The Eye on Diabetes campaign hits Austin, Texas tomorrow, August 27th. VSP Vision Care is partnering with the American Diabetes Association and the Texas Optometric Association to provide free eyecare, eyewear and diabetes screenings to underserved/underinsured Austin residents with or at-risk of diabetes.
VSP provider Dr. Laura Miller with Northwest Hills Eyecare spoke with FOX7 – KTBC to discuss the connection between eye exams and diabetes and to preview the Austin event.
VSP just launched a new, monthly e-newsletter called “EnVision.” Formerly known as “Eye on Health,” we redesigned it, made it more engaging and interactive, and added real-time information and tips on eye health and eyewear fashion – based on feedback received from readers earlier this year.
EnVision will allow VSP members to have easy access to view their benefits, find a doctor, as well as view the hottest trends in eyewear.
Just for fun!
Each monthly edition will highlight a prize to give away to one lucky reader. The prizes range from vacation destinations to the hottest electronic gadgets.
Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson declared Friday, July 30, 2010, Eye on Diabetes Day in Kansas. VSP Vision Care partnered with the American Diabetes Association, Kansas State Optometric Association and the Kansas Diabetes Action Council to provide free eyecare, eyewear and diabetes screenings to underserved/underinsured Kansas residents with or at-risk of having diabetes.
Here’s a clip of Governor Parkinson reading the proclamation, local optometrists who volunteered their time, and patients who received the service.
We were able to help over 65 residents receive much-needed eyecare on Eye on Diabetes Day.
In honor of #BlogHer10, we asked this year’s attendees on twitter to send us their eyecare questions. We received lots of great questions and wanted to share just a few of them along with the answers. Be sure to follow @VSPVisionCare for more tips and useful information related to eyecare and eyewear.
@CleverGayle – When should children have their first vision test?
– Eyecare experts say children should have their first eye exam when they’re only 6 months old. They should have another one between 2 and 3 years, just before kindergarten, and then annually after that. More on children and eyecare.
@msmorev – I’d like to know the best way to protect my eyes from the computer screen.
– American workers spend 6 hours a day using a computer or digital device so it’s important to take frequent breaks. The next time you’re sitting in front of your computer, remember the 20-20-20 rule: after 20 minutes of computer use, look at something 20 feet away, for 20 seconds. Check out some more tips on how to keep your eyes safe in a digital world.
@toonces1989 - is it really essential to have your eyes dilated if you’re not having any problems?
– Yes, eyecare experts recommend getting your eyes dilated every year. Dilation allows your eye doctor to make sure your eyes are healthy. During a dilated eye exam, your eye doctor can see the blood vessels in your eyes, which can show signs of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. With age, the pupil becomes smaller, making dilation even more essential. More on the importance of dilation.
Thanks everyone for sending us these great questions. We’ll continue to answer the other questions that were submitted through our Twitter account – @vspvisioncare. So, be sure to follow us and keep the questions coming. We want to know what you’re thinking about when it comes to your eyes!
VSP is partnering with the Georgia Optometric Association and St. Mary’s Community Center this week to provide free eyecare and eyewear to children in need in Savannah, Georgia.
VSP’s brought its mobile eye clinic, SeeZar, to Savannah on Monday, and with the help of local optometrists, will continue this service to pre-selected children until Wednesday, August 11.
Here is a clip from WSAV-TV featuring a young patient seen on the clinic Monday, August 9.
Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.
In February we asked our VSP doctors to submit names for the new VSP/Transitions mobile clinic. Thanks to the great response from our providers, we received over 600 names, and selected five for the general public to vote on: Eyenstein, LuSee, SeeAna, SeeBert and SeeCil. After a two week voting period, Eyenstein received the top number of votes and has become the official name for the third mobile clinic in the VSP Mobile Eyes® fleet!
