr. W.H. Bates, who researched for 38 years on 30,000 animal and human eyes.
Dr. Kunti Nagwekar has synthesized the Western Bates method and Eastern Sciences of Sujok, diet, laughter and creative visualisation to design this unique course. “The course contains exercises like, sun treatment, ball game, candle light reading, snellen chart reading, bar swinging and many more. The children enjoy the play way method of treating eye disorders. These simple yet effective eye exercises relaxes the mind, strengthens the eye muscles, correct the shape of the eye ball and improves accommodation of the eye,” Dr. Nagwekar said.
Speaking further on Eyeyoga, Dr. Nagwekar said, “If done for a period of time these exercises can improve the vision and eliminate the use of glasses. Sampoorn Eyeyoga benefits people suffering from refractive eye disorders like myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism and presbyopia. Even organic disorders like squint, lazy eye and nystagmus can be benefited by this method.”

[Ms. Kathy]

Brain 'can beat early blindness'
Source Link: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6368517.stm?ls

The brain can learn to see in later life even if it has been deprived of visual input early on, work suggests.
One woman, who had her vision restored at the age of 12 by a cataract operation, performed almost normally on vision tests at the age of 32.

US experts say their studies show the brain is malleable in older children - which was doubted previously - and that the risks of surgery can be worth it.

And they have launched an initiative to treat blind children living in India.

Missed opportunities

About 450,000 children in India are blind, and many of those cases are preventable.

Most of the affected children live in remote areas where eye care is not available, and have conditions that could easily be treated, such as cataracts, vitamin A deficiency or conjunctivitis.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology team hope to reach more of these children through Project Prakash.

Lead researcher Pawan Sinha explained that as a result of their work already, eye doctors were more willing to treat older patients, which they previously thought would be hopeless.

"Before our collaboration with them, they would be very reluctant to treat children older than five or six years of age, but now they are much more willing to identify older children and treat them."

Restoring sight

He explained that his initial interest had been sparked by the case of the 32-year-old woman they studied, who they called SRD.

Before her surgery, SRD could distinguish between light and dark, but could not make out form or pattern.

Twenty years after the operation, which she had when she was 12, SRD's vision was as good as anyone with normal eyesight.


On tests, she had near normal abilities and was able to recognise objects and faces, judge depth order and match 2D and 3D shapes, Psychological Science journal reports.

Things she did struggle with was visualising objects with her eyes closed and judging people's gaze when based on the direction of people's heads rather than where their eyes were looking.

Studies in animals have suggested a "critical period" for learning how to see. Kittens, for example, have very limited recovery of vision after being reared for the first few months in complete darkness.

But Mr Sinha's work suggests this is not the case in humans. They plan more work to track the precise order and mechanism of visual skill development in children who have their sight restored.

Tragically, SRD recently died in a road accident. The researchers are contributing funds to help her 9-year-old daughter, who is now living by herself in a hostel for the blind.

Sonal Rughani, an RNIB spokesperson, said: "Whilst these findings are fascinating, this single case study raises questions about the accepted ideas about the development of visual function.

"In each case where delayed visual development causes visual loss, the patient's ophthalmologist can best advise on the course of action as each case of visual impairment is complex."

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/6368517.stm

Published: 2007/02/17 00:33:05 GMT

© BBC MMVII

[Ms. Kathy]

Missouri News
Source Link: www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=0B106F71-A9DD-EB97-98509759002C38AF
"Just Four More," Say Advocates for Blind
Wednesday, February 28, 2007, 10:01 PM
By Bob Priddy
Advocates for the blind say blindness skills specialists represent hope for the blind. They're hoping there's room in the state's 21-billion dollar budget to hire just four more of them.

Martinsburg resident Lisa Brandt is the mother of two blind daughters. One is an honors student in college; the other is a top student in the 8th grade. But she says too many blind students fail in college because there were no blindness skills specialists for them in high school. She says every blind child deserves unlimited possibilities and their chances are enhanced if there are blindness skills specialists to work with them.

Her 13 year old daugher, Sylvia, says she's had several experiences that would have been made easier if she had access to a Blindness Skills Specialist. When she was in the sixth grade she wa stold she could not take part in a math test leading to a statewide competition because it would be too hard for her. She says the teacher told her she should just read a book. But one civil rights complaint, and one year later, she was allowed to take the test and did well enough that she was able to compete at the state level.

A spokesman for the National Federaiton for the Blind says five of Missouri's professional development centers have these specialists. Four do not. She says the specialists are critical to the education of the blind---and to the sighted public school teachers who teach them.

[Ms. Kathy]

Neuroscience probes new frontiers.
By Simon Hooper for CNN.

LONDON, England (CNN) - The mysteries of the human mind
have tantalized and frustrated philosophers, poets and -
more recently - psychologists for centuries, yet new
breakthroughs in neuroscience could mean the brain is
finally starting to give up its secrets.

