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______________________ AnnouncementsDr. Morris Battles, Founding Member of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation, Passes Away Vitamin E and Treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation Purchases $40,000 Retina Camera for CWRU A Letter from the President of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation OLERF 50th Anniversary Celebrations Major Breakthrough in Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration WOW - See If You Qualify For Free Federal and State Assisstance NIH Funded Study at O.S.U College of Optometry Looking into Convergence Insufficiency
Have we, as LIONS, lost our Branding? by Lion Larry Leguire In 1925, at the International Convention of LIONS clubs in Port Clinton Ohio, Helen Keller challenged us to become the Knights for Sight – to fight for those who were blind or visually impaired. LIONS members throughout the World took-up her challenge and forged ahead; pursuing guide dogs for the blind, supporting legal right-of-way for blind people with white canes, buying eyeglasses for indigent boys and girls, collecting used eyeglasses for third world countries, helping with vision screening programs, setting-up eye banks for corneal transplants and, of course, funding research into the causes and prevention of eye disease. The general public closely associates LIONS with eyesight ,one way or another. For example, while collecting donations during our club’s White Cane sale, a women donated $5.00 because her brother received free eye glasses from the local LIONS – something she’ll always remember. Also, I proudly mention that I’m a LIONS member and people often reply "you’re the ones that collect used eye glasses." In marketing, the close link between the LIONS and eyesight is called branding – like Xerox is to making copies; when people think of one - they automatically think of the other. Branding is a great thing…something every business or organization wishes they could accomplish or strengthen. Branding gives the LIONS a competitive advantage over other volunteer organizations in terms of fund raising, recruitment and public relations. In the past decade, LIONS members have pursued other noble interests such as homeless shelters, supporting local school bands, food panties, camps, parks and many other worthwhile endeavors. However, as LIONS members support more and more worthwhile endeavors, we spread our limited resources too thin and, importantly, dilute our brand – of helping the blind and visually impaired. As we dilute our brand, less and less of the general public come to associate the LIONS with eye sight and vision conservation. If this trend continues, at some point we may loose our branding all together - much like the March of Dimes lost their branding when polio was cured – along with a lose of donations and public recognition. Our heritage of helping the blind and visually impaired, our branding, is slowly slipping away. This is not good for the LIONS or for soliciting donations from the general public. The loss of LIONS branding will lead to further loss of donations as well as a further loss of membership, as more and more of the general public asks the central question: who are the LIONS? LIONS are the ones that provide eyeglasses to the indigent. LIONS are the ones that collect used eye glasses. LIONS are the ones who support eye research. Let us not loose our focus, our mission, our branding. Support eye research and the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation.
It is with great sadness to report the passing of Dr. Morris Battles, one of the founding LIONS members of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation. The Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation honored Dr. Battles at the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the foundation at the state convention in 2002. I knew Dr. Battles since 1982, when I started work at Children's Hospital and when he had just stepped down as Department Chief in 1981. A wonderful person and LIONS member, Dr. Battles was loved by his many patients and served as a role model for all of us in how to lead and live a productive and happy life. Below is the obituary from the Columbus Dispatch, including visiting hours. - Lion Larry Leguire BATTLES Morris Lyle Battles, age 89, died Monday, August 30, 2004 at Westminster Thurber. He was born August 24, 1915 in Chesterland, Ohio, the son of Lyle H. and Belle (Burton) Battles. A 1933 graduate of Chester High School and a graduate of The Ohio State University, receiving his BA in 1938 and MD in 1941. At OSU a resident of the Buckeye Club (now Stadium Scholarship Dorms 1934-1936) and received Outstanding Alumni Award in 1988. A member of the Marching Band (TBDBTL) from 1934 - 1936, playing in the first Script Ohio; Kappa Kappa Psi Music Fraternity; Phi Chi Medical Fraternity; lifetime member of OSU Alumni Association and received it's Citizenship Award in 1990. He served his internship at Huron Road Hospital in Cleveland in 1941 and 1942. He then went on to serve as a Flight Surgeon, Army Medical Corps from 1942 