Last week, we shared a story with you about a woodworker living with vision loss that teaches his craft to others with eye diseases residing in Northern California. Napa artist, George Wurtzel, sees life in ways that sighted people can’t begin to understand, a fact not lost on Subaru of America; the favorite car company of outdoor enthusiasts featured Wurtzel in Subaru of America’s television spot called “See the World.”The advertisement is worth taking the time to watch.
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“The Unlikely Star of Subaru’s New Ad Has a Magical Way of Seeing the World”
Did you know that April is Women’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month. Prevent Blindness is an organization on a mission to educate, prevent vision loss, and preserve people’s eyesight. A study, The Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems, shows that 63 percent of those that are blind and 62 percent of those that are visually impaired are women. More women than men struggle with blindness, including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and dry eye.
Body modifications like piercings and tattoos are not a new trend, millions of people around the world display some form of body art. However, there are times when body mods come at a significant, life-changing cost. More and more people are open to cosmetic procedures that can change the whites of the eye to another color. If you are thinking, ‘What could go wrong?’ Then you are not alone, in fact, such eye procedures can cause permanent damage to the eye and blindness.
Smartphones allow the visually impaired a new sense of freedom and independence, thanks to several innovative applications. Now, blind people can utilize smartwatches to improve life quality. The Dot Watch has a touch display in which 24 dots rise and fall, spelling out words in braille; users can also link the watch to a smartphone via Bluetooth. The stylish watch can relay information from social media, texting and GPS apps. The Dot Watch is available to purchase for $359.
Master woodworker, George Wurtzel, doesn’t let vision loss stand in between him and his passion. Wurtzel teaches woodworking classes to the visually impaired at the Enchanted Hills Camp, which is now owned by the Lighthouse Center for the Blind. At the Napa workshop, you will find both sighted and blind instructors.
Douglas Waters developed vision problems almost three years ago. It turns out he was suffering from with severe wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The eye condition causes blurred vision or a blind spot. A few months after receiving his diagnosis he was selected to take part in a clinical trial at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. A stem cell-based treatment gave Waters his sight back; now he can read the newspaper.
New research identifies proteins that are linked to diabetic retinopathy, a common form of blindness that can result from diabetes. Two studies published recently could help healthcare providers grasp the connection and develop new intervention methods, potentially sparing patients from both vision loss and heart disease. More research is needed for better understanding the relationship triglyceride levels and the three identified protein pathways.
If eye problems are identified early enough, blindness can be prevented in many cases. The Lion’s Club has a long history of helping people living in darkness and advocating for vision loss prevention, thanks to a speech that Helen Keller gave to the organization in 1925. At the time, she was encouraging the Lions to partner with the newly formed American Foundation for the Blind. At the end of her talk she said:
World War I veterans who returned from overseas with eye injuries established the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) a century ago. Last week, the organization celebrated its 100th anniversary of "seeing beyond vision." As you can probably imagine, there were not many resources for people living with vision loss in the early 20th Century; thanks to advocacy groups like CNIB, countless visually impaired people can lead fulfilling lives.
On March 16, 2018, professional musicians living with vision loss will demonstrate the world’s first braille eReader at London’s Royal National Institute Of Blind People (RNIB). A “Kindle for blind people,” says Bristol Braille Technology in describing their multi-line refreshable Braille eReader. Are you are wondering why blind musicians will demonstrate using the device? It is because the Canute 360 gives musicians the ability to read multiple lines of music at once, a feature that traditional machines lack.
IDX, a company in Iowa City, created an instrument that the Food and Drug Administration calls a breakthrough device. The machine can autonomously detect diabetic retinopathy by taking photos of the eye. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness, causing vision loss in roughly 24,000 Americans each year. Given that more than 30 million Americans have diabetes, preventing vision loss is critical. Early detection can prevent vision loss, and the IDX device can help.
Diane Krek is a graphic designer who began losing her vision 25 years ago. Like many people living with blindness, Krek refuses to let her condition stand in the way of making art and helping others. In 2016, she launched BLT Art for a Cause; it serves as a platform to sell her artwork. Krek donates a portion of the profits she makes selling prints to vision loss organizations, such as Foundation Fighting Blindness, Pennsylvania Council for the Blind and Lions Club’s Leader Dogs for the Blind program. 
