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 NOVEMBER: LAZY EYE AWARENESS MONTH

(Columbus, Ohio) – The Ohio Amblyope Registry [OAR], the first statewide registry in the United States for amblyopic children and their families, has designated November as Lazy Eye Awareness Month.

 Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is the leading cause of serious vision loss in children, affecting 1 in every 33 children.   If detected early, lazy eye can often be treated successfully. If not detected and treated early, usually in the first years of life, lazy eye may become permanent and result in the child having only one good eye.

 “Unfortunately, most children do not receive a vision screening or complete eye exam from an eye doctor before starting school,” said Larry Leguire, Ph.D., Executive Director of the OAR. Todd Baker, Executive Director of the Ohio Ophthalmological Society, suggests that children should be screened for eye problems and if a problem is found that the child be referred to an eye doctor for a comprehensive exam.  Optometrist William Lay of Westerville is an adult with amblyopia that was not detected early in life. He believes “there is no substitute for a comprehensive [eye] exam.” Once the initial diagnosis is made by an eye doctor, Lay encourages his patients and their families by reminding them that “diligence is the key to all amblyopia therapy. [Successful treatment] is a marathon, not a sprint.” 

 As a first line of defense against undetected eye problems, most schools provide a vision screening in kindergarten and first grade. When a child fails a vision screening, parents are strongly recommended to take the child to an eye doctor for a complete exam.   Unfortunately, some parents do not follow through with the recommendation, which increases the risk that the child will be handicapped by poor vision. “Parents think that their child would tell them if they had an eye problem or that they, the parent, would be able to recognize if an eye problem existed,” said Leguire. “Unfortunately, children simply do not know what normal vision is if they never had normal vision. In addition, many vision problems do not have an outward appearance and are not obvious to parents, resulting in delayed treatment of sometimes serious vision-threatening and even life-threatening disease.”

The OAR was created to encourage diagnosis and successful treatment of children with amblyopia by increasing public awareness of the disease, providing free information about amblyopia and its causes, providing free treatment supplies (eye patches) to financially eligible families, and providing free case management services. In addition, the OAR’s Web site, www.OhioAmblyopeRegistry.com, provides extensive resources on current research and treatment of amblyopia as well as a “Find an Eye Doctor” tool that allows anyone to locate a list of local registered eye doctors within Ohio.

Established as part of the Ohio Department of Health’s Save Our Sight Fund for children, the OAR receives funds from a donation box on Ohio license plate renewal forms.

More information about the OAR may be obtained by calling toll free (877) 808-2422, by writing to Ohio Amblyope Registry, 700 Children’s Drive, Columbus, OH 43205 or by visiting the website www.OhioAmblyopeRegistry.com.

 The OAR is funded by the Ohio Department of Health Bureau of Child and Family Health Services Save Our Sight program. Daily operations are managed by Columbus Children’s Hospital, the Ohio Ophthalmological Society and the Ohio Optometric Association.

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