to 1946; stationed in Tunis, the Persian Gulf and Casablanca with the North African Air Transport Command from 1944 to 1945 having the rank of Major. An Opthalmology resident I.O.P.H., Columbia University Medical Center, NYC from 1946 to 1949, Diplomate American Board Ophthalmology in 1950. He went into private practice in Ophthalmology from 1949 to 1983 and became the first Pediatric Opthalmologist in Ohio in 1959. Chief of Ophthalmology Service at Children's Hospital 1953 to 1981 and Chairman of general staff there in 1961 and 1962. A member of Senior Attending Staff of Grant Hospital from 1948 to 1983; Clinical Professor OSU College of Medicine, 1949 to 1983; Professor Emeritus in 1983. In addition to numerous local, state and national associations was a longtime member of Downtown Lion's Sightsaving Committee, was the first chairman of Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation, Advisor to Delta gamma Alumnae Visual Screening Project and the Ohio Department of Special Education. In 1983, he was honored by Ohio State's Department of Ophthalmology in naming it's outstanding teacher award, the Makely-Battles Award. He was a member of the Faculty Club, Columbus Maennerchor, SAR and First Families of Ohio. He was a founding member of the Lederhosen Five, a little German Band which entertained many for 32 years. In 1969 he served a three month assignment aboard the hospital ship HOPE in Tunis, Tunisia. A long standing member of the First Congregational Church. He is preceded in death by his wife June. He is survived by his daughter, Susan (Franklin) Brown; son, Jim; granddaughter, Lisa (Scott) Cravens-Brown; grandson, Jacob Luther Adler; great grandchildren, Alden and Ethan. The family will receive friends Thursday from 2 - 4 and 6 - 8p.m. at the SCHOEDINGER STATE ST. CHAPEL, 229. E. State St. The funeral service will be held 11a.m. Friday, September 3, 2004 at the First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., where the family will receive friends 1 hour prior to the service. Pastor Ronald Botts officiating. In lieu of flowers, family suggest those who wish to contribute to OSU Development Fund, 2400 Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43210; Children's Hospital Foundation, 700 Childrens Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43205 or Westminister-Thurber Life Care Fund, 717 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43215 in his memory. Vitamin E and Treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration Following are the results of a recent
study on Age-Related Macular Degeneration at
Is New Preventive Measure:
"There are no other proven options for early intervention," Dr. Susan Bressler says in the coming February edition of the Johns Hopkins
medical letter, Health After 50.
Vitamin E intake of 400 milligrams, together with Vitamin C, beta carotene, and
small amounts of zinc and copper oxides, reduces the likelihood of disease progression by
25 percent in patients with intermediate age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, the
research has determined.
"Supplementation with this formulation also reduced the risk of vision loss by
19 percent over five years in these patients," the Johns Hopkins publication
reported.
Until now, there has been no proven treatment to slow the progression of disease
and possible vision loss in people with dry AMD, the most common form of the condition,
Dr. Bressler said.
Major clinical trials of the Vitamin E and other supplementation started two years
ago, and a follow-up report was published recently in the Archives of Ophthalmology. Researchers concluded in the report that "if
every American with intermediate AMD took these vitamins and minerals, more than 300,000
people could avoid AMD-associated vision loss over the next five years."
More than 1.6 million Americans over age 60 have age-related macular degeneration,
which is the most common cause of visual impairment and blindness in the
It is with great sadness to report that LIONS Past International President, W. R. Bryan, recently passed away. A funeral service is scheduled at 1:00 PM on Saturday, December 20, 2003, at the Doylestown United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to The Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation, W.R Bryan Diabetic Research Fund - The Dick Bryan Fellow Program, 3375 Hoover Road, Grove City, Ohio, 43123 As many of you know, Lion Dick had a long service to LIONISM, something like 60+ years. His late wife died from complications of diabetes and he, too, suffered from diabetes. The W. R. Bryan Diabetic Research fund was established by the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation to honor this great LIONS member and to support research into the prevention, cause, treatment and cure of the vision loss associated with this disease. Lion Dick honored the Grove City LIONS evening club by attending its' 60th anniversary a few years ago. At that meeting, he shared his long history and vivid memories of early LIONISM, including his interactions with Mervin Jones, the founder of the LIONS (1917). He will be missed by many and remembered by all.
Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation Purchases $40,000 Retina Camera for CWRU The Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation awarded a special diabetes grant to Case Western Reserve University for $40,000 for the purchase of a camera designed to take pictures of the retina. The funds were made available through the Bryan Fund for Diabetes Research. The camera will be used for research related to screening poorly served populations that are at high risk for developing complications due to diabetes and age-related macular degeneration. See picutes below. LIONS clubs throughout Ohio are encouraged to use these pictures in their respective newsletters and bulletins to promote and to inform fellow LIONS members of the benefits of supporting the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation.
Lion Norbert A. Peiker, OLERF President Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation October 6, 2002 To my Friends of the Eye Research Community, As a child in my native Germany, I experienced the destruction and rebuilding of a war-torn nation. That experience has led to a lifelong drive to rebuild lives and communities. Arriving in this country 33 years ago, I quickly recognized that my profession of architecture afforded a unique opportunity to use my experience, training and skills to benefit my new home here in Ohio. Ascribing to the philosophy that "vision with action can change the world" I set out to serve Lions and Eye Research through leadership, vision, public service, philanthropy, and advocacy for human rights. The Lions elected me to represent District 13-B on the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation nearly 16 years ago. I served as the Foundation’s secretary-treasurer for six years and lead the Foundation as its president since 1994. With nearly nine years at the helm I have been the longest serving president in the 50-year history of the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation. I am proud of our accomplishments during my tenure:
I always believed that great leadership recognizes the right time for change. That time has come. I have tackled cancer for the last six years and continue to fight the war. My energy needs to be redirected. I would like to continue as mentor to my successors, while I still can. At next year’s 13-B District Convention, I will not be a candidate for trustee to serve on the OLERF Board of Trustees. I, therefore, cannot be president of the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation. I trust that over the next half year visionary candidates will step forward with the energy to further build the Foundation that has become so much of my life. Concluding I thank you for the opportunity to serve and the trust you have set in me. I always will treasure your friendship. Yours in Service, Lion Norbert A. Peiker, Trustee 1987-2003 President 1994-200 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation
OLERF President Norbert Peiker opens the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation (OLERF) at the LIONS state convention, May 18, 2002.
OLERF President Norbert Peiker presents an award to Dr. Morris Battles, first president (1957 - 1959) of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation.
Dr. David Studebaker, past OLERF president (1971 - 1973), receives award from OLERF President Norbert Peiker.
Ray Empson, past OLERF trustee, receives an award from OLERF President Norbert Peiker.
OLERF President, Norbert Peiker, presents an award to Cloyd Evers, past Trustee of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation.
OLERF President Norbert Peiker presents, to Dr. Cindy Roberts, the final payment for the LIONS Eye Research Lab. Dr. Roberts is the head researcher in charge of the LIONS Eye Research Lab, located at The Ohio State University. The final payment completes the $500,000, 10 year commitment by the Ohio LIONS to build the state-of-the-art eye research lab at OSU.
Members of the OLERF Board of Trustees during the OLERF 50th anniversary celebrations. From left to right; PDG Ted Keller, Dr. Charlie Schrimpf, Maria Varandani and PDG Don Kepler.
OLERF President Norbert Peiker presents a recognition award to PDG Dr. Wendell Lotz, past trustee of OLERF. Thanks to all who participated in the 50th anniversary of the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation and a special thanks to all the past OLERF trustees that were able to attend the celebrations. Over the past 50 years, through the generous support of every lion member and every LIONS club in Ohio, the research foundation has awarded over $4,000,000 in research grants and fellowships to eye research institutions throughout Ohio. During the OLERF 50th anniversary celebrations, investigators from several of the OLERF funded institutions discussed major breakthroughs in eye research and in eye care made possible through OLERF funding. One of the first projects funded by OLERF was for the purchase of a piece of equipment for the accurate measurement of oxygen in premature infant bassenettes - work that contributed to better understanding of the role oxygen played in the development of Retrolental Fibroplasia (RLF), a condition now known as Retinopathy of Prematurely (ROP). This work helped in the understanding that too much oxygen can cause blindness in premature infants. By reducing the amount of oxygen delivered to premature infants, the number of blind children was greatly reduced in the late 50s and 1960s. Pioneering work was undertaken in the development of "RADAR" in ophthalmology during the early 1950s at Case Western University. This work lead to the development of ultrasound - a technique that allows the eye