September is Healthy Aging Month

Healthy Aging Month is an annual health observance designed to focus national attention on the positive aspects of growing older.  Aging is a process that brings many changes. Vision loss and blindness, however, do not have to be one of them. There are several simple steps you can take to help keep your eyes healthy for the rest of your life.

Eye diseases often have no early symptoms, but can be detected during a comprehensive dilated eye exam A comprehensive dilated eye exam is different from the basic eye exam or screening you have for glasses or contacts. By dilating the pupils and examining the back of the eyes, your eye care professional can detect eye diseases in their early stages, before vision loss occurs. By performing a comprehensive eye exam, your eye care professional can check for early signs of –

Here are some other tips to help maintain healthy vision and body now and as you age:

  • Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Loading up on fruits and vegetables can help keep your eyes healthy and disease free.
  • Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes. Complications from diabetes, such as diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma, can eventually lead to vision loss.
  • Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your risk for age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and other systemic diseases, including cancer. Wear protective eyewear when outdoors. Protecting your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet rays when you are outdoors is important for your eye health. Choose sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation.

Even if you are not experiencing vision problems, visiting an eye care professional regularly for a comprehensive dilated eye exam is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of vision loss as you age.

 

Download “Everyone’s vision can change with age”
A handout with explanation on how vision can change with age.

Children’s Eyes

It’s said that the “eyes are the windows to the soul.”  If that is true, looking into the eyes of a child, it’s easy to see the beauty and innocence that all of us wish could be more a part of the world they will live in.

I’ve also heard that there is a wonder found in those eyes – a curiosity that opens the child’s brain and heart to all of life’s joys and potentials. 

The thought that those eyes could be threatened through accident or disease is a painful reality that all of us at Discovery are working to prevent through all of our cutting-edge research with your on-going support.

All too often I have been present in an ophthalmologist’s office when a caring doctor is forced to tell a family that there is a major problem with their baby’s vision.  Diseases of the retina such as glaucoma, or retinitis pigmentosa, are joined by diseases of the cornea like keratoconus.  It’s even worse when a family has to hear the diagnosis is retinoblastoma – or a cancer of the eye.  In these personal and painful moments, a family’s entire life is forever changed and their child’s struggle with vision will remain on-going and difficult.

August is “Children’s Eye Safety” month, and I can’t think of anything else more important to protect.  The eyes of a child are beautiful, full of innocence and love.  So, let’s make sure that they will continue to see the world with beauty and clear vision. 

The Discovery Eye Foundation is committed to finding the answers that will preserve the vision of millions of people.  Our groundbreaking research needs your help to move forward! 

To learn how you can help, click here Ways to Help DEF or click the button below to donate online. 
DonateNow

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision

sullivanvision.com

Low Vision

Low vision is the term used to describe significant visual impairment that can’t be corrected fully with glasses, contact lenses, medication or eye surgery.  Low vision causes a person to be unable to accomplish some daily tasks due to sight impairments. Low vision occurs when an individual struggles with any of the following common activities:

  • Reading
  • Everyday tasks like personal grooming
  • Viewing photos
  • Recognizing faces

Millions of Americans experience a normal loss of vision as they get older and the number of individuals who develop vision problems due to health conditions is projected to continue to rise.

There are many things that can cause low vision, including:

A few simple approaches can be:

  • Getting an eye exam
  • Update your reading glasses
  • Use bright light for reading

If these do not work for you, ask your eye care professional for help or ask for a referral to a low vision specialist.


Low Vision Technology 

Individuals with eye disease related to age, or vision compromised due to injury, may benefit from the usage of low vision devices.

There are two primary categories for low vision devices: Magnifiers for viewing things and objects that are close to you (magnifying lenses or machines), and magnifiers used for viewing objects and images at a distance (telescopic lenses). Many lighted magnifiers for close objects improve readability by increasing illumination.  With the advances in technology, many low vision devices are available to provide multiple function (near and distance) magnification and visual aid.

Technology is advancing to meet the growing needs of people with low vision impairment. There are a number of products that can help individuals with low vision. While considering the correct vision enhancer, keep in mind a few objectives:

  • What is the visual ability of the individual? Low vision aids are created with different options for specific low vision needs.
  • What tasks will the visual enhancer be used for? Find out what each product is best used for to decide if it will meet the needs of the individual.
  • Is the device easy to use? The right device should be easy for you to use.
  • How much does it cost? The cost of low vision aids can vary depending on a number of factors.

