Vision for May

Many people take their eyesight for granted, as most of us have the luxury of being able to see out of both our eyes. But there are millions of people who are affected by vision problems as well as other health issues. Experts estimate that approximately 1.3 million blind people live in the United States, with over 20 million additional Americans reporting significant vision loss. (source: National Center for Health Statistics 2006).Healthy vision month is observed in May by the National Eye Institute (NEI) to promote your eye’s health and protection through eye exams. In which it is very important to each and every one of us.

People have said that “your eyes are the windows to your soul” and for good reason too, as many diseases can be seen by looking into your eyes without surgery. The eye’s are a special part of our body because one can see veins, arteries and even a nerve (the optic nerve). Ophthalmologist can detect diabetes, cholesterol, liver disease and other conditions just by looking at your eyes and the general area around it to include your eye lids and eye brows.

Eye conditions and what they mean:

• The outer part of the brows closet to the ears start to disappear

o This is the sign of a thyroid problem

• Bumpy yellowish bumps on the eyelids - might look like styes

o This is the sign that you may have high cholesterol

• The white part of the eye turns yellow known as jaundice

o Is a sign problems of the liver, gallbladder or bile ducts, including hepatitis and cirrhosis

• Sudden dim vision, double vision or loss of vision

o The possible warnings signs of a stroke

If you or someone you know might have any of the conditions you should seek professional advice and if it’s sudden dim vision, double vision or loss of vision accompanied with sudden numbness or weakness of the arm or leg or face, typically on just one side of the body; trouble walking because of dizziness or loss of balance or coordination; slurred speech; or bad headache STOP and CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY!

At First Care of New York we want to keep you safe and healthy and would recommend you have your eyes checked regular by your doctor or specialist. There are many people out there who can no longer do for themselves due to vision problems and other health issues. If you know someone like this or you are affected by this contact us today at 718-364-7251. We have highly trained home health aides and personal care aides that can help in many activities of daily living and can help you navigate your way around life. Our aides help the visually impaired by reading their mail, setting up appointments, dressing, grooming as well as many other activities of daily living. Remember a healthy lifestyle is related to healthy vision and eye health so have your eyes checked regularly.

Celebrating life through research

For the past few years, First Care of New York has proudly participated in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center fundraising program; which helps to raise not only funds for the program, but also awareness in our community. Now a days more and more people are being affected by cancer directly or by a loved one who is ill from this type of disease. Cancer is caused when the body stops functioning properly and abnormal growth happens. And though it is something that affects people mainly between the ages of 50 to 70, it is something that can attack at any age and anywhere in the body.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010, there were 19.4 million¹ diagnosed cases of cancer. In 2012 alone over 577, 000² people are estimated to die from cancer according to cancer.gov. These are startling figures and something that we are trying to bring to an end through research for a brighter tomorrow.

First Care of New York aims to donate time, effort, money and sweat to the cause, as we will be participating in the 10th Achilles Annual Hope & Possibility 5 mile run/walk event this coming June 24, 2012 at Central Park. The event features several thousand runners who come from all walks of life but share one common goal. To come together to shed light, increase awareness and raise hope for those that are suffering from cancer and their family members who are affected by it.

Together we can build a team big enough to raise enough awareness and research funds to make a difference. It has always been said that all things starts with one and end with many. We hope you would come and share with us in the opportunity to make a difference and touch people’s lives with goodness. If you would like to donate, First Care of New York is selling raffle tickets to raise funds at $1 US dollar per ticket. The top three raffle tickets winners will win a Laptop (1), Ipad2 (2) or a Kindle (3) and 100% of the proceeds will go towards donations for cancer research. If you wish to participate in the raffle or are interested in acquiring raffle tickets, you may ask for Rina at 718-741-5956. This is a cause that is near and dear to the First Care family and we are committed to raising funds and awareness in order to help those around us.

¹http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/cancer.htm
²http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html

First Care of New York “We pick up where others leave off”