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Lions Serving New Mexico Welcome to the
official Lions Clubs International Multiple District 40 (MD40) Website |
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Important Links State Programs Important
information for clubs Administration General
Screening Info |
New Mexico Lions Operation KidSight (NMLOKS)INTRODUCTION. The eye, muscles that control the eye, optic nerve, and the area of the brain that gives us vision are completely developed, no matter how perfectly or imperfectly, by the age of six. Vision deficiencies that may have occurred during development will be very difficult or impossible to treat after the age of 6 when vision development is completed. Many of these problems, when caught early enough can be completely corrected, and the earlier they are diagnosed, the better the chance of correction and the easier and less expensive the treatment. Children’s vision disorders include near sightedness, far sightedness, astigmatism, and other eye problems that can cause amblyopia.Amblyopia, or lazy eye, is the eye condition noted by reduced vision where the brain, for some reason, does not fully acknowledge the images seen by the amblyopic eye. This almost always affects only one eye but may manifest with reduction of vision in both eyes. It is estimated that three to five percent of children under six have some form of amblyopia. Both eyes must receive clear images during the critical eye development period. Anything that interferes with clear vision in either eye during the critical period (birth to 6 years of age) can result in amblyopia. The most common causes of amblyopia are constant strabismus (constant turn of one eye), anisometropia (different vision/prescriptions in each eye), and/or blockage of an eye due to trauma, lid droop, etc. If one eye sees clearly and the other sees a blur, the good eye and brain will inhibit (block, suppress, ignore) the eye with the blur. Thus, amblyopia is a neurologically active process. If not treated, the inhibition process (suppression) can result in a permanent decrease in the vision in that eye that cannot be corrected with glasses, lenses, or lasik surgery. Since amblyopia usually occurs in one eye only, many parents and children may be unaware of the condition. Far too many parents fail to take their infants and toddlers in for an early comprehensive vision examination and many children go undiagnosed until they have their eyes examined at the eye doctor's office at a later age. Early treatment of amblyopia is usually simple, employing glasses, drops, vision therapy, and/or eye patching. While detection and correction before the age of two is considered to offer the best outcomes, recent scientific research has disproven the long held belief that children over seven years old cannot be successfully treated. In conclusion, improvements are possible at any age, but early detection and treatment of amblyopia offer the best outcome. If not detected and treated early in life, amblyopia can cause a permanent loss of vision with associated loss of stereopsis (two eyed depth perception). Vision screenings such as those conducted by the Lions are needed for all young children. The 20/20 eye chart or acuity screening is not adequate. Note that amblyopia causes more visual loss in the under 40 group than all the injuries and diseases combined in this age group. PRIMARY GOAL OF NMLOKS. At a minimum, the primary goal of NM Lions Operation KidSight is to ensure that every Pre-K and K child (3-5 year old) in NM is screened annually. Children younger and older than this age range can be screened if a club has the equipment, financial, and personnel resources to do so. NMLOKS will also assist needy parents to fund their child’s eye exam and treatment if there is no other source (e.g., Medicaid, state children’s financial assistance program, etc.). |
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Questions or problems regarding this web site should
be directed to Bryson McCool, brymccool@valornet.com. |