An advocate of early eye checks

By KATHERINE HOBY

A few years ago Eila Byrne was so sure she was going blind that she threw out her beloved sewing Machine.

Today, the 77-year-old Auckland woman can not only thread a needle, but she can do so while in sole charge of her active 2 1/2-year-old great-granddaughter.

She says it is all down to having an eye check and a remarkable treatment that changed the life she would otherwise be living today.

A few years ago Mrs Byrne noticed the lines on her radio cabinet were distorted. So were the lines on the door. She could see a circle of gold sparkles and when she was in a dark room and looked towards a lighter room, there was a pear-shaped black spot.

She went to her optometrist, who told informed her she was suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in one eye and there was nothing he could do.

Eighteen months later, Mrs Byrne returned to the optometrist to have her other eye checked.

"By that time I had lost about a third of my sight in the first eye - I thought if I had two eyes like that I would be devastated."

Mrs Byrne's optometrist referred her to retina specialist Dr Dianne Sharp, who diagnosed early stage AMD in the second eye and recommended she begin treatment with Visudyne. This meant dye would be infused into the eye and then activated by non-thermal laser.

"I did exactly what she said and it didn't hurt a bit. She told me the fact I had come early really made a difference.

"But by this time I had already decided that I'd no longer be able to do knitting and I got rid of my sewing machine - that was it."

It was after Mrs Byrne's fourth treatment that a button came off her blouse. She decided to get a needle and thread out so that when someone came around they could fix it for her. When no one turned up, she decided to try herself.

"It was absolutely fantastic. I could see the eye of the needle. I screamed out to my husband."

Mr Byrne told his excited wife that they would go out and get her another sewing machine.

Mrs Byrne undertook a further two Visudyne treatments.

She was not sure whether she needed them, but she was not going to take any more chances with her sight.

Since then, Mrs Byrne has become something of an advocate of r early eye checks.

She advises all her friends to have regular eye examinations and if they describe any symptoms such as distortion of lines, she insists they go to the optometrist even if they think they have just got a headache. "You can't put a price on your sight."

Save our sight - key messages

* More New Zealanders than ever face the threat of blindness.

* Diabetes, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration are robbing people of sight in epidemic proportions.

* The number of people facing threat of blindness from age-related eye disease is expected to double in the next 30 years as the Baby Boomer generation ages.

* Blindness and loss of sight from most eye diseases and disorders can be reduced with early detection and treatment.

* The most important preventive measure is for people to have regular eye examinations by an optometrist.

* About 81,500 New Zealand adults and 13,200 children are blind or have a sight impairment that cannot be corrected by glasses or contact lenses.

* For at least 20 per cent of the people registered with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, blindness was preventable.

* Treatments are available for most causes of sight loss, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. However, treatments will only arrest the loss of vision and are not able to restore sight that has already been lost.

* Early treatment is critical to the success of therapy and this is particularly important in respect of macular degeneration, which affects 2000 more New Zealanders every year.

* For sight-threatening eye conditions it is imperative to diagnose early, treat early, and save sight before it is lost.

* Amblyopia affects nearly 4 per cent of NZ children and leads to permanent sight loss if not corrected before age 6.

* Sight impairment affects one-sixth of children aged 5 to 12 and limits their ability to learn, to read, and to play sport.

* Astigmatism, myopia, hyperopia, phorias and tropias are common sight impairments affecting children.

* With 80 per cent of children's learning being done visually, the finding and fixing of sight impairment are critical.

* Early detection and correction of sight problems is essential because development of the visual system is complete by age 9.

Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/health