Popular products include:

Portable magnifiers and lighted magnifiers- offer magnified reading on the go. Perfect for menus, shopping lists, label reading, and more, portable magnifiers can fit in your pocket, purse, or be worn on the belt for quick, easy use.

 

Wearable magnifiers – wearable technology is the future for those with low vision who live an active lifestyle.  Wearable options make it possible to see and take part in everyday tasks, such as reading and recognizing faces.

 

Transportable magnification screens are perfect for close up viewing as well as distance viewing. These great viewers offer great flexibility, from watching TV to using the mirror image feature for self-viewing. There are APPS for smart phones that can be used to magnify reading material.

  

Desktop devices for reading books, bills or letters – these have large, bright screens. A reading table offers visual aid for reading books, optional computer connectivity and more. This family of portable magnification units offers up to 75x magnification.

 

 

Consult a Low Vision Specialist–Consider making an appointment with a trained low vision specialist if you have specialized needs. They are available in larger cities or can be found by contacting The Braille Institute or by an internet search. Talk with your low vision specialist to find out which is right for you and where you can find them.

In addition to low vision devices and good lighting, inexpensive non-optical adaptive aids can assist with routine daily activities. These devices include:

  • Large-print cookbooks
  • Large-numbered playing cards, clocks, telephones and watches
  • Electronic “talking” clocks, kitchen timers, thermometers, blood pressure meters and even pill bottles
  • Large felt-tip pens and wide-lined paper for writing notes
  • Color-coded pill boxes
  • Signature guides help in writing your signature in the correct place

Many of these items can be found at your local drugstore, discount store or bookstore. Your low vision specialist can recommend retail sources for non-optical adaptive aids.

Vision loss can definitely be alarming but learning how to adapt, with the aid of low-vision specialists, can result in continued independence.  As low vision aids are tools focused on helping with the physical aspect, it is also important to seek the help of a counselor for psychological counseling if needed or join a support group, that may provide the help you need. Finally, maintaining a social network and asking for help will enrich your life, and help maintain your independence and quality of life.

Resources:
www.enhancedvision.com
www.allaboutvision.com
www.nei.nih.gov
www.brailleinstitute.org
www.visionaware.org
www.aao.org
www.amd.org
www.californiaphones.org
 

 

 

 

 

 

My Best Gift!

The other day my daughter Blythe asked me which Christmas I consider to be my favorite.  I had to think a minute, because as a family, the Sullivan’s have had some great ones.  I was about to say the first time you and your brother Tom were old enough to really get into Santa, being absolutely sure that the fat man brought your presents right down the chimney.  I was about to say that, and then I remembered. 

The greatest Christmas I ever enjoyed was a ski trip in Winter Park, Colorado, when our children were teenagers and our friend, the marvelous Betty White, joined us for a Christmas Eve sleigh ride none of us will ever forget.  The night was perfect.  It had snowed earlier that day, and the air had a feeling of Christmas that you could almost taste.  Oh, sure, it was cold, but we were bundled up under tons of blankets as two beautiful Clydesdale horses with bells jingling took us through the woods to a magical barn where dinner would be served and carols sung. 

It was on the way home that my Christmas was made complete.  We had stopped to let the horses breathe, and everyone was quiet, just allowing the feeling of togetherness envelope us in that special night.  It was Betty who broke the silence. 

“Tom,” she said almost to herself, “I wish I may, I wish I might, let you see the stars tonight.  I feel like we could almost reach up and touch them.  That’s how bright and close they are.  I guess when you’re this high in the Rocky Mountains, it just feels like they’re right here.”

I could hear how much my friend wanted me to see such a heavenly display, but we both knew that could never happen.  I have no complaint about being blind, no one could have a better life, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit at this holiday season that I’d love to be able to take it all in, all the special sights of Christmas. 

Every day in laboratories around this country, researchers are working to solve the multiple eye diseases that make it impossible for millions of people to see the joys of Christmas.  At this holiday season, my best gift would be that all of us donate to the Discovery Eye Foundation with its goal to preserve vision and eradicate blindness around the world.  During this season of giving, may your hearts be light and your sight be bright. 

Merry Christmas!

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

 

Our Greatest Fear

The most intimate moment in the life of a parent happens as darkness overcomes the day and you tell your children a bedtime story, tuck them into bed, and kiss them goodnight.  For years, our son Tom needed a night light to eliminate his fear of the dark and allow him to sleep.

