Ohio's Aging Eye Public Private Partnership

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a condition that primarily affects the part of the retina responsible for sharp central vision is the most common cause of blindness and vision impairment in Americans age 60 and older. More than 92,000 Ohioans age 50 and older have AMD, while hundreds of thousands more suffer from some form of the disease. There are two forms of AMD, dry and wet. Dry is the most common form of the disease. Wet is less common but more threatening to vision due to the growth of tiny new blood vessels under the retina that leak fluid or break open. The exact cause of AMD is not known but risk factors include age (usually over 50 years), race (predominantly Caucasian) and cigarette smoking. Specific nutrition habits have been found to slow the progression of AMD in some patients.

Diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes that affects the tiny blood vessels of the retina, affects more than 216,000 Ohioans age 18 and older. As diabetes becomes more widespread, the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy increases, as does the risk of other eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. Eventually, almost everyone with juvenile-onset diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy.

Cataract, a clouding of the eye's naturally clear lens and is the leading cause of blindness in the world, affects nearly 943,000 Ohioans age 40 and older. Ongoing research into the normal healthy functioning of the eye's lens may help us better understand the causes of cataract and how they might be prevented.

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that often requires life-long treatment to control. Approximately 93,000 Ohioans have glaucoma-and half don't even know the disease is slowly robbing them of sight. Glaucoma causes a gradual degeneration of cells that make up the optic nerve that carries visual information from the eye to the brain. For this reason, as many as half are unaware of their disease. Once the loss of vision is noticeable, a significant amount of irreversible nerve damage has already occurred.

Ohio's Aging Eye Public Private Partnership has divided its work into the following areas:

   1. Advocacy and Awareness
      Co-chaired by Richard T. Bunner, Past Board Chair-Prevent Blindness Ohio and Marcus J. Molea, Chief Strategic Partnerships Division, Ohio Department of Aging

   2. Vision Loss Prevention
      Co-chaired by Katia Del Rio –Tsonis, PhD -Professor of Zoology and Co-Director of the Center for Vision Sciences, Miami University and Heithem El-Hodiri, PhD Associate Professor, Center for Molecular and Human Genetics, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Each subcommittee meets bi-annually and welcomes participation from interested individuals. Contact info@pbohio.org to join the activities of one of the subcommittees.