Save your sight

By KATHERINE HOBY

At least 20 per cent of New Zealanders could have been saved from blindness if they had had their eyes checked early enough.

The New Zealand Association of Optometrists is promoting regular eye checks during September.

Its national director, Dr Lesley Frederikson, says the association is campaigning on the premise that regular eye exams by an optometrist can save our sight, or SOS.

"Regular exams can diagnose sight-threatening eye conditions so they can be treated and save sight before it is lost," she says.

"Diseases which lead to blindness such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma can be easily detected by your optometrist. If found early enough, they can be treated."

But Dr Frederikson says the treatments can only stop loss of vision, not restore sight.

"If New Zealanders are serious about preventing blindness, they should have their eyes checked regularly. Vision loss is a misfortune, especially if it is avoidable."

Everyone should have a basic eye test every two years, especially once they reach the age of 40.

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

The number of people facing the threat of blindness from age-related disease is expected to double over the next 30 years.

The association's campaign is supported by the Royal Foundation for the Blind, Retina New Zealand, Diabetes New Zealand and the Save Our Sight Society.

Further reading:
nzherald.co.nz/health