The other day I had the privilege of referring our friend Suzanne Thornton to Dr. Sameh Mosaed, a researcher and practicing physician at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute (GHEI) with a special interest in glaucoma. Over lunch our friend Suzanne candidly talked about her overwhelming sense of fear at her loss of vision, the recent falls she had taken, and the steps up or down she couldn’t see.  Thankfully Dr. Mosaed is very confident in Suzanne’s prognosis based on the cutting edge improvement in surgical outcomes for glaucoma due to her research at GHEI.

For 8 years I served as a member of the Academy of Ophthalmology’s Foundation Board.  In that time we conducted a number of studies in all areas of vision preservation.  The one that I believe was most meaningful occurred when we asked thousands of people to express what frightened them most in life.  Frankly, I was really surprised at the results of the study.  I was sure that people would say maybe stage four cancer, or ALS, or some other terminal disease would be the thing that would frighten them the most.  I would have imagined that they might talk about the loss of a loved one or even the fear of a natural disaster.  The results of the study were very clear.  62% of all the participants said that the loss of vision was the single most frightening possibility they would ever have to face.

The Discovery Eye Foundation is committed to relieving people of their greatest fear by supporting the research that someday may eliminate most forms of blindness.  We remain grateful for all of your support as we strive to overcome people’s greatest fear, the loss of sight

 

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

I Can Only Imagine

I can only imagine my wife’s beautiful face.  Oh sure, I’ve touched it and kissed it many times.  I’ve felt the lines with the tips of my fingers, tracing our lives together, and I’ve heard her smile.  I understand that’s not really seeing it.  It’s not seeing her eyes as they sparkle with something funny I said; or, when she looks at me with love reserved only for those who are truly in love.

She’s often tried to explain the flash and colors of a sunset and the cotton softness of clouds as they drift across the sky.  And, what about a rainbow made up of all the colors that somehow promise all of us that things in the world will get better. 

How amazing it would be to see my daughter Blythe skiing her favorite Colorado Mountain trail or my son Tom riding a California wave, both so secure and happy enjoying the sports they love. 

There is so much more I wish I could see, but it’s not going to happen because I am blind.  I am left with only imagining what it’s like to have the gift of sight.

I can only empathize with how a person feels when their vision is threatened by glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, and the most devastating of all, macular degeneration.

At the Discovery Eye Foundation (DEF) our researchers are working every day to overcome the loss of vision and preserve your ability to treasure all the beauty that surrounds you.  I’ve heard it said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.  I don’t know if that’s true, but I am sure that they are the single most important sense in the group of five, and that saving vision is a cause that must be supported.

DEF is committed to that mission, and with your help, answers to all forms of eye disease will be discovered.  It’s up to all of us to support the research that’s bringing us ever closer to those solutions.

If you want to help, please click the button below or download donation form to donate by mail, click here: DEF donation form

DonateNow 

 

 

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

A New Commitment to Vision

Meet Tom Sullivan – DEF’s Ambassador of Vision

Over the last 40 years, I’ve been committed to working on behalf of blind children and their families.  My involvement has spanned the entire gamut of participation – from direct involvement in the classroom and counseling parents to hosting organized 10K races and celebrity golf tournaments that carried my name.  In that time, my wife and I raised just over $8 million thanks to the generosity of so many people.  Though my commitment to this cause has not changed, I’ve chosen to take on a new challenge that has in every way re-energized my passion. 

I’ve recently become the Ambassador of Vision for the Discovery Eye Foundation (DEF), a remarkable organization that funds cutting edge research that I believe someday will eliminate many forms of blindness.  The principle reason for my enthusiastic commitment is largely due to the fact that DEF directly funds researchers and avoids institutional restrictions.

As of this blog, DEF is engaged in ongoing efforts to understand 5 main eye diseases – Retinitis Pigmentosa, Macular Degeneration, Keratoconus, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Glaucoma.  I can honestly tell you that breakthroughs are not only on the horizon, but in many cases they are imminent.  Over the weeks and months I’ll be telling you much more, specifically about our individual research projects.  

Any help you may choose to give on behalf of people struggling with vision loss will be deeply appreciated. I look forward to having many of you join my fight for sight. Your help can make a difference! Click here to donate.

 

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

 

 

A Second Vision

Kristin McDonald

For the last few years Kristin McDonald, a former actress and television spokeswoman, has been applying her make-up without the aid of her eyes due to retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that reduces a person’s peripheral vision until all that is left is a pinpoint of sight.