And while "brain caps" enabling us to control computers
directly with our thoughts and mind-reading machines may
sound like science fiction staples, both are examples of
the kinds of technology already being used by researchers
to explore, unlock and harness our innermost thoughts.

An exhibition currently on show at London's Science
Museum, "NEURObotics... The Future of Thinking?",
highlights some of the recent breakthroughs that could
mean we will soon be able to give paralysed patients the
ability to control their own movements, restore sight to
the blind or simply allow us to augment our senses beyond
their natural abilities.

"This technology is here and has the potential to
radically affect what it means to be human in the 21st
century," said the Science Museum's Emma Hedderwick.

One example that has already demonstrated its therapeutic
potential is the "BrainGate" chip implant developed by
American scientist John Donoghue, which enabled a fully
paralysed man to control the movement of a computer
cursor and a mechanical hand, as reported on Future
Summit last year.

Other scientists have developed alternative ways of
translating brain activity directly into intelligible
information, such as Berlin-based neuroscientist Klaus-
Robert Muller whose "brain cap" interface allows users to
type words onto a computer screen via a "mental
typewriter" after just 20 minutes of practice.

"Complex human-machine interactions are a long way off,
but they are possible - I'm optimistic," says Mueller.

Last month scientists in the U.S. also announced they had
partially restored the sight of six blind patients using
a robotic retina connected to the brain. Mark Humayun of
the University of Southern California, who led the
research, says a more sophisticated version could be
commercially available within two years.

While the current device enables users to "see" just
16 pixels - enough to identify simple objects and detect
movement - Humayun says the ultimate goal is to produce
a machine with enough resolution to enable users to
recognise faces.

"The models suggest 1,000 will be enough for face
recognition, and we hope to get there in five to seven
years," he told the Times newspaper.

Decoding consciousness.

One of the keys to advances in decoding brain activity
has been the development of more advanced brain scanning
techniques, such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(fMRI) which enables researchers to identify areas of
neural activity by monitoring blood flow to the brain.

By mapping which areas are activated by specific
activities, researchers are able to identify different
thought patterns.

In a recent study by scientists in Germany and the UK led
by John-Dylan Haynes of the Max Planck Institute,
subjects were asked to add or subtract numbers flashed on
a screen. By scanning their brains as they decided,
researchers were correctly able to predict their
intention.

"The consequences of this sort of technology are that we
can tell what you're thinking, sometimes even before you
know yourself," says Professor Geraint Rees, a
neuroscientist at University College London.

"By developing these techniques to decode consciousness,
we can understand more about what it is in the brain that
actually is consciousness. And if you imagine that I
could explain that, I'd be in a position then - in
principle - to directly decode your thoughts."

The ability to tell what somebody is thinking could have
important medical implications for patients unable to
communicate their thoughts explicitly, Rees says,
highlighting work carried out by Cambridge neuroscientist
Adrian Owen in which a woman in a permanent vegetative
state was shown to be able to understand and respond to
instructions from researchers through brain scans.

But other scientists and sociologists believe that a
deepening understanding of brain function could have
unintended consequences and serious social and ethical
implications for "mental privacy."

In the US, "brain fingerprinting" - a sophisticated form
of lie detector test based on brain imaging - has
already been admitted as a form of evidence in some court
cases. "The potential for surveillance of citizen's
thoughts has moved far beyond the visions of 1984," wrote
the British biologist Steven Rose in a Guardian article
last year calling for a public debate on the future uses
of neurotechnology.

"These technologies, for the first time, give us a real
possibility of going straight to the source to see what
somebody is thinking or feeling, without them having any
ability to stop us," Hank Greely, director of Stanford
University's Center for Law and the Biosciences, told The
Associated Press.

"The concept of keeping your thoughts private could be
profoundly altered in the future."

In the short term however, the practical consequences are
more likely to mean better therapies for the severely
disabled, says Rees.

"If you look at where the technology is now it is pretty
rudimentary," he says. "I don't think in 10 or 20 years
there's going to be a helmet you put on that will make a
robot exoskeleton walk around if you're paralysed. But
devices like the brain typewriter already work at a
functional level and it wouldn't require that much more
technological advance to make them deployable.

"That's why I'm optimistic about this kind of bio-
engineering. In terms of devices that may be useful to
patients in their everyday lives I think that is
plausible in the next 20 years."

Source URL:
www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/03/05/fs.neurobotics/

[Ms. Kathy]

Snip won’t be taken lightly by many in dark
By Peter Gelzinis
Boston Herald Columnist
Source Link: news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=187887&srvc=home

Monday, March 12, 2007 - Updated: 05:11 AM EST

At first glance, it is barely a blip on Gov. Deval Patrick’s budgetary radar screen. Unless, of course, you happen to be among those denied the simple luxury of a first glance.

