I’m a contact-lens wearer. It’s something not a lot of people know about me as I rarely (if ever) wear my glasses, thereby sparking up conversation about my poor eyesight. Each morning I wake up and battle through a foggy haze until I can find my contact lens’ case and put my eyes” in, so that I can do all those wonderful things able-visioned people take for granted – like drive a car without hurting anyone.
While my poor eyesight is somewhat of an inconvenience, it doesn’t even compare to what one in seven Australians over the age of 50 have to deal with every day – macular degeneration. Many people are unaware of the widespread impact this disease can have on senior Australians, but MD is the leading cause of blindness and major vision loss in Australia and is responsible for 50 per cent of all blindness – more than glaucoma and cataracts combined.
This week, May 26 to June 1, 2013, is Macular Degeneration Awareness Week, and several industry figures are putting their hand up to spread the word about this debilitating disease. Ita Buttrose, Australian of the Year 2013 and patron of the Macular Disease Foundation has recounted her own experience of MD: I was terribly upset when my late father told me he had macular degeneration,” Buttrose recalls. As a journalist and author, Dad always started the day reading a couple of newspapers; suddenly this was no longer possible. I couldn’t imagine not being able to read again. Macular degeneration is a devastating disease.”
Leading Australian natural health brand is also doing its bit to get behind Macular Degeneration Awareness Week, fulfilling its role as a major partner of the initiative. In addition to offering three products formulated to nourish eyes and help protect the macula – Macu-Vision, Lutein-Vision and Lutein-Vision Advanced – the brand has donated more than $4 million from the sale of these products to the MD Foundation to assist in developing education and awareness programs.
This week, please spare a thought for those Australians suffering from macular degeneration, for whom just reading an article such as this one has become an impossible task. All of a sudden, contact lenses don’t seem so bad.