Today, she is in a first stage study that is offering her and others hope that the injection of stem cells might be the mechanism that could slow, and maybe even halt the effects of this horrible disease. Discovery Eye Foundation helped support many of the preliminary translational studies necessary to bring the clinical trial to the FDA and get this exciting, novel approach to the patients.

I am Tom Sullivan, Ambassador of Vision for the Discovery Eye Foundation, and I was rocked when my phone rang recently and I heard the sound of my friend Kristin crying.

“What’s the matter?” I asked with real concern.

Her tears were quickly replaced by laughter, joyous laughter.

“It might be working,” she said, “I mean, the cells just might be having an impact.”

“Meaning your feeling change in your vision?” I asked. 

“Tom,” she went on, “you won’t believe it. This morning when I was getting dressed and putting on my make-up, I saw my mascara in the mirror. Listen, I am not trying to tell you I can see, but since the cells were injected, I can focus on a light and even begin to notice shadows.”

“And, now,” she laughed again, “maybe I can put my mascara on straight!”

Kristin has no illusions about how far the injection of cells will take her; but, she is encouraged, as are many of the other patients who are part of Dr. Henry Klassen’s clinical study helped by DEF’s early stage funding.  Maybe the old phrase really does apply – you probably know the one I mean – “hope springs eternal in the human breast.” That goes for the researchers, the patients, and all of us who treasure the gift of sight.

To read more about Kristin McDonald, visit her website at secondvision.net

 

Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

Walk In My Shoes

Walk In My ShoesDiscovery Eye Foundation is pleased to present the following excerpt from a just-released inspirational book called Walk in My Shoes. It is the result of two years of collaborative effort and is a unique collection of 27 powerful stories by individuals who are experiencing or witnessing the challenges of losing not one, but two senses: hearing and sight. The writers of Walk in My Shoes offer a glimpse into living with Usher syndrome, a progressive disease leading to blindness and deafness. Walk in My Shoes speaks to the more than 400,000 people worldwide dealing with Usher syndrome, to their families, to the professionals working with them, and to the rest of the world.

All proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Usher Syndrome Coalition to help fund scholarships to its annual conferences and to support research for a cure. The writers inspire hope for anyone dealing with difficult life challenges.


MY USHER’S LIFE LESSONS
By Mary Dignan

I remember how I wanted to die, or at least for the Earth to open up and swallow me forever, when I read that memo telling me how I’d been asking questions that had already been asked and answered, and how I’d said things that were irrelevant and inappropriate at our meeting earlier that day. I had always known that the hearing problem was more of an issue than the visual field loss associated with Usher syndrome. Now, this memo was the proof that I never should have tried being a lawyer, that I had no business in this profession, and should just go home.

Instead of going home, I got up to close the door to my office, sat back down at my desk, and picked up the memo from Tom to read it again. Tom was my supervising attorney, and we had both been looking forward to that meeting with a potential new client. The work would be on an issue that no one at the firm knew better than I and we were sure we’d close the meeting with the retainer agreement in hand.

But the meeting just didn’t go well. It started off well enough, but there were some odd pauses in the conversation, moments of uncertainty and careful courtesy, and I didn’t feel good about it when it was over even though we did, in fact, end up with the retainer agreement. I was still thinking about the meeting a couple hours later when Tom’s secretary came into my office and handed me an envelope, sealed and marked “confidential.”

It was a memo from Tom. “Mary, I need to make you aware of some things I observed during our meeting today.” He listed specific things I’d said and described how I’d asked questions that had just been discussed, and how I’d said things that were irrelevant to the actual conversation. He said he and the client both knew I wore hearing aids and assumed I simply hadn’t heard things accurately. He said that because I had an excellent reputation as a truly competent professional, and because he and the client knew how well I knew the issue, they made allowances for me, and we got the account. Still, Tom was concerned. “Mary, I’m wondering if you’re not hearing as well as you used to, and if there is anything we can do to help.”

My hands were trembling as I put the memo back down on my desk, and I felt a hot flush rise up from my toes to my face. God, what an incompetent idiot I must have sounded like. I was even more embarrassed by the courteous smiles and patient repetitions, the polite allowances they had made for the incompetent idiot. It would have been better if someone had just growled at me to go put in some fresh hearing aid batteries.

But, when I read the memo yet again, I began to appreciate the inherent respect and sincere consideration Tom was showing me. Instead of confronting me with the painful truth, Tom could have just stopped working with me. He could have started whispering behind my back: ”Uh, best not give that assignment to Mary, she can’t handle it.” Or, “No, Mary’s not the best one to attend that meeting, she can’t handle it well.” And I would have slipped into miserable mediocrity.