From what my embattled governor tells me, we appear to be in a hole. I appreciate that. And yes, I realize that in the overall scheme of a $26.7 billion budget, snipping $100,000 from the Perkins Brailleg and Talkin Book Library and shaving another $18,000 off Worcester’s talking book program may seem piddling enough to be virtually painless.

But it won’t be painless, trust me. I know exactly who will be hurt. I know the echo of their voice. I can see their closed eyes and hear the sound of their fingertips as they brush across the wallpaper in their apartment, or dart over a kitchen counter to fix a meal, or pour a cup of tea.

I can hear their voices calling out to a loved one from the constant darkness, “Is that you?” I can hear it today every bit as clearly as when I bounded up the stairs, on my way home from Miss O’Brien’s fifth-grade classroom, to hear my mother greet me with, “Peter, is that you?”

I began fourth grade understanding my mother “needed to get better” by remaining at the veterans’ hospital in Jamaica Plain. My father also made it clear to me that her sight, which had been failing in the last days of that summer, was gone. What he didn’t tell me all those years ago, however, was that she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that ruptured her optic nerves, or that she endured two operations for which she was given the last rites. That would come later, after our lives had changed.

To borrow from that Lennon/McCartney truth, there are indeed places and things you never forget. I remember the pilgrimages made in a ’53 Plymouth from South Boston out to the Carroll Rehabilitation Center in Newton. Never having made peace with her blindness, my mother nevertheless struggled to adapt to her new reality: to master a cane, to learn Braille, to reacquaint herself with a typewriter keyboard, to paint, to sew.

But if raised dots on a page had been my mother’s only link to Hemingway, Faulkner, Jack London, Raymond Chandler, Saul Bellow or Charles thingyens, I know she would’ve gone mad. What she had, instead, was a narrator’s mellifluous baritone rhapsodizing from a gray, government-issued record player, illuminating my mother’s darkness with stories.

If I grew up loving the government for anything, I loved it for providing my mother with the free opportunity to “read” again.

Sure, there was television, and there was Arthur Godfrey during the day, and while Dad welded on the night shift, there was “Long John” Neville on the radio till the wee hours. But mostly, it was the “talking books,” red vinyl records that came packaged in a steel-reinforced box, that helped make her blindness bearable.

True, we live in a much different world. Today, we can “read” the latest Stephen King or James Patterson while we drive to work or sweat it out on a treadmill. The “talking books,” which were once the precious reserve of those who had no choice but to use their imaginations to beat back the darkness, have now morphed into a convenient compensation for our compressed lives, better known as books on tape or CD.

But then, not everybody can afford to drop 25 bucks to listen to a book. Be assured that for want of this rather piddling adjustment to a line item, citizens all across this commonwealth will be thwarted in their attempt to better cope with the darkness.

For me, this small budget snip is both personal and emotional. I do not apologize. You see, I know something about talking books and all that they can add to a life in need. Like I said, I know the people who will be hurt by this. I know what they look like. They look a great deal like my mother and, as much as I miss her, I’m glad she’s not here to see this bit of selfishness.

[Ms. Kathy]

New Eye Condition Striking Young Chinese Americans

FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Young and middle-aged Americans of Chinese descent are prone to a new eye syndrome that ophthalmologists are often mistaking for blinding glaucoma, researchers warn.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, in California, tracked 16 people for seven years and observed more than 100 others. They concluded that there's a new eye syndrome occurring in the young Chinese population in the United States.

Fortunately, this new syndrome may be less likely than typical glaucoma to cause severe vision loss or blindness, the authors said. They published their findings in the March issue of Ophthalmology.

Glaucoma results from damage to the optic nerve, which transmits information from the eye to the brain. It's believed that the optic nerve damage is caused by high eye pressure. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, affecting one in 200 people over the age of 50.

The Stanford researchers said that many young Chinese patients diagnosed with glaucoma have normal eye pressure. They suspect that the optic nerve damage is actually caused by stretching of the eye associated with nearsightedness, which rarely gets worse after age 30, meaning optic nerve damage may slow or stabilize.

This means that doctors need to carefully assess young Chinese patients with suspected glaucoma and not rush into aggressive treatment, such as surgery.

"If they don't appear to be progressing toward blindness right now, they shouldn't be treated as if they have a blinding condition, especially since surgery is associated with significant risks," Dr. Kuldev Singh, professor of ophthalmology, said in a prepared statement.

He noted that other researchers have reported an increase in nearsightedness among people of Chinese ancestry.

Singh and his colleagues are currently surveying young people of Chinese ancestry at Stanford. Their preliminary findings show a high prevalence of optic nerve damage.

"The next step is to learn more about the natural history and genetics of this condition and see whether there are subsets of the population more prone to it," Singh said.

More information

The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about glaucoma.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article can be accessed directly at:
/newsdetail/408/603135.html

[Ms. Kathy]

This seems to be a problem of late in the UK. Sounds like the same as in the US!! ~MsK
Source Link: Yorkshire Post News www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/news?ArticleID=2728378

Renewed hope for pensioner facing blindness

A PENSIONER was yesterday given hope of retaining his eyesight when a private hospital group intervened after learning the NHS will not pay for treatment.


