PSA: Detect Vision Defects in Babies as Young as 6 Months Old!
Saturday, July 18, 2009 Posted by Jolly Mom
Both Mike and I have really poor vision. Vision problems such as glaucoma and cataracts run rampant in my family and I have even been diagnosed with high pressure in my eyes--meaning I will probably have glaucoma like my dad. All of this makes me wonder if Lucas will also have vision problems. What scares me is that visual defects are actually very common in kids.Check out these statistics:
- An estimated 200,000 children are born each year with visual deficits.
- According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), vision disorders are the number one childhood handicap.
- Only 21 percent of children in the United States have their vision screened before kindergarten.
- 72 percent of children with vision deficits go undetected until after the window for effective treatment expires.
- More than one in 50 children have amblyopia, a serious vision disorder, which can lead to blindness in one eye.
- Amblyopia is poor vision in an eye that otherwise appears normal. It occurs when the brain does not recognize the sight from that eye. It is very difficult to detect Amblyopia.
- 3.8 million adults are legally blind in one eye or visually incapacitated due to amblyopia.
How it works (from the website): After positioning three sensory pads on the child’s head, an operator initiates the test. Cartoon characters appear and music plays while a series of “attention-catching” stimuli are presented to the child on a video display. The Enfant™, using Visual Evoked Potential technology (VEP), recognizes the child’s neurological responses and processes the VEP data.
At the completion of each test, simple "pass/fail" results are immediately presented on the menu-driven operator screen in both graphic and numeric formats. The results are then printed out for the patient's medical record.
At the Enfant website, you can take an online quiz which helps parents determine if their child is at risk for vision disorders. And, the good news is that most insurance companies will cover this test! To find out more about the Enfant™ Pediatric VEP Vision Testing System, please visit www.enfantvision.com.
July 18, 2009 7:37 PM
Diet and specific nutrient supplementation can both help prevent the onset of glaucoma as well as help preserve vision for those with glaucoma.
There are number of peer review studies that show the importance of supplementing with a specific nutrients can help protect the optic nerve from damage including the following: alpha lipoid acid, bilberry, pine bark, gingko biloba, taurine, magnesium, vitamin B12,
Other studies have shown that a healthy diet which included, for example, at least 1 serving of green leafy vegetables such as kale and collard greens, decreased the risk of getting glaucoma for women by 69 percent (Coleman AL, Stone KL, Kodjebacheva G, Yu F, Pedula KL, Ensrud KE, Cauley JA, Hochberg MC, Topouzis F, Badala F, Mangione C ; Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group)
Daily eye exercises also help maintain healthy vision. For a demo of 3 great eye exercises by Dr. Grossman, one of the Country's leading behavioral optometrists, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W10j2fL0hy0
For more related research studies, see the "Research" section at Natural Eye Care for Glaucoma Prevention
July 19, 2009 4:53 PM
Piera,
Thank you so much for bringing such a vital issue to parents... my younger son went without glasses for far too long, and I should have known better because my eyesite is horrible and he suffered from debilitating migraines (also inherited from mom, poor kid) because of it. I have looked into the VEP technology and am truly impressed by the research and testing behind it. And while, I am not totally against alternative medicine, I do believe when it comes to your child's eyesite, you should REALLY check with your pediatrician (the VEP was launched at the 2004 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics) and other medical professionals and not just nutritionist, herbs (which are not tested and approved by the FDA) and acupuncturists.
Thank you again, for such wonderful information, Piera.
July 20, 2009 10:36 PM
My husband just had his one-year appointment after having Lasik done. They sent him home with info about getting our baby's eyes tested. His appt between the ages of 6 months to 1 year is actually even free!