Did you know that the commonly seen effect in flash photography called Red Eye is a good thing? I know it makes you look possessed or cartoonish, but its not such a bad thing.
Our youngest son, Danny, has a condition called PHPV. That's Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous, or as its also known as Persistent Fetal Vasculature. This is a condition where blood vessels that are important in eye development remain in place even after birth. They are supposed to be absorbed by the body, leaving the eye clear and free to let light in. When it persists, it can cause a white looking eye (leukocorea), cataract, and can lead to glaucoma, and loss of vision. Fortunately, the human body is pretty tolerant of such things and he will lead a pretty normal life. Some kids however, are diagnosed with other much more serious problems such as Retinoblastosis or RB for short.
Typically, the first sign of either of these conditions is the lack of Red Eye Reflex and it shows up in your flash photography usually before it shows up in a pediatric eye exam. Anytime the eyes display a whitish or opaque pupil, its time to take your child to a pediatric ophthalmologist immediately.
Fortunately, there are treatments for both of these conditions, but you must act quickly before the child loses his vision, or worse has the more serious life threatening condition of RB.
In our attempts to deal with Danny's obvious eye condition, we found that there are few medical professionals who understand the importance of a dilated eye exam.
As a result, I have created an educational poster promoting Red Eye Awareness. It can be found on one of my other blogs http://phpvpfvawareness.blogspot.com
If you care to help, I would appreciate it if you would save the poster (image on main post) and print it on a color printer at 11x17 or larger if available, printing information about your local eye institute or pediatric ophthalmologist, and distribute them at your local stores, doctors offices, hospitals, schools, wherever, just to get the word out.
1 comment:
Hi,
This is the assistant editor for Hospital.com which is a medical publication offering hospital news, information and reviews. We also cover a wide variety of medical issues, one of which being Children's Health and the importance of choosing the right hospital. You will notice articles on this topic under Children's tab. If possible I would like Hospital.com to be included within your blog roll, offering our information as a resource to your readers. Please let me know if this addition can be made.
Please email me back with your URL in subject line to take a step ahead and to avoid spam.
Thank you
Mary Miller,
may.hospital.com@gmail.com
Post a Comment