Retired police officer Leslie Howard, 76, was told he would have to lose the sight in one eye before the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust – the most overspent in the country – would consider treating him.

Mr Howard, from Acomb in York, suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which could leave him blind within three months.

However, after the Yorkshire Post revealed his plight yesterday, Nuffield Hospitals stepped forward and offered to treat him for free as part of its 50th birthday celebrations.

Mr Howard, who lives with his invalid wife, Mary Ann, 70, said: "It's the most wonderful news to hear I shall be getting some treatment and we are extremely grateful to Nuffield Hospitals for their offer to fund treatment.

"I said before that my wife and I couldn't consider what life would be like if I lost my sight. We want to thank everyone, especially the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the media, for their help.

"However, while this is good news for me, many others could lose their sight because they can't get treatment. The PCT needs to start providing treatments for all people with wet AMD."

The Nuffield Hospital in Harrogate will administer a course of the drug Lucentis to Mr Howard. A single treatment costs about £700 and the charity will pay for up to eight shots.

Hospital general manager, Marge Falconer said: "We have been looking for a way to mark our golden anniversary locally. When we read about Mr Howard we realised that providing the treatment he needs at no cost would be a fitting gesture."

The RNIB, which has been campaigning on Mr Howard's behalf, welcomed the intervention of Nuffield Hospitals, but stressed other patients could be left without vital treatment because of a lack of NHS cash.

[Ms. Kathy]

The kids will like this. Consider whether or not you wish to let them see these links! ;D

Games are Good for You - Video Game Feature - Yahoo! Video Games
videogames.yahoo.com/ongoingfeature?eid=513460&page=0

Highbrid Nation » Blog Archive » Video Games Are Good For You
highbridnation.highbrid.com/?p=2029

[Ms. Kathy]

Computer Users: Learn to Baby Your Eyes
Source: www.medicinenet.com
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- There are few professions left that don't use computers in some way, just as there are few households that don't consider the family computer an essential appliance.

But all those hours online can take a toll on your eyes, experts warn.

"An increasing number of people are on the computer huge numbers of hours during the day," said Dr. Kerry Beebe, an optometrist in Brainerd, Minn., and spokesman for the American Optometric Association (AOA). "It does seem that particular visual demand can be tough to handle if there's anything less than perfect going on with your visual system."

Studies have shown that eyestrain and other vision problems can occur in as many as nine out of 10 people using video display terminals at work, according to the AOA.

The most common symptoms are eyestrain, blurred vision, double vision, excessive tears, dry eyes and excessive blinking or squinting. Visual problems also can result in physical problems such as headaches and neck or shoulder pain.

"Some people will have all of those and some just a few," Beebe said. "But anytime anyone comes in with those symptoms, we automatically ask, 'What are you doing much of the day?' They often spend many hours on a computer."

The radiation put out by a computer screen has nothing to do with these symptoms, although that's a common myth, said Dr. Jeffrey Weaver, director of the AOA's clinical care group.

"People are often asking about ultraviolet radiation, but any UV radiation from a computer screen is minimal," Weaver said. "If no one's getting a tan from using their computer, then it's not a matter for concern."

But if you're having eye trouble during or after computer use, you should have your eyes examined, Beebe said.

"Many times people will have a focusing problem or a refractive error where simply wearing glasses while using the computer will take away those symptoms," he said.

You should also take frequent short breaks, every half hour or so, Beebe and Weaver said. During those breaks, which can last just a minute or two, you should fix your eyes on a distant object to help refresh your vision.

"Just looking across the room or out a window can help a lot in keeping your focus relaxed," Beebe said.

The brightness of the monitor should be adjusted to an intensity comfortable to the eyes, according to the AOA. That means not too bright or too dim.

Next, you should adjust the contrast between the characters on the monitor and the background so the letters are easily read.

Finally, minimize reflected glare on the monitor by using window shades or curtains and dimmer switches on lights. Bright light sources also should be removed from the peripheral vision.

"Most offices tend to be way too bright for computer use," Weaver said.

To further reduce glare, position the monitor perpendicular to windows or other bright sources of light. You can also buy an anti-glare screen for the monitor, or wear tinted glasses, according to the AOA.

Dry eyes are another common complaint, for two reasons. Offices tend to be dry environments, and when people are reading a computer screen they tend to blink less. To combat dry eyes, take frequent breaks and keep artificial tears -- lubricant eye drops -- handy at your desk, Weaver said.

You can also prevent eyestrain by positioning the monitor in an ergonomically correct position, according to the AOA. The monitor should be located 16 inches to 30 inches from your eyes, depending on how large the screen is and how good your vision is. Most people find it most comfortable to watch a screen 20 inches to 26 inches away.