Blindness was a part of Hoby Wedler’s life from day one, and yet he still manages to accomplish remarkable feats. In high school, Wedler he enrolled in honors chemistry and chose to pursue a career in the field as a food and beverage sensory expert. He studied at the University of California, Davis, earning a doctorate in organic chemistry. In 2011, with the help of Francis Ford Coppola, he created 'Tasting in the Dark;' the program takes sighted people through a wine tasting experience in total darkness. A truly blind event!
Each day in the United States, about 2,000 workers sustain a job-related eye injury that requires medical treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Did you know that March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month? Sponsored by Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety group, the goal of Workplace Eye Wellness Month is to educate employers on how to keep vision healthy in the workplace.
Brad Snyder lost his vision when he came in contact with an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan. His story is one of inspiration, to be sure, a year after going blind he won the gold in swimming at the Paralympics; he has a loving family, great friends, and an excellent job. While, on the surface, he maintains a healthy perspective on life and it may seem like he’s got it pretty good (all things considered), he says that there is more to his story:
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Seeing-eye dogs significantly improve the quality of life for people living with blindness. Unfortunately, BBC journalist, Mohammed Salim Patel, has a phobia of dogs which led him to give up on the assistance of a service animal, until he met Digby. It turns out that dogs are not the only animals that can serve as guides for the visually impaired, Digby is an eight-month-old, two feet tall American miniature horse.
If you’ve ever listened to the voice of the Tuscan tenor, Andrea Bocelli, you might think you were hearing the voice of an angel. Bocelli’s story is one of inspiration; he was born with glaucoma, lost his eyesight at the age of 12, and went on to sell more than 80 million albums worldwide. His memoir was adapted into a biopic, The Music of Silence; the film was directed by Michael Radford (Il Postino) and stars Game of Thrones’ Toby Sebastian.
Blindness, or being visually impaired in any way, makes it extremely difficult to navigate through life, especially without help and compassion. Many people don’t understand just how hard it is or the kinds of discrimination that the visually impaired tolerate on a day to day basis. A video that has gone viral shows just what blind people are subjected to, often times.
Students at a public charter school in Utah had the opportunity to experience simulated deafness and blindness. Vista School students who participated in the simulation learned what it was like to live with deaf-blindness and how to interact with those affected by such conditions. The demonstration was organized and instructed by teachers from the Deaf-Blind Services division of the Utah Schools for the Deaf & the Blind.
Usher syndrome, the leading cause of combined deafness and blindness. ProQR, a RNA-based medicines developer, is joining forces with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to make QR-421a, which targets blindness resulting from Usher Syndrome. QR-421a corrects the mutation that causes blindness. The FFB has awarded €6M to ProQR for research and development.
Gail (McGuckin) Cornwell, 61, published her first book in a six-book series titled “The Gates of Avalon.” While she is unable to drive a car, technology allows her to write her novels on the computer, despite being legally blind. She is a testament to the fact that vision loss doesn’t need to deter you from fulfilling your dreams.
It’s fair to say that every adult stares at their smartphone far too often; some people spend over six hours a day on their phone. Smartphones are still relatively new, which means researchers are still learning the costs of having convenience at our fingertips. Well, troubling news for people who use their phones excessively, LED lights in device screens could damage the retina leading to eventual blindness.
It is not difficult to imagine how vision loss could impact one’s life in a myriad of ways. You might think that living without vision would be cause for losing hope. The truth is quite the opposite, and we can see examples of this all around us. Doctors diagnosed Danielle Umstead with retinitis pigmentosa when she was thirteen, a degenerative eye condition that causes complete blindness over time. Despite being blind, her father invited her to go skiing in 2001; she fell in love with the sport and the activity gave her life new promise.
A national clinical research trial led to some promising findings regarding storing corneal donor tissue. Until now, corneas could only be stored for seven days or less, if surgeons are going to use the tissue. The study found that the cornea, our eye's clear outer covering, is still viable for transplant after 11 days of storage. The findings appear in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Thanks to modern medicine the average American live longer than their ancestors. However, that doesn’t mean that a person’s body is going to function normally. In fact, eye diseases and vision loss are a significant public health concern; 4.2 million Americans ages 40 and older are visually impaired. Experts project that visual impairment will affect 7.2 million by 2030. As many as 5 million will struggle with low vision.
