Prevent Blindness Texas Declares Fourth Annual Geographic Atrophy Awareness Week as Dec. 2-8, 2024

— Prevent Blindness Texas provides free educational resources on geographic atrophy, a form of dry age-related macular degeneration, including fact sheets, a dedicated webpage, expert videos, and more —

TX (Dec. 2, 2024) – Prevent Blindness Texas is announcing Dec. 2-8, 2024, as its fourth annual Geographic Atrophy (GA) Awareness Week. GA is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is estimated that 1 million people in the United States have GA.

Prevent Blindness Texas offers free educational resources on GA including a comprehensive fact sheet and a series of social media graphics, available in English and Spanish, a dedicated web page and expert videos. This year’s GA Awareness Week is supported by funding from Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

While the cause of GA is unknown, the following can increase the risk for GA:

Family history of AMD
Age – over 60 years old
Race – Caucasians have a higher rate of AMD
Light colored eyes
Smoking
Genetics
Heart disease
Diabetes
Women not using menopausal hormone replacement therapy
High blood pressure (hypertension)
High cholesterol
Obesity
High sun exposure throughout the life span
Poor diet with a low intake of fruits and vegetables (specifically dark green leafy vegetables)

To help inform GA patients and care partners, Prevent Blindness Texas offers the Focus on Eye Health Expert Series episode, “Advancements in Treatments for Geographic Atrophy,” featuring Rajeev S. Ramchandran, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center.

Additional Focus on Eye Health Expert Series episodes include:

“Geographic Atrophy and Patient Support,” featuring Prevent Blindness Ohio Past President and CEO, Sherry Williams, sharing her story as a care partner for her mother diagnosed with GA.
The “Geographic Atrophy” episode featuring Janet S. Sunness, MD, medical director of the Richard E. Hoover Low Vision Rehabilitation Services at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

For GA and/or AMD patients and their care partners, Prevent Blindness Texas offers the free resource, Living Well With Low Vision. This program provides a variety of free directories, a library of self-help guides, downloadable apps including “GuideME for AMD,” access to clinical trial research, and recent AMD research news.

Additionally, Prevent Blindness Texas offers GA patients and others the Vision Loss and Mental Wellness resource from its Living Well With Low Vision program. As loss of vision can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, and loss of independence, some individuals may notice a change in their desire to socialize with others, or increased frustration with the additional time it may take to accomplish tasks of daily living. Prevent Blindness Texas encourages those experiencing these types of issues to seek support groups of others who are living with GA.

“This is an exciting time for research and treatment options for those with geographic atrophy,” said Heather Patrick, President and CEO of Prevent Blindness Texas. “We encourage patients to check out our various Geographic Atrophy resources and work directly with their eye doctor to put together the best treatment plan to help save sight.”

For more information on geographic atrophy, please visit https://texas.preventblindness.org/geographic-atrophy-ga/. For more information on low vision and mental wellness, please visit https://lowvision.preventblindness.org.

About Prevent Blindness

Established in 1956 and incorporated in 1965, Prevent Blindness Texas is the state’s leading eye health and safety nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight. At Prevent Blindness Texas, our vision is vision – making healthy eyes a priority in Texas. We focus on improving the state’s vision and eye health by enhancing community capacity through our core competencies of early detection, patient support, systems enhancement, public policy, public awareness, and health education. Prevent Blindness Texas touches the lives of thousands of Texans through our sight-saving programs and services through our network of volunteers and offices located statewide. For more information, or to contribute to the sight-saving fund, call 1-888-98-SIGHT or, visit us on the Web at www.preventblindnesstexas.org, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.