The top of the monitor should be slightly below your eye level, the AOA said. The center of the monitor should be 10 degrees to 20 degrees below your eyes, or about 4 inches to 9 inches below your eyes at a distance of 24 inches.

And don't forget to rearrange things when it's your child's turn to use the computer. In many situations, the computer monitor will be too high, the chair too low and the desk too high. Your office should have an adjustable chair that can be raised for the child's comfort.

Weaver said technology is evolving to help prevent eyestrain and vision problems.

Monitors have improved their contrast and resolution, and LCD screens, in particular, are proving easier on the eyes. Monitors also are including glare-reduction filters to keep reflections from causing eyestrain, he said.

"They seem to be easier on the eyes, although there's not a lot of objective evidence to say that they are," Weaver said.


SOURCES: Jeffrey Weaver, O.D., director of the American Optometric Association's clinical care group; Kerry Beebe, O.D., optometrist in Brainerd, Minn., and spokesman for the American Optometric Association; the American Optometric Association, Alexandria, Va.

[Ms. Kathy]

Kashmir's Blind Speak in Silence
J&K state Has Highest Blind Prevalence in india
Source Link: Kashmir Observer www.kashmirobserver.com/index.php?id=2895

Thomas Helm

Srinagar, July 14: We are treated like animals!" said anguished 25-year-old Aijaz Ahmad, a visually impaired resident of Sarai bala Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir has the highest concentration of blind people in India; out of 10,000 people 280 suffer from blindness, a steep 131 above the national average of 149. These unknown figures have been on full display since 2001 on a billboard hanging in the National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH) headquarters, Dehradun Utranchal, further revealing that Jammu and Kashmir does not have a single blind school to accommodate these large numbers.

In the early eighties there was one establishment, reportedly somewhere in Barbarshah area of Srinagar. The school was voluntarily run by one Kashmiri Pandit, teaching hundreds of boys and girls to read in the Braille System of education. However this school shut down in the early nineties due to civil unrest and remains closed.

The authorities might claim for one Abhinanda Home at Rambagh Srinagar, but Ahmad's experience shed the cold light of day on this institute: "I was told: you have no job at home so your parents put you here to relieve tension - what can we do when the government has not granted any funds to cater for your worries? Intended as a home for adult blinds to learn different trades and receive education, neither the infrastructure is available nor the staff committed enough to serve the purpose. This blind home run by the social welfare department is a disgrace." Ahmad left the home after two months having been denied teaching on recanning chairs, the actual reason he was admitted.

An alarming number of blind Kashmiri children have been emigrating into other states of India for want of education and rehabilitation, as monitored by NIVH. Director Dr. S. R. Shukla revealed that his institute is giving special priority to J&K State due its high concentation of blindness and inadequate facilities. Being a blind himself, Principal of the NIVH's school Mr. D.M. Gullati understands clearly the needs of those admitted. The school provides education from pre-schooling to XII standard with free boarding and lodging facilities. It also has a training centre for adult blinds of 18 to 40 years of age offering one year technical and non-technical courses.

Jammu and Kashmir's facilities cannot compare. Composite Rehabilitation Centre (CRC), a Govt. of India undertaking, came in to existence five years ago in Srinagar to rehabilitate the handicapped. Although having a good location and premises at Bemina by-pass near Govt. women Polytechnic Srinagar, it lacks facilities for the visually handicapped children, operating as a counseling centre for the sightless, never a school to learsn - an altogether shortsighted approach.

"The reasons for J&K State carrying the highest blind prevalence in India are varied," states Abid Gowhar, who has been personally researching Jammu and Kashmir's blind prevalence since 2004. He argues that the Muslim religious ethic of marriage between blood relations risks a high probability of disability in the offspring. "Due to the sensitivity of this issue, many Kashmiri doctors are unwilling to comment, but this medical knowledge is established the world over. In Iran and Turkey for instance, the government advises that couples marrying in blood relations should be screened before marriage to check for susceptibility to hereditary disease."

But inter marriage is not the sole reason. The majority of the population dwell in remote areas, meaning women do not get proper medical care and counseling during their pregnancy period, resulting in a new born child suffering from blindness. There has also been an increasing trend of self medication due to teenagers not getting regular and proper medical checkups and lack of quality ophthalmic facilities.

"However all these causes are 'imaginary' and one can not be sure about the actual," says Gowhar, "But the fact lies that despite knowing that a huge number of citizens suffer from partial or full blindness, the concerned government authorities have never shown any interest towards their rehabilitation, education or social integration. Unrealisation of blind people's potential and capability culminates in outcast and alienation."

Having spent much time dealing with blind children, Gowhar is aware of the special talents that sometimes result from this disability, including exceptional musical abilities and memory power. Amin, father of twelve year old blind Henna, confirmed these observations by saying, "I remember the number of times my blind daughter taught me what I was unable to understand. She carries a critic sense of everything and sometimes advises me as if I am her child."

