All in Favor, Say Eye

Several initiatives allowed residents in Baltimore County and the city of Baltimore to have their eyes screened in 2009.

The Eyes Have It program, created by the Polakoff Foundation, offers monthly free glaucoma screenings at hospitals through the city, and hundreds of residents were screened in 2009. The Krieger Eye Institute, a partner in this effort, screened 45 people in 2009, and roughly 1/4 of those patients received follow-up services. Many patients with financial hardship who needed additional care were helped through the generosity of the institute and Sinai Hospital.

Through the LifeBridge Health Know Your Health program, 65 residents received care at two diabetic eye screenings, which are for those who have diabetes or are recently diagnosed with diabetes. At the cataract eye screening in October, 31 people were screened.

The next diabetic eye screening is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 23 at Clinical Associates, 515 Fairmount Avenue, Suite 407, Towson. The next glaucoma screening is 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16 at Krieger Eye Institute at Quarry Lake, 2700 Quarry Lake Drive, Suite 180. Both of the screenings are free.

For more information on the Know Your Health program, click here. For information on the Eyes Have it, call 410-601-7295 or visit the Web site.

Free Glaucoma Screening Available at Sinai

The Eyes Have It Program (EHIP) offers free monthly glaucoma screenings to all Baltimore citizens. Glaucoma is a blinding eye disease with no obvious warning signs.

A FREE glaucoma screening will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, on the sixth floor of the Morton Mower Building, Krieger Eye Institute, on the Sinai Hospital campus.

For unknown reasons, African-Americans are 3-4 times more likely to get glaucoma than other groups. Others at risk include:

• People with family history of the disease
• People over 60
• People with diabetes
  
• People who are extremely nearsighted or farsighted
• Long-time users of steroid medications
• The victim of a severe eye trauma
• Hispanics
• Russian Jews
• American Indians

The Maryland-based Polakoff Foundation, a founding member of The Eyes Have It Program, has a goal of screening at least 500 high-risk people in 2009 at four different Baltimore hospitals.

Screenings are painless and take only a few minutes. The Eyes Have It Program maintains programs for uninsured people who are referred for medical attention due to glaucoma. No appointment is necessary.

For more information on upcoming screenings, call 410-601-7295 or click here.