PR Newswire (press release)
In honor of Cataract Awareness Month, EyeCare America, a public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, provides eye exams at no out-of-pocket cost to people age 65 and older [The medication assistance isn't relevant ...

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by Dolly Withrow
Daily Mail columnist

There's something about surgery that puts me in stitches. After a hip operation three years ago, the nurses at CAMC General Hospital's Trauma Center and I found something to laugh about every day.  I've learned humor is the oil that smoothes life's rough places, and surgery can present a rough place.

by Billy Wolfe
Daily Mail staff
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va.--West Virginians have been required for the past two years to get eye exams when they renew their driver's licenses. But those tests have led to very few drivers being forced off the roads for poor eyesight. 

"We don't have hard figures, but we estimate it is less than 2 percent of drivers," said DMV spokesman Steve Dale. "We haven't seen any kind of dramatic change in the number of licensed drivers."

With the aim of spreading awareness about vision health and eye care among the elderly people aged 65 and above, EyeCare America has come up with ‘Glaucoma Awareness Month’ during January 2011. The public program involves 7,000 volunteer ophthalmologists from across the US and Puerto Rico that will be providing no out-of-pocket cost eye care tests and offer free eye health educational material.

EyeCare America, a part of Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, has started a capmapign for elderly and those who want to take advantage of these services can check online from their website if they are eligible to avail them. Even relatives of the elderly can check with the online referral center to see if their loved ones are eligible and get the guidance in regard to the suitable volunteer ophthalmologist tied up with EyeCare America.

Measuring electrical activity of retina, researchers say, reveals early changes in disease process
-- Robert Preidt

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A test that measures the function of nerve cells in the retina may detect glaucoma at an early stage and help doctors evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, a new study has found.

Diagnosing glaucoma as early as possible -- before it destroys the optic nerve -- is key to preventing vision loss, according to the researchers, from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.