doctor to "see" inside the eye, even if a patient has a dense cataract or hemorrhage in the eye. It is now possible to have ultrasound equipment in almost every eye doctor's office in the country. Early pioneering work also contributed to the development of gas permeable contact lenses as well as equipment to measure intraocular pressure in the early 1960s (College of Optometry, OSU), better treatment of diabetic retinopathy and improved procedures for corneal transplant surgery (Dept. of Ophthalmology, OSU), and potential drug therapies for amblyopic children (Department of Ophthalmology, Columbus Children's Hospital), to name a few. Research and progress in medicine is slow and, often, progress is measured in small steps. Today, the Ohio LIONS fund studies in a host of diverse fields from molecular biology to functional imaging - the ability to see what parts of the brain are in use at any given time. No one knows when or where the next great breakthroughs in eye care will take place, but one thing is certain - the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation will make such breakthroughs possible through funding pilot studies. Our children and our children's children will benefit from our hard work as part of being an Ohio LIONS member Major Breakthrough in Treatment of Age Related Macular Degeneration In a major study of over 3,000 patients with age-related macular degeneration, the "Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group", funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that large doses of antioxidants plus zinc delayed progression of ARMD. Eye doctors at 11 research centers measured and assessed retinal photos and measured visual acuity in high risk groups of patients with ARMD who received one of the following; 1. Antioxidants (500mg vitamin C; 400 IU Vitamin E; and 15 mg beta carotene) alone, 2. Zinc (80 mg as zinc oxide and copper, 2 mg as cupric oxide) alone, 3. Antioxidants plus zinc (both as listed above), 4. placebo (suger pill). The results showed that patients that received the antioxidants plus zinc had a reduction in the rate of loss of visual acuity. No significant side effects were observed. It is concluded that if you're older than 55, have intermediate or advanced ARMD, and are without contraindications (such as smoking), that you should consider taking supplemental antioxidants plus zinc to reduce the progression of the disease. See your eye doctor to see if you're a candidate for such therapy. (Archives of Ophthalmology, vol. 119, oct, 2001, p1417-1436) Also see article on this page about Vitamin E and treatment of macular degeneration. WOW - See If You Qualify For Free Federal and State Assisstance A wonderful, free, web site has just opened-up that lets you find-out whether you qualify for free federal and state assistance for all kinds of cool programs for the elderly - those over the age of 60! The site lists hundreds of programs including housing, prescription drugs, utility bills, assistance in living, etc. Importantly, the site also lists potential programs for the blind and visually impaired. This is a must see site if you, a loved one or a friend is 60 years old or older. After filling-out a completely confidential questionnaire, that takes about 10 minutes (it only took me 6 minutes), the site provides a list of potential benefit programs that the person in question may qualify for. To speed things up, before starting the questionnaire, have your records available regarding household income and expenses as well as savings. The web site is at benefitscheckup.org. Go there today. You'll be glad you did. Remember, you found that web site at the web site for the Ohio LIONS Eye Research Foundation.
Convergence insufficiency is an eye-teaming problem in which the eyes have a strong tendency to drift outward when the individual is reading or doing close work. If the eyes actually drift out, the person experiences double vision. To prevent double vision from occurring, the individual must exert excessive effort to make the eyes turn back in. This additional effort can lead to a number of annoying symptoms that can interfere with the ability to read and work comfortably at near. Convergence insufficiency affects approximately 5 out of every 100 children and adults. What are the symptoms associated with convergence insufficiency? People who have convergence insufficiency may complain of the following when reading :
What is the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial? The Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (CITT) was developed to determine whether Pencil Push-Ups or Office-Based Vision Therapy/Orthoptics are effective treatments for convergence insufficiency and if so, which of the two is the better treatment. To be absolutely certain that one or both of these treatments are effective, there is a control group which does not receive either of these two treatments. Instead, they receive a harmless therapy not designed to treat convergence insufficiency.The study is being conducted at several institutions across the United States and is funded by the National Eye Institute. The National Eye Institute is a part of the National Institutes of Health, the branch of the federal government that funds medical research. About 100 patients will be entered into the study and cared for by participating eye doctors. What do I need to do to participate in the CITT? If you would like further information or are interested in participating in this study please contact:Marjean Taylor Kulp, O.D., M.S. The Ohio State University, College of Optometry, 320 West Tenth Ave. Phone: 614-688-3336; e-mail; kulp.6@osu.edu
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