On the 28th of January, the 43rd Annual Ski for Light International Week came to a close in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Each year, the event works with visually impaired and mobility-impaired people, giving them cross-country ski lessons. Ski for Light has over 115 able-bodied volunteer guides training more than 250 attendees.
Braille code has helped countless people living with vision loss access knowledge for nearly 200 years. Without the 64 character reading and writing system, it’s hard to say how blind people would have fared in life; although, one can imagine not all that well. Today, computers and software open the doors to education for those experiencing vision loss; begging the question, is the raised dot matrix still required?
Anyone who has tried their hand at golf knows that it’s a challenging sport. People play the game for decades and still struggle to finish a round under par. Imagine, then, trying to play the game of golf blind, pretty difficult to picture, right? However, there is at least one man who’d disagree, four-time American blind golf champion Mario Tobia. The pro blind golfer has a degenerative condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, an eye disease in which the back wall of the eye (retina) is damaged.
Trachoma, a bacterial eye infection, is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. The most significant number of people affected by Trachoma-related blindness live in Ethiopia. Despite the fact that the blinding eye infection is easily treatable with antibiotics and simple surgery, the condition has been neglected. Experts say that the disease is not new, scientists found evidence of the bacteria in Egyptian mummies. The World Health Organization set a global target to end Trachoma cases by 2020
Seven out of 10 people who are legally blind are unemployed and 50 percent battle with depression. TIME Magazine voted eSight as a Best Invention of 2017, electronic glasses which can give people living with blindness the chance to see. The company pledged to help make blindness history by 2020. You can see the first time people see with the help of eSight, at MakeBlindnessHistory.com
Between 2010 and 2050, the National Eye Institute estimates that people affected by eye disease that can cause vision loss will double. Such conditions include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. However, there are several steps you can take to protect your eyes from experiencing problems, such as having regular eye exams.
Chris Visions, an artist who is known for Dead Letters and Gwen-Spider, is blind in his left eye due to Keratoconus, a progressive eye disease. Visions will undergo cornea transplant surgery at the end of the month. Keratoconus runs in the family; Chris’ father has had three cornea transplants for blindness.
ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) is a blinding eye disorder that the National Eye Institute says affects as many as 16 thousand preemies in the U.S. each year. Babies who are born prematurely are at risk of vision loss; Stevie Wonder was six weeks early, and it cost him his vision. Dr. Michael Chiang is an advocate for early screening and ROP treatment, fighting against two common obstacles to early diagnosis: accessibility to experts and a lack of standardized tests. Dr. Chiang uses an eye injection called Avastin in ROP cases:
Warren Moore was born with a condition called Coloboma, which involves underdevelopment of the retina and iris. In his late 30’s, he decided to quit teaching music after his vision began to deteriorate due to cataracts. Moore went on to start a catering company and opened several successful restaurants with his wife, Georjean. In spite of his blindness, Moore shows that following your dreams is possible.
Neil Harbisson, 33, is color blind but that doesn’t prevent him from being an artist. He can compensate for his achromatopsia, or complete color-blindness, through the use of an antenna that allows him to "hear" color through vibrations in his skull. Harbisson's implant gives him the ability to "see" in UV.
Experienced climber Brian Dickinson reached the summit (29,000 feet) of Everest just before he went “snow blind,” a form of photokeratitis that is the result of UV rays reflected off ice and snow. Circumstances led to him soloing the climb; if not for a series of miracles Dickinson, would not be alive today. It would be a month and half before Brian regained his eyesight.
There are coffee drinkers and tea drinkers, but it turns out that latter may be at an advantage—at least when it comes to vision loss. A new study indicates that daily caffeinated tea drinkers may be at a reduced risk of developing glaucoma; a group of diseases which are harmful to the optic nerve, resulting in vision loss and blindness. Millions of people worldwide suffer from glaucoma-related blindness.
There were an estimated 285 million people worldwide with diabetes in 2010, according to the journal Eye and Vision. More than one-third of people with diabetes have signs of diabetic retinopathy (DR), and a third of such people struggle with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR). A potential way of stalling or even reversing diabetes-related blindness has shown promise in animal models by suppressing levels in the eye of the protein that is believed to cause vision loss.
