Lions Program to Combat Retinal Diseases, including Macular Degeneration

The Lions of Illinois Foundation along with the Illinois Retina Associates, S.C., in conjunction with the Palatine Lions Club is providing an entirely FREE screening to anyone who would like to have a picture taken of their eyes to check for this potential problem. The screening will be available for persons 18 and older (10-17 years with written parental consent) on Tuesday October 14, 2008 from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. at the Palatine Township Offices located at 721 South Quentin (Quentin and Illinois).

Diabetic Retinopathy is the leading cause of new blindness in adults in America today. Diabetic Retinopathy can have devastating visual consequences and can lead to blindness. Without a doubt, early detection greatly enhances the visual prognosis and outcome for all patients with Diabetic Retinopathy and other retinal diseases, including Macular Degeneration. The purpose of this program is to provide communities throughout the State with a method for early detection of retinal diseases, including Macular Degeneration.

"Since protection of our sight is so important, we hope that the people of our community will take full advantage of the free retinal screenings," Lions Club president Tom Peckham stated. "The screening takes just a few minutes.”

The Foundation will take the photographs of the eye and then forward them to the Illinois Retina Associates, S.C. where they will be reviewed by one of their retinal specialists. Test results will be sent directly to each screening participant by Illinois Retina Associates.

If you notice any of the following symptoms, you should contact your eye care professional as quickly as possible: blurring vision, distorted vision, double vision, darkened or reduced vision. Any one of these symptoms can be an indication of Diabetic Retinopathy or one of the complications from it.

Please contact any Palatine Lions member or Public Relations Chair Paul Pioch (847/609-5805) for additional information regarding this free screening.

Lions Club Hearing Bus will make two stops in Palatine this year

Deafness has no respect of age, wealth, or rank. It strikes people of all economic, social, and age categories with equal frequency.

The Palatine Lions Club will be sponsoring two FREE hearing screenings for persons 18 and older (10-17 years with written parental consent) to help protect the hearing of the public through an early alert system. The first FREE screening will be held in Palatine on Saturday, May 24, 2008 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at the Palatine Township Offices located at 721 South Quentin (Quentin and Illinois). The second FREE screening will take place on Saturday August 23, 2008 from 8:00 to 12:00 at the Farmers’ Market located in Downtown Palatine adjacent to the Train Station.

During the screening the Club will also be accepting donations of used keys, cellular telephones, ink cartridges, eyeglasses, and hearing aids. These items will be recycled to keep them out of local landfills, as well as to generate income to help support the many programs sponsored by the Lions of Illinois Foundation, which include the Hearing Bus, Macular Degeneration Screenings, and Camp Lions for sight and hearing impaired children, to name a few.

Hearing loss may be the single most common chronic disability in the United States, occurring nearly four times as often as blindness. There are nearly 720,000 hearing impaired persons in Illinois alone. Of these, 106,000 are deaf, 26,000 of these were deaf before the age of 19. Unfortunately, the problem is made worse since the deaf are the least understood of all handicapped populations.

Hearing loss takes many forms. In some, the problem is simply that the person feels like the sound has been turned down, but others may have trouble in understanding various pitches or sounds. The causes vary too and there are many medical and mechanical treatments to help people with hearing loss.

The Mobile Hearing Screening activity is conducted through cooperation of the Lions of Illinois Foundation, the charitable arm of the state's more than 700 Lions Clubs and is funded primarily from Candy Day, held statewide the second Friday of every October.

Please contact any Palatine Lions member or Public Relations Chair Paul Pioch (847/609-5805) for additional details regarding this FREE screening and recycling program.