The Eye Care Revolution by Robert Abel

Author:Robert Abel [Abel, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2014-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

Dr. Abel’s Tip

Remember that most corneal problems occur on the surface and are related to the lids and the tear film. I will discuss dry eye in Chapter 11 and meibomian gland disfunction/ blepharitis in Chapters 5 and 13.

The Need for Cornea Donors

In the United States, thousands of people are now awaiting cornea transplants to restore their vision. The need for donors is always great.

Although potential donors don’t need to have had perfect vision, the cornea must be healthy to be used for transplantation. With few exceptions, healthy donor tissue (screened for diseases like hepatitis and AIDS) is usable from people of almost any age—from 1 to 75 years old. Factors like sex, race, color of the iris, or the previous vision of the donor have no influence on the success of the procedure. No major religion bans the donation of corneas.

My home state, Delaware, has an eye bank (the Medical Eye Bank of Delaware, Inc., part of the Lion’s Eye Bank of Delaware Valley) to help people from the region regain their vision. The eye bank screens all tissue carefully to ensure that it is healthy and in good condition for transplantation. Your state probably has an eye bank of its own. To find out about it, ask your ophthalmologist.

Please consult your state eye bank or your ophthalmologist about becoming a cornea donor. Again, you don’t need to have perfect vision to provide the gift of sight to someone else.

Corneal donation is increasing all over the world. In Italy, the donation rate was very low until a 1994 tragedy took the life of an American child named Nicholas. Nicholas’s parents donated all his organs, including his corneas, for transplant to Italians needing organ transplants. The public was so touched by this gesture from the American parents that organ donation soared. The tragic loss of one child’s life resulted in saving many, many lives. Don’t wait for tragedy to strike to make the decision to become a cornea donor.

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