Prevent Blindness Offers Free Resources to Help Educate the
Public and Allied Healthcare Professionals on the Many Types of
Inflammatory Eye Diseases, and Steps that Should be Taken to
Prevent Vision Loss.
CHICAGO, Sept. 12,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Prevent Blindness, the
nation's leading eye health and safety nonprofit organization, has
declared Sept. 16-22, 2024, as the
fourth annual Inflammatory Eye Disease (IED) Awareness Week.
Prevent Blindness is offering a variety of free educational IED
resources as part of the observance, including fact sheets and
social media graphics in English and Spanish, a dedicated webpage,
and expert videos. IED Awareness Week is supported by a grant from
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.
"We encourage people to visit our website,
download our fact sheets and watch our free educational videos to
learn more about IEDs and how to protect their sight." -
Jeff Todd, president and CEO of
Prevent Blindness
IED includes a range of conditions associated with eye
inflammation. Eye inflammation occurs in response to a variety of
causes such as infection, allergies, autoimmune disorders,
irritation, injury, or trauma to the eyes, eyelids, or surrounding
tissues. Although most cases of eye inflammation can be
successfully treated, serious disease may be present in rare cases.
Early diagnosis and treatment by an eye care professional is
important to help relieve symptoms and potentially save sight.
There are several different types of IEDs, including:
- Uveitis, the most common form of inflammatory eye disease,
causes about 30,000 new cases of blindness each year in
the United States. According to
the Mayo Clinic, types of uveitis are defined by which part or
parts of the eye are inflamed, including Anterior, Intermediate,
Posterior and Panuveitis.
- Keratitis, also known as a corneal ulcer, is an
inflammation of the cornea. Although treatable, this condition is
the most common cause of corneal blindness caused by infection in
the United States. Infectious
keratitis can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Noninfectious keratitis may result from an injury, improper use of
contact lenses, or dry eye.
- Thyroid Eye Disease, sometimes referred to as Graves' Eye
Disease, is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system causes
inflammation and swelling and stimulates the production of muscle
tissue and fat behind the eye. Up to one-half of people with
Graves' disease develop thyroid eye disease. In some people,
thyroid eye disease can occur with normal levels of thyroid
hormones or low levels of thyroid hormones.
- Conjunctivitis, also known as "pink eye," is an
inflammation of the conjunctiva. It is the most common eye
infection in the United States.
Conjunctivitis can be very contagious.
The Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Expert Series has a
variety of IED episodes including:
- Uveitis and Inflammatory Eye Diseases featuring Steven Yeh, MD, Professor and Stanley Truhlsen Jr. Chair of Ophthalmology,
Truhlsen Eye Institute, University of Nebraska
Medical Center. Dr. Yeh is also a volunteer on the Prevent
Blindness Scientific Committee.
- Thyroid Eye Disease and Mental Wellness with Dr.
Prem Subramanian,
neuro-ophthalmologist with the UCHealth Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye
Center.
- Thyroid Eye Disease with Sara T. Wester, MD, FACS, professor of clinical
ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and TED patient
Stephen Bander.
- Inflammatory Eye Disease with Ann-Marie Lobo-Chan, MD, MS, Associate
Professor, Co-Director, Uveitis Service, Director, Uveitis/Medical
Retina Fellowship, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences,
University of Illinois College of
Medicine.
"Because of the risk of vision loss, it's essential for
individuals to see an eye care professional if they experience
symptoms," said Jeff Todd, president
and CEO of Prevent Blindness. "We encourage people to visit our
website, download our fact sheets and watch our free educational
videos to learn more about IEDs and how to protect their
sight."
For more information on inflammatory eye disease, please visit
https://preventblindness.org/inflammatory-eye-disease.
For a listing of vision care financial assistance programs in
English or Spanish, visit
https://preventblindness.org/vision-care-financial-assistance-information.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading
volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting
blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of
vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of
people each year through public and professional education,
advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and
patient service programs and research. These services are made
possible through the generous support of the American public.
Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is
committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more
information, visit us at PreventBlindness.org, and follow us on
Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.
Media Contact
Sarah Hecker, Prevent Blindness,
312.363.6035, shecker@preventblindness.org,
PreventBlindness.org
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SOURCE Prevent Blindness