He didn’t and, instead, he came to me and told me exactly how I wasn’t cutting it, and gave me the chance to find a way to measure up. I decided that before I handed in my resignation letter, I’d at least find out if there was a better hearing aid out there. I called my audiologist and told him what had happened. He told me I was already using the best and most powerful hearing aids available, but there might be one other thing I could do, “It’s time for you to get an FM system. Come on down this afternoon and we’ll get you set up.” This was an assistive hearing device that would enhance the use of hearing aids and therefore allow me to hear better.

I was in my early 40s then, down to less than 5 degrees of tunnel vision and wearing two high-power hearing aids. I still had good precision vision within my little tunnel. For the last 20 years of slow but steady vision and hearing losses, I had always figured out ways to work harder and smarter. It was the hearing losses that troubled me most. I’d been wearing the best high-power hearing aids for years, and was so good at reading lips and body language that it was easy to forget I had a hearing problem. But as my vision started to go and I could no longer read lips and body language well, we all began to comprehend just how deaf I really was. It didn’t matter so much that I was mowing down my colleagues in our office hallways, but responding inappropriately to clients and judges was a huge problem.

It took practice and patience to develop the skill to use my new FM system effectively, but the effort paid off. My FM system worked well because I made it work, and I made it comfortable for everyone around me to work with me.

There were several lessons, or rather reminders, for me out of that whole incident, including the fact that it’s just about impossible to die of humiliation, no matter how much you may want to. More importantly, I was reminded that everyone around me took their cues from me—if I was uncomfortable with the fact that I had to use an FM system to hear, everyone else would be uncomfortable with it too. So I not only learned to use the FM system well, I also learned to introduce myself and my tools with candor and humor.

”Hi, I’m Mary Dignan from Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann and Girard, representing the State Water Contractors, and that’s my FM system in the middle of the table there. It helps me hear, and I would appreciate it if you would not touch the mike or the wires because it sends a lot of irritating static directly to my hearing aids.” I’d pull my aids slightly out from behind my ears to make them obvious and then I’d put them back, and go on. “The other thing you need to know about me is that I only see through a little keyhole,“ and here I would make a keyhole tunnel of my fist and peek through it, “which means I can see you.” Then I would point at someone else, “But I don’t see Tom sitting next to you,” and pointing at Tom I would continue, “This is a good thing because I don’t like looking at Tom anyway.”

That would generate a few chuckles. “This is my cane,” I would add, picking up my telescoping white cane from the table and opening it. “I use this to find the stuff that doesn’t show up in my keyhole when I’m walking around and it’s also highly useful for whacking people in the ankles and patooties.” More chuckles, and then we’d move on and get down to business.

I learned not to waste energy on trying to cover up my vision and hearing challenges. That meant I had more energy to focus on doing my job, and doing it well. I didn’t worry about attending conferences or night meetings, because I learned how to use my white cane to get around on my own safely and gracefully. I also learned to ask for and accept a helping arm with grace. I learned that if you are good at your work, and especially if you are a good team player, your colleagues will be willing to make any reasonable accommodations you need. Even before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the term “reasonable accommodation” joined our vocabulary, I had no problem getting hearing-aid-compatible phones, lighting and other low-vision aids, adaptive computer technologies, and even cab rides when I had to stop driving.

I learned that when my colleagues knew I was putting my best effort into making things work, most of them were willing to put in a little extra effort themselves to help me out. Sometimes it was as simple as giving me an extra few seconds to get my FM system set up before they started the meeting, or steering me around pillars, potted plants and people that seem to always get in one’s way at a crowded conference, or giving me a ride home. Sometimes it was sending me a memo telling me honestly about some problems I needed to be aware of in order to figure out ways to solve them.

The FM system was a good solution for a few years. It turned out that, apart from the Usher Syndrome, one of the reasons I kept losing more of my hearing was an acoustic neuroma brain tumor that grew out of the cochlear nerve to my right ear. The surgery to remove the tumor saved my life but exacerbated my hearing and vision challenges so much that I had to give up my legal career.

Ten years after the brain tumor surgery I received a cochlear implant, which greatly improved my hearing. I still have trouble with background noise, and I can only hear out of one ear, but I hear better than I ever could before. It is the one thing in my life that has gotten easier. I am 60 now, with almost no vision left except some high-contrast shapes in a world of murky shadows spiked with glare.

