The Grief:
Thinking that your eyes will be plucked is in itself an unnerving feeling. To think that you are mourning sudden death of your friend and a few strangers come to take away eyes of your beloved one is still more tragic. These feelings let us shrug off the discussions and the promotions that advocate eye donation.
The cheering moments:
Your friend made a SMSto you that he is at hospital with his wife admitted. You already know that they are expecting a child soon. You rush to join the happy moments and hurriedly buy some nice gifts, arrange a leave from office and rush to the place. You are there and there are many more friends. You discuss about the health of the mother and the child and all is fine. But….
But suddenly the atmosphere gets reversed with observation by one lady there that the child seems not to respond to any changes before his eyes. The doctor is called and he asks for a little time. The child is taken to a separate chamber by nurse and a few minutes later doctor turns up with no smile on his face. The young doctor manages to inform you that the child can see the world but there is still some problem. A few more tests are required to tell how weak his eye sight is.

The Grief again:
The above developments change the cheering atmosphere. The ladies who were leaders of the cheer are leading the grief now with sobbing of the mother being the loudest. You feel helpless and share the grief with your friend. You console him and suggest it’s good that the problem is detected early. You say you would discuss the case after finding best of the ophthalmologists. But you are unable to deal with the sorry state much.
After visiting to a few ophthalmologists you are clear on the issue that had the rate of eye donations been higher, there would have been no problem at all. You come to know that millions the world over suffer from blindness and other eye problems only because people don’t resolve to donate their eyes.

If the society were in times of a few century back, it would have been easier for authorities of those societies, ‘religiously’ governed by religion. They would have made eye donation a part of rituals to be followed after death of anybody and then it would have been obligatory for anyone to observe this ritual with his or her near one’s death.
But now we are educated, free and sensitive. The irony is that our knowledge, sensibility and conscience are all shallow.

Hope amidst the grief:
It lies only in our firm determination. We need to be harsh to support the eye donation procedure. Hope lies only in this harshness if you dare to show this bravery. Once it becomes part of culture, it would really be the truest conscience at work in our modern society.

Cornea is the transparent layer over the eyes. If it loses its transparency due to any reason, eyes cannot see anything anymore. Eyes can see the things again if the diseased cornea is replaced by a healthy one.

Cornea is taken away from the deceased and is collected in the eye banks; it is then then given for use in corneal grafting to help one to see the world.

Removing corneas from the deceased takes only 20 minutes and transplanting procedure takes only 30 minutes, but it requires great expertise for the procedure.

Eyes need to be taken from the deceased within six to eight hours of death.

Eye donation has nothing to do with one’s age, blood group or gender. People who wear glasses for clear vision can also donate eyes. As their cornea is healthy, the receiver may not need any spectacles. Blood pressure patients and diabetics can also donate their eyes.

Donation from one helps two people to see the world.

Eye donation is a humane activity, it is conducted by the eye banks for free, and it is supported by all the religions.

Superstitions and religious myths hamper the act of eye donation most. There are myths that the donor will be born blind in his or her next birth. Or, like that he or she would not be able to see the God.

Appearance of the face of the deceased would be marred is the other prevalent myth to keep people from donating the eyes. It is cornea, the transparent layer over the eye that is removed. It has no effect on the appearance of the face.

The complications are mostly related to the infections during the procedure of transplantation. Though, the transplant is not that internal as many other transplants like kidney transplant and others are, the transplant can lead to infections as the receiver’s body is exposed to external stuff. Rather the receiver’s body has to accommodate the living tissues from someone else’s body inside his body for ever. The complications beyond infections may be related to the mismatching of the tissue patterns between the two bodies.

The infections can generally be prevented by taking due sanitary measures at the time of transplanting and shortly after that. Once the healing of the broken tissues is complete, the chances of infections are less.The complications are greater when the receiver’s body starts rejecting the foreign tissues. Doctors may give immunity suppressant to the receiver in this case.  The drugs target to reduce the sensitivity of the body, so that it could accept the foreign tissues well. This may further result infections in the receiver’s body.

But it is only one common aspect with all the transplants. The other common aspect is more important. That relates to the benefits of transplants. And what can be a better benefit in this world than letting one see the world?
Eyes if donated can serve the receiver throughout his or her life. Only your will and conscience is the key to decide about eye donation and spreading awareness among others to donate eyes.

Eyes are priceless; an eye cannot be made in a laboratory or factory. It cannot be bought or sold. It can only be donated