• Children with vision problems are often misdiagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and other learning difficulties.
• There are over 1 million nerves connecting each eye to the brain.
• The average person blinks 12 times a minute.
• The front of the eye, the cornea, is the only part of the body that receives its oxygen directly from the air, not the lungs.
• The retina is made up of 2 types of nerves, known as ‘rods and cones’. Rods are responsible for night vision and seeing shapes, whereas cones provide sharp vision and decipher colors.
• Heterochromia occurs when the eyes have different colors; this condition affects less than 1% of the population.
• Only in-person comprehensive eye exams ensure healthy vision.

Did you know…?

• Eye diseases, vision loss, and eye disorders create an estimated $139 billion economic burden in the U.S. and millions of Americans suffer from untreated or undiagnosed vision impairments.
• School vision screenings are not equal to a comprehensive eye exam. 75% of school vision screenings miss children with eye or vision problems.
• Diabetes is the third leading cause of blindness in the United States U.S., however most diabetes-related blindness can be prevented by an annual eye exam.
• 401,000+ cases of diabetes-related manifestations were first detected by a doctor of optometry in 2017.

What is an Optometrist?

Optometrists are physicians who prescribe medications to treat eye diseases in drop, ointment or pill form. They also treat eye trauma and acute eye infections: corneal abrasions, chemical burns, foreign bodies on the surface of the eye or eyelids, thermal burns, conjunctivitis, and inflammation of the iris.

• Doctors of optometry provide more than two-thirds of primary eye health care in America and more than 99% of the U.S. population lives in counties with a doctor of optometry.
• Doctors of optometry in West Virginia are geographically accessible, which is great news for many senior citizens who have difficulty traveling long distances to see a doctor.
• After undergraduate college training, the post-graduate, doctoral-level degree program in optometry is comprised of an additional four years of extensive classroom, laboratory, and clinical training at an accredited optometry school.
• While concentrating on the eye and visual system, optometrists also study systemic health in courses such as human anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacology, and physiology that allow them to understand how a patient's overall medical condition relates to the eyes.
• Optometry students and doctors are learning advanced procedures through accredited schools of optometry but are not allowed to practice those same procedures in our state due to a restrictive scope of practice. This leaves many in our state with limited access to eye care. These procedures could protect patients from losing vision due to glaucoma and other eye diseases.

Optometric patients should not be denied the ability to receive the latest healthcare innovations in their local communities.

References

• https://www.cdc.gov/features/healthyvision/index.html
• National Eye Institute, Eye Disease Statistics, 2014.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Making Eye Health A Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow, 2016.
• https://www.cdc.gov/features/healthyvision/index.html
• National Eye Institute, Eye Disease Statistics, 2014.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Making Eye Health A Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow, 2016