Twelve year old Hena is one of many "disability migrants" who moved to Dehradun to enrol at NIVH's serene mountain setting. She admitted that rousing motivation from her parents had been difficult, as they, although well qualified, were completely unaware that there was anything that could be done to help. Upon arrival in NIVH, Hena was interviewed and medically checked up. She was given admission into 5th class and her permanent stay in the institute was discussed.

"The year 1979 was a historic achievement in the growth and development of the services for the blind welfare," revealed Dr. S.R.Shukla. "After two and half years, Ministry of Welfare granted full autonomy to the institute on 21st October 1982. The Institute is an apex body in the field of blind welfare in India and is considered to be the largest institute in Asia".

On top of educational facilities, the institute also has a well equipped health care dispensary headed by Dr. J.P.N. Mishra. In the recreation cum sports centre situated in school premises, there seems scope for blinds to take part in different games like chess, cricket and athletics. Sports coach M. L. Mishra was in fact coach of National Blind cricket team that played the "blind cricket world cup" in the year 2002.

The School's motto runs: "To create men who are capable of doing new things. Not simply repeating what other generations have done. Men who are creative, inventive and discoverers." The only question that remains with Hena now is: will Jammu and Kashmir ever catch up with Uttranchal's standard of blind education?

Rehabilitation

Following the Disarray of Disabled Healthcare

Anxious parents slumped over plastic chairs containing excitable children. This could be a scene from any normal school. Only here there is a difference. These are mentally disabled children waiting in line to be screened by specialists. It is part of the three day rehabilitation clinic set up and funded by the Valley Citizen Council at Canny Mission School.

"The problem is raising awareness, both in the government and the parents," admitted co-organiser Professor Syed Basim. "Many of these children never even see a school on account of the social stigma surrounding their illness. Even some parents are not medically aware enough to deal with their own children - they get fed up and frustrated at them. And yet there is no counselling service available to these families and no structured system of medical support for the children."

After a two day advertisement in a local newspaper just three hundred children turned up to be screened, a fraction of the number out there. These children suffered from Cerebral Palsy, Spasticity, Dystonia and other mental disorders. Four doctors specialising in Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Neurology and Epileptology were brought in from Bombay to host the event.

Reasons for abnormality in a child vary drastically but some are a direct result of ground level problems. "Infection during pregnancy or delivery is a result of unclean environs and inadequate facilities in hospitals. There are no properly established delivery centres or maternity homes in Kashmir," spoke Basim, whose experience in caring for disabled children neglected by the state has revealed this harsh truth.

Minister of social welfare Nisar Ali is described by his peers as being "honest, dedicated, and yet highly ineffective." Asides from the lack of well equipped rehabilitation centre and specialised education services, there are hardly any good diagnostic centres that can correctly identify problems of new born babies or fully grown children.

At the moment the only efforts are underground, with the likes of Valley Citizen Council at the helm of charitable treatment, although Basim admitted spreading the message isn't easy. 'Doctors offering care' have been active for a few years pooling and distributing medicine. They have two operational rehabilitation centres, one in room number thirty at the State Hospital and another in a paediatric hospital. Concentration is placed on home based care and integration into local schools, relying on money generated by local Muslim charities. However it is important to note that these are not specialists, simply GPs trying to do their bit.

Many children have also lost limbs from explosions. From the 25th to 28th June an artificial limb camp was hosted by the army, as if justifying the loss of real limbs by replacing them with plastic ones. Otherwise support is lacking.

Canny Mission School has a special section for the mentally challenged. It is in no way aided by the government. Founder Mushtaq Wani believes that these 28 children should be given special attention combined with integration with normal children. The alternative is outcast and alienation from society. "Mentally retarded children benefit greatly from spending time with normal children; it helps them learn how to conduct themselves. Bullying and suffering can result in a lack of social awareness and acceptance of their problem. Understanding needs to be promoted on every level of society." Perhaps these types of schools are the only realistic future available to JK's disabled children.

This is the story of India's second most corrupt state playing with lives. It seems there is a break down of trust and communication between the State and Doctors and Doctor and Patient - one only has to look as far as the recent Doctors' protests and their failure to be taken seriously to understand the blindfolded attitude towards healthcare in general. Simple village folk lack the medical and social understanding that could soothe endless misery. At the end of the three day rehabilitation 'open day', the assembled doctor's gathered to discuss the possibility of a future camp. But these efforts are only temporary - a long term care programme is anxiously awaited by the children.

[Ms. Kathy]

Terry Kelly on the 'gift' of blindness
'My responsibility is to help other people, adults and young people, come to discover the gifts they don't know they have'BILL CARR
The Daily News
Source Link: Halifax, The Daily News: Columns | Terry Kelly on the 'gift' of blindness www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=57219&sc=93

Terry Kelly has been a friend of mine for a number of years. He has always startled me with his unbridled enthusiasm for life and laughter and song; coupled with a true sense of concern for the needs of those around him. He sees what many so-called "sighted people" often miss.

