Women

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Womens Eye Health.org andLions Clubs
International Foundation

• Good Habits for Healthy Eyes Protect your
  childrens vision for life

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Fact Sheet

• There are approximately 10 to 11 million blind
  and visually impaired people in North America
• There are over 161 million visually impaired
  people worldwide

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Fact Sheet

• Three fourths (3/4ths) of all blindness and
  vision impairment are either preventable or
  treatable

HOW?
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How to Prevent Vision Impairment

• Start young?start with your children
• Have your and your familys eyes examined on a
  regular basis
• Follow your doctors advice
• Know your family history
• Adopt healthy lifestyle habits
• Learn and watch for warning signs of eye disease
• Use eye protection

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Get Your Childrens Eyes Examined on a Regular
Basis

• Also, watch for these warning signs
• Changes in vision
• Changes in eye appearance
• Eye pain or irritation
• Infections or allergies

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VisionYour ChildReports

• Things are blurry
• Vision is distorted
• Trouble reading or doing other tasks that require
  sustained visual attention
• Problems seeing at night
• Problems with side vision
• Seeing double

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B. AppearanceYou Observe

• Redness
• Crossed eyes, or misaligned eyes. One eye appears
  to be looking in a different direction than the
  other
• Front part of the eye appears CLOUDY
• A WHITE PUPIL (often seen in photographs)
• One pupil larger than the other
• Anything that you think just doesnt look right

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Pain or IrritationYour Child Reports

• Any eye pain
• Pain when moving his or her eyes
• Excessive tearing
• Eye irritation (dry, sandy, gritty, tired,
  uncomfortable, etc.)

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D. Infections Allergies

• Signs of allergy
• ITCHING, ITCHING, ITCHING!
• Scratching/rubbing eyes
• Signs of infection
• REDNESS of eyes
• SWELLING of eyes/eyelids
• DISCHARGE, watery or mucous lids may stick
  together in the morning

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If You Observe a Warning Sign

• Get your childs eyes tested
• soon!

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Fact Sheet

• Risk factors for eye diseases
• Did you know that
• Risk factors for premature death due to heart
  disease or cancer are the same as those for
  blindness and vision impairment!

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Fact Sheet

• Risk factors for visual impairment blindness
  can begin in childhood
• Obesity
• Poor diet
• Smoking
• Trauma
• Infrequent eye exams
• Inadequate information

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Obesity

• Did you know that
• Obesity can lead to diabetes,
• which in turn can cause catastrophic eye
  diseasesin particular, diabetic retinopathy and
  cataracts!

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Poor Diet

• Did you know that
• What you eat is important for your vision!
• Eating a variety of vegetables and fruits, and
  eating more omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish,
  certain plant oils, walnuts, some eggs and other
  foods) can help preserve vision for a lifetime!

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Smoking

• Did you know that
• One third of age-related macular disease and
  cataract may be due
• to smoking!

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Trauma

• Did you know that
• That the National Society for the Prevention of
  Blindness states that one-third of vision loss in
  children under 10 years-of-age is from trauma!

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Infrequent Eye Exams

• Did you know that
• More than a third of parents with school-aged
  children have not had their child's eyes tested
  in the last five years!
• Among adults with diabetes, only 40-50 have had
  a dilated eye exam within the past two years!

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Be Eye Smart!

• Vision problems can, and often do, occur without
  you or your child noticing them.
• Its best to test!

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When to Get Childrens Eyes Examined
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When to Get Your Eyes Examined

• Adults should have their eyes examined too
• Healthy people with no risk factors should have
  their eyes examined
• At least once between 20-30 years old
• At least every 5 years between 30-40 years old
• At least every 2-4 years between 40-60 years old
• At least every 1-2 years after age 60 years old
• Its best to test!

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Follow Your Doctors Advice

• Certain people need more frequent eye exams, such
  as those who
• Have diabetes
• Have important risk factors for eye disease
• Have a family history of eye diseases
• Wear contact lenses
• Have an eye disease

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Protect Your Childs Eyes (and Your Own!)

• Most eye injuries are preventable!
• Provide appropriate eye protection (safety
  goggles)
• Keep chemicals away from children
• Wear sunglasses and/or hats when outdoors

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Take-home Messages

• Start young!
• Everyone should have regular eye exams.
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Encourage a healthy diet and balanced nutrition
• Include omega-3 fatty acids in the diet
• Help increase physical activity
• Dont Smoke! Smoking causes blindness
• Protect your childs eyes and yours
• Stay informed

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Presented byWomens Eye Health.orgworking in
partnership withLions Clubs International
Foundationto prevent blindness

• Funded through a SightFirst grant from Lions
  Clubs International Foundation to Womens Eye
  Health.org