Those lessons I learned years ago still apply today and I have come to realize that this is because they are Life Lessons, not merely issues particular to Usher Syndrome or any other disability. I have also come to realize that part of learning and developing one’s abilities is as much a lesson of disability as it is ability. One such lesson came from my friend Brian, an extraordinarily competent computer wizard who was born blind.

Brian can listen the way I used to be able to read a thousand words a minute, and his orientation and mobility skills are awesome. We often talked about the differences between being totally blind from birth, and going blind later in life. Apart from the life adaptation and grieving issues, the main differences we noted involved the ways we perceived and comprehended the world around us. I told him about a totally blind guy who had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept of transparency. He just couldn’t make out how a hard cold pane of glass that he could rap his knuckles on was something you could “see” through.

“Oh, I don’t have a problem with that concept,” Brian said. “My problem is pictures.”

“Pictures?” I questioned.

“Yeah, pictures,” Brian said. “How can you put a three-dimensional world onto a flat piece of paper?”

I remember my jaw dropping as I stared at him and began to comprehend how rich and real the world is to Brian. He can’t see any of it, but he knows it intimately. He moves in a world that he perceives physically and kinesthetically through all his other senses. He is always aware of how his surroundings feel, smell and sound. In a lot of ways, he is much more aware of and intimate with his world than most sighted people who superficially see their worlds from a distance and from a flat piece of paper.

Brian taught me that even though I am losing all my sight, I still have a rich world to perceive through touch, taste, sound, feeling, smell and experience. This, too, is a Life Lesson, not just an Usher thing, but it is a lesson sweeter because of Usher syndrome. It does not lessen the pain of losing my vision, and it doesn’t even necessarily make my life easier. But it does give me hope and joy. It is the reason I’m still doing my mosaics (with a little sighted help here and there), the reason I’m still in my kitchen baking from scratch and making up new recipes, the reason I can tell when I’m on the beach or in the redwood forest, or even just out on my patio enjoying the evening breeze and garden scents. And it is the reason I know I still have a good life to live.
 
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Dignan was diagnosed as mentally retarded before the moderate-severe deafness was diagnosed close to age five. She was then fitted with hearing aids and attended public schools. At the age of 20 she was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa and, years later, was told she had Usher syndrome, type 2.

Ms Dignan earned a B.A. in English/written communication from Santa Clara University in 1976. Her 21 year career in agriculture and water resources management issues includes work as a news reporter, legislative aide to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., and the California State Assembly Committee on Agriculture in Sacramento. She earned her juris doctorate with distinction from the University of Pacific-McGeorge School of Law in 1994 and practiced law until 1997. She now creates and teaches mosaic art and her work has been shown in several public venues including: Sacramento Society for the Blind and the Canadian Helen Keller Centre in Toronto, Canada. Her community service includes serving on the Sacramento Board of Supervisors’ Disability Advisory Committee, and on the Board of Directors of the FFB, Sacramento Chapter. She is a present member of the Sacramento Embarcadero Lions Club. Ms Dignan lives in Sacramento with her husband, Andy Rosten.

Layers of the Retina

The retina at the back of the eye is essential for all vision. Each layer of cells in this tissue serves a specific purpose. As we prepare for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month in February, a closer look at the layers of the retina and their function.

layers of the retina

Layers of the Retina

Choroid – This is made up of a layer of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the retina. Defect in the CHM gene can cause choroideremia, leaky blood vessels can expand in the retina causing wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy.

Retinal pigment epithelium – This is a single layer of cells that provide essential nutrition and waste removal for the photoreceptor cells. Accumulation of waste can lead to AMD and Stargardt disease.

Photorecptors – This is where the rods and cones are located that convert light into electrical signals. Rods help you with night and peripheral vision. Cones are more concentrated in the macula (the central part of the retina) and proved central and color vision. Death of the rods can cause vision loss called retinitis pigmentosa, while AMD is the loss of central vision.

Horizontal cells – These cells are connect to the photoreceptors that surround the bipolar connected photoreceptor cells and help the help integrate and regulate the input from multiple photoreceptor cells, increasing your visual acuity.

Bipolar cells – The dependence of each layer of the retina on each other is exemplified here. These cells take the electrical information from the photoreceptor cells and pass it along to other retinal cells.

Ganglion cells – These cells extend to form an optic nerve that conveys information to the brain and take the electrical information from the bipolar cells and process it to determine shapes, contrast and color. Glaucoma vision loss results from high intraocular pressure that affects the optic nerve, interrupting the signals to the brain.