Amanda S. from Dr. Churchill’s practice, Cedarville Eye, in MA, submitted the winning name: “I had originally come up with several other names, and while I was submitting them, the name ‘Eyenstein’ just popped in my head. The play on the name made me laugh a little, so I submitted it. I thought it was clever because as an opticianry apprentice, I know that healthy vision is smart!”
Our winners, Dr. Churchill and Amanda
VSP’s first EyeFiles video “Do 3-D movies cause motion sickness?” starring Bill Nye the Science Guy has gone viral. Bill Nye has been teaching us all things science since the 90′s and it looks like his popularity hasn’t been lost.
3-D is a topic that carries across all generations and genres and here’s are just a few of the bloggers from various focuses that found this video and topic worth sharing:
Check back with us every week as Bill Nye, along with VSP provider Dr. Phelps, continue to debunk common eye health myths in VSP’s EyeFiles webisode series. In the meantime, check out the Today Show clip on 3-D and overall eye health.
Be sure to visit VSP’s Facebook - Contest tab for your chance to win a FREE pair of Glasses/Sunglasses through the Eyewear Makeover Contest.
Guest Blogger – Edward Tepper works as an accountant, is an avid photographer and a rider for Team Type 2. He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2008 and through cycling and exercise, stays happy and healthy while properly managing his condition. He shares his personal experience on how switching to progressive lenses helped him.
Ed Tepper with Team Type 2
I’ve been wearing glasses since ever I can remember, and I’m now 61. About 30 years ago a friend talked me into wearing contact lenses and I did up to about 9 months ago. The story about me changing back to glasses started a few years ago when I could no longer read close up or clearly see a computer screen without “cheater” reading glasses. I had several pairs that I kept in different rooms at home and in my office. Then one night at a nice restaurant I had to ask my wife to read the menu to me because I left my cheaters at home. Needless to say, the ribbing continued through dessert. Read more »
Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.
Recently VSP announced the launch of VSP Eye on Diabetes, a five state campaign created in response to the increasing spread of diabetes across the U.S. A lot of people (did you know?) are unaware that diabetes can be detected through an annual eye exam, sometimes as much as five years earlier than through a Fasting Blood Glucose (Blood Sugar) test!
Our first stop on the campaign trail was Little Rock, AR on May 21-22. In partnership with the American Diabetes Association Little Rock chapter and the Arkansas Optometric Association, VSP provided free eye exams, eyewear and diabetes screenings to residents in need who had or were at risk of developing diabetes.
It’s been found that 61% of Americans with vision coverage go in for their annual eye exams vs. just 21% who get an annual physical! This provides an opportunity for optometrists to be the first to detect a variety of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, in a patient. With new information pertaining to diabetes continuing to be introduced, it is important to realize that your VSP private practice eye doctor is being provided the most recent information available pertaining to diabetes and eyecare and is a key component to a patients diabetes-care team. You can find more information at the VSP Diabetes Discovery Center.
Check out the video of the day of outreach in Little Rock, narrated by the Mayor of Little Rock, Mark Stodola.
Was Bugs Bunny right? Do carrots really improve your eye sight? Well, not exactly. Eating carrots won’t make you see better than you already do, but Bugs’ favorite snack is packed with important vitamins and nutrients that can help protect vision. This is just one example of a common eye myth that has led to confusion about vision health and proper eyecare habits.
To help educate Americans on eye health and debunk common myths, VSP has created a series of webisodes called VSP EyeFiles featuring the iconic Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr, Roger Phelps, a VSP provider.
As part of this initiative, VSP Vision Care sent an online survey to VSP doctors across the country, asking them for the most common vision-related myths they hear from their patients on a regular basis.
The VSP doctor myth research survey revealed that:
Myth: Working many hours in front of a computer screen will harm your eyes.
Fact: 31 percent of doctors say they hear this myth on a daily basis. Although using computers will not damage vision, fatigue, headaches, neck pain or eye strain may occur with use over extended periods of time. This overuse can result in a serious condition called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). To help prevent CVS remember the 20-20-20 rule; every 20 minutes, spend 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away.
See much more