Bill: Blindness is a profound idea in the human imagination and experience... yet I've noticed something odd about you.

Terry: I'm an odd fellow.

Bill: True, but blindness has never defined you; you have redefined it.

Terry: Ahhh ... That's a gift that was given to me by several people; by my parents, the teachers and the people we referred to at the School for the Blind here in Halifax as house parents, and multiple volunteers.

The stage was set in two different places ... by my parents who - maybe just by default because they had eight kids - didn't take the time to baby me too much. And it was set at the School for the Blind where it was an absolute mission and the very culture of the place ... which was to give you opportunities to try lots of different things and skills that will allow you to get out into the world and be independent and to give back to society - but it's a choice you've got to make.

They also made sure that we were accountable for what we did and didn't do. So if we chose to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves because we're blind, there wasn't a lot they could do about that, except to present opportunities to us ... but we weren't allowed to be rude or ungrateful.

Like at Christmastime, gifts were sent to us: we were given to all the time. There was a house parent, Ed Fraser, who has since passed, but he told us - when I was in about Grade 8, he said, "At Christmastime you're going to help service clubs fill hampers for the poor, and you're going to go out and walk in the snow and the cold and deliver them."

He also got us heavily involved in the Scout and Venture movement, where we had to go out and camp just like all the other kids. There were certain things we had to do differently because we were blind, but we weren't babied ... someone didn't make the fire for us. Nobody put up the tent or built the lean-to. We were taught to do that. We were expected.

They said, basically, "While you're here, we'll give you the opportunities and the choices, and we'll give you what you need to be successful. And if you want to sit around and feel sorry for yourself, that's your choice, but you're going to be accountable and respectful." And that saved my life.

Bill: Are you pushing other people's expectations of you as a blind person, or just yourself as a person?

Terry: Both. There is a funny thing that may have happened. When you do something as a kid - and even as an adult - as a blind person, people say, "Holy smokes! That's amazing!" When really it's not amazing.

But as a kid, you pick up on that and you say, "Hey, I like this. I want more of this."

I push myself a lot and I also do my utmost to help other people be comfortable with my blindness.

My dad, before he passed away, came out on the road with me for 10 or 12 weeks, and I did school presentations and corporate stuff. Now remember, I had been away from home for nine months of the year as a kid; I'd come home to Newfoundland from the school for summers and Christmas.

So I spent a lot of time away from family, and this was a great opportunity for Father and I to catch up. At the end of the tour, we were flying from Vancouver to Halifax and were bumped up to business class.

And we were sitting there sipping on a Scotch when he said, "You know, Terry, all my life I've felt guilty about something. I'm the carrier of the retinal blastoma gene that gave you cancer, and you lost both your eyes. I felt guilty about that all my life." He took a sip of the scotch and he said, "I don't anymore.'

Terry starts to laugh really hard and then leans in and says softly:

"Because," he said, "I've come to a conclusion after being out on the road with you; I believe your blindness is a gift."

And I thought, well, I can't really argue with that. And I started reminiscing about all the things I had done in my life to that point; lots of things had happened as a result of being blind. And I said, "There's one other thing, Father, that you and Mother may not realize you've given all the kids ... you taught us it's not what happens to us in life that's most important; it's what you do with it. You and Mother set an example so I could take this blind thing and turn it into a gift."

My responsibility now is to use the gifts that have been given to me - the volunteers who taught me to downhill ski and the international track competitions in the '80s - stuff like that.

They were all gifts that were given to me by a teacher or a house parent or a volunteer or my parents, and my responsibility is to help other people, adults and young people, come to discover the gifts they don't know they have.

Take that challenge; whether it's a learning disability or a jealousy or a physical disability, or whatever it might be, and turn it into a gift, as my father showed me my blindness had become.

I discovered something last November when I was doing a Remembrance Day ceremony. There were vets at this ceremony; one from the Second World War, (others) from Korea and Afghanistan. And we all had to speak to these elementary school kids for a couple of minutes or so, and I'm last and I'm sitting there thinking, "What am I going to say here?"

I was at the end. And it was one of those moments when it drops out of the sky to you.

I said, "You guys see these heroes sitting here, and you hear what they've done and see their medals, and you're wondering how you could be a hero.

"You can be a hero right now, after this class is over. You can be a hero by being kind to the person next to you, or picking something up for the teacher, or holding the door ... that's where heroes begin. You can be a hero right now. Would you consider that?"

I never tell them what to do. I always ask, "Would you consider that?" That gives them a choice.

There's that word again.

"And I think the absence of - I won't say religion, but religion can lead you to spirituality if it's good and it's healthy. But I think the absence of spirituality is part of what scares kids these days.