Most blinding diseases are the result of damage to the photoreceptors in the eyes. Photoreceptors convert light into an electrical signal that is sent to the brain, thus creating an image. Promising new research suggests that stem cells can treat blinding diseases. Doctors can place a stem cell in the deep layers of the retina, creating new photoreceptors. Researchers have successfully used stem cells to treat animal models with retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.
Edward Henry Greb, aka "The Pittsburgh Windmill," was the American light heavyweight boxing champion from 1922 to 1923 and world middleweight champion from 1923 to 1926. While he was a remarkable boxer (298 fights in 13-years), he achieved his championships despite being blind in his right eye. A boxing injury in 1921 resulted in a retinal detachment and blindness, a fact that he hid from the public. “Greb was one of the greatest fighters of all time," said Tommy Loughran, one of Greb’s opponents.
Christopher, a young boy with the voice of an angel, came into this world with the deck stacked against him. His aunt and uncle adopted him after a stint in foster care. Christopher was born at 26 weeks with cocaine in his system. He received oxygen for 100 days, but his eyes were unable to adequately develop—which led to retinal detachment in both eyes. Being blind and autistic made it challenging to communicate, so his adoptive parents hired a music therapist who quickly discovered that Christopher has perfect pitch.
Onchocerciasis, aka river blindness, is a disease caused by a parasitic worm transferred to people in tropical environments by black fly bites. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed onchocerciasis as a neglected tropical disease. Some 37 million people are living with river blindness, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. There are treatments available for the condition, but there is little economic incentive for drug companies to invest in a cure, according to two retired scientists who are searching for a cure. Please take a moment to listen to a short interview with the scientists.
In the 21st Century, it’s easy to take technology for granted, most of us rely on various gadgets to assist our lives, such as smartphones and GPS. However, for the visually impaired, technological advancements can monumentally improve life quality. A legally blind 16-year-old received the gift of virtual vision, just in time for Christmas. Alyssa Baxter is using Vuzix M300 augmented virtual reality glasses, the device helps her do many things, such as identifying colors, detect moods on faces, magnify surroundings up to 15 times, and read text in more than 100 languages.
Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that presents itself at birth or in the first few months after birth. The vision-destroying genetic mutation can now be treated with Luxturna, a gene therapy injection that replaces a defective gene, which prevents the retina from converting light into electronic signals sent to the brain, with a corrective gene. LCA induced blindness only impacts a small group of Americans, but the FDA approved intervention is a significant advancement in the field of vision loss.
An eye care company started a fundraiser called Holiday Lights for Sight. The company was able to raise money for a local child who is losing his vision, using a display of 20,000 lights, set to music. Jalen Rodriguez, is a junior in high school who has a rare disorder causing vision loss. Over $2,000 dollars has been raised to purchase a Braille notetaker for Jalen; the device is a specialized computer that will assist him with his school work.
New research could assist ophthalmologists in stemming the tide of macular degeneration. Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati and colleagues discovered that an enzyme called cGAS, which plays a vital role in the body's immune response to infections, unexpectedly has a hand in killing cells in the retina. Researchers are currently working to develop drugs that could inhibit the enzymes function.
Roughly 21 percent of blind or visually impaired adults over 25 years of age do not have a high school diploma, and only 22 percent have earned a bachelor's degree, according to the American Foundation for the Blind. With help, people with visual impairment can succeed in school, and pursue dreams of higher education. Lindsey Towns experienced vision loss at the age of 13, and yet she continues to excel in school with the help of her visual impairment teacher.
A UCLA study shows that 9 percent of adults in California have been diagnosed with diabetes, a severe health condition that can result in blindness, heart disease, stroke and infections resulting in amputations. High-sugar intake is one of the leading causes of diabetes. A significant number of Californians meet the criteria for prediabetes, which means the need for prevention programs is enormous.
Blindness or paralysis doesn’t keep people from fulfilling their dreams of achievement. Last week, more than 75 adaptive athletes competed at the 2017 Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship in La Jolla, CA. The four-day competition concluded with Team Brazil taking gold, Australia the silver, and Team USA the bronze.