Eyecare America

EyeCare America Promotes Healthy Aging Tips During September’s Save Your Sight Month

September 18, 2007 – San Francisco, CA – EyeCare America, a national non-profit organization that provides eye exams and eye health information to medically underserved communities, is providing 5 tips for a healthy aging eye in honor of September’s Save Your Sight Month.

“We find that many people don’t pay attention to their health until something goes wrong,” said B. Thomas Hutchinson, MD, chair of EyeCare America’s Seniors EyeCare Program. “By providing tips for a healthy aging eye during Save Your Sight Month, we are hoping to encourage seniors to be more proactive in the care of their eyes and vision.”

EyeCare America’s 5 Tips for a Healthy Aging Eye:
1. Vitamin A is great for your eyes and will help you maintain healthy vision. Foods rich in vitamin A include carrots, yams and dark leafy greens.

2. Find out your family history of eye disease. In many cases, having a family member with an eye disease, such as glaucoma, greatly increases your chance of getting the disease.

3. Protect your eyes from the sun. Over exposure to the sun’s rays can lead to cataracts. Your sunglasses should have UVA and UVB protection.

4. If you are over 65 years of age, have your eyes examined annually.

5. Call EyeCare America’s Seniors EyeCare Program to see if you qualify for a free eye exam.

EyeCare America encourages people to call the EyeCare America Seniors EyeCare Program. This program offers eye exams and up to one year of medical care at no out-of-pocket cost for seniors who are without an ophthalmologist (a medical eye doctor). To see if you, a loved one or a friend, 65 and older, is eligible to receive a referral for an eye exam and care, call 1-800-222-EYES (3937). The Seniors EyeCare Program help line operates 24 hours a day, every day, year-round. To supplement its award-winning referral program, EyeCare America has recently created a new website specifically designed to assist online users in learning more about vision-limiting diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.

The website, eyecareamerica.org, contains up-to-date clinical information about eye diseases that are reviewed by certified ophthalmologists (Eye M.D.s) with links to current treatments and even an interactive tour of the eye’s anatomy. Visitors can share important health topics with family and friends through a convenient email forward function and order free pamphlets that give in-depth information on treatment, tests/diagnosis, causes and risks factors for a wide variety of common eye diseases.

Other easy to use functions include online tools such as a vision simulator, which allows users to see how vision would be affected from common eye diseases, and informative videos, created by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, that will provide visitors with a complete interactive experience. EyeCare America, a public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, operates one of the largest programs of its kind in American medicine. All eligible callers receive a referral to one of 7,200 ECA volunteer ophthalmologists. The seniors program provides a comprehensive eye exam and care for any disease detected in the initial visit for up to one year, at no out-of-pocket cost. EyeCare America's Seniors EyeCare Program is designed for people who:

- Are US citizens or legal residents
- Are age 65 and older
- Have not seen an ophthalmologist in three or more years
- Do not belong to an HMO or the VA


About EyeCare America
EyeCare America provides eye care services to the medically underserved and for those at increased risk for eye disease through its corps of 7,200 volunteer ophthalmologists dedicated to serving their communities. More than 90 percent of the care made available is provided at no out-of-pocket cost to the patients. EyeCare America includes programs for seniors, glaucoma, diabetes, AMD and children, and is the largest program of its kind in American medicine. Since its inception, EyeCare America has helped more than 860,000 people. EyeCare America is a non-profit program whose success is made possible through charitable contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.