So, if there was a discussion of God in the schools - to talk about your religion or my religion and how I might worship differently or how I might come to my spirituality differently than you do, but in the end we really all come to the same place.

So when something happens in a kid's life, and a little thing turns into a big thing they have nowhere to go, and they'll want to go somewhere. Sometimes it's to a gang or to drugs, but they'll want to go somewhere.

I know as a kid, a seven-year-old kid, I travelled here from Newfoundland ... I remember the comfort of saying my prayers.

It was sometimes when I was afraid or when I said, "Thank you, God." I think that's part of what's missing. And to teach kids and adults the joy of giving back to this big world; if you can give them the joy of giving and saying, "I have gifts I can share with the world." How wonderful is that?

And then imagine transforming what you might perceive as a terrible thing in your life - as I did with my blindness, and I have to work at that every day - imagine if you can grow to say, "This is a gift!"

I'm grateful every day.

Terry Kelly is a gift. He's earned an Order of Canada and several music awards, as well as sung for and inspired audiences, young and old, right across the country and many parts of the world. For more about Terry Kelly, go to TerryKelly.Com.

Bill Carr lives in Rockingham where he is working on making things a gift.

[Ms. Kathy]

[I'm loving this editorial! ~K.]


Disabled lack media presence

November 8, 2007
Source Link: The Herald news www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/lifestyles/641315,4_5_JO08_VALERIE_S1.article#
Hello Americans, I am Valerie Brew-Parrish, and here is the rest of the story...

If my opening sentence sounds familiar, it is because for more than half a century, radio broadcaster Paul Harvey has begun his shows with that salutation. I do enjoy some of his broadcasts although he fell out of favor with me years ago.

I was driving to work listening to Harvey when he went on a tirade about a library on the East Coast that was being forced to ramp their entrance.

To paraphrase his broadcast, Harvey implied that the ramp would be too costly.

How dare these people with disabilities expect a library to provide a ramp!

At the time, I was working with Disney World to assist them with their accessibility features as well as major corporations. Harvey, with his vast numbers of listeners, just made my life and the lives of millions of others with disabilities much more difficult.

Not one American with a disability today has the bully pulpit that equals Mr. Harvey's. It is extremely rare to find a disability columnist in any major newspaper.

Now, here we go again and it feels like dójí vu. Once again, I am seething over Harvey's recent derogatory and destructive portrayal of blind people.

In addition to being a radio jock, Harvey has been touting the benefits that vitamins marketed by Hi-Health Supermart Corp. produce.

He claims that the supplements halt and retard macular degeneration, a condition that affects many older Americans. The product, Premier Formula for Ocular Nutrition-Optim 3, have run on Harvey's News & Comment show since 2002.

In his sales pitch, Harvey reads a testimonial from a user that proclaims the benefits of the pills. Harvey then bloviates by throwing in his own misguided bias by saying that blindness would equate the end of the letter writer's existence.

After all, the man would no longer be able to drive or earn a living.

Obviously, Harvey thinks a driver's license is the prerequisite to earning a living.

I was pleased that Greg Trap, the president of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, and the American Council of the Blind have both drafted letters to Harvey asking him to stop using such inflammatory language such as "go home and go blind."

Trap made an excellent point in his letter to Harvey when he wrote, "The tragedy of blindness is not the blindness, but rather those instances of persons who do not get the training that would enable them to overcome their blindness."

Trapp is an expert on this subject since he is blind.

The Federal Trade Commission fined Hi-Health $450,000 in 2005 for making false claims about the supplement. The ads continue, along with the misconceptions about blindness.

Perhaps, we haven't heard the rest of this story. Good Day!

Contact Valerie Brew-Parrish at [e-mail].

[Ms. Kathy]

William named as charity patron
Source Link: The Press Association ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hH2EwOLWsGKEWburwUTVLd3UM_ww

Prince William is to become patron of the 2008 Lord Mayor's Appeal.

The two charities which will benefit from the appeal are Wellbeing of Women, which funds research into women's health, and Orbis, which works to prevent blindness in developing countries.

William said his involvement was important to him due to the links his mother Diana, Princess of Wales had with the organisations.

The Princess became patron of Wellbeing of Women - formerly Birthright - in 1984.

William said: "I am so pleased to be the patron of the 2008 Lord Mayor's Appeal. Becoming involved in this way is particularly special for me because of the past association and commitment of my mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, to both Wellbeing of Women and Orbis.

"These charities do such an amazing job in helping to solve women's health problems and saving sight worldwide.I look forward to lending my support to their remarkable efforts over the coming year."

William's role will last one year.

Wellbeing of Women supports research into and the development of specialist doctors and nurses for reproductive and gynaecological health.

The Princess sent a letter of support to Orbis in October 1995, Clarence House said.

The appeal money will be used for a childhood blindness programme in India. It will help develop two specialist eye care centres, in Jaipur and Udaipur, where there are currently no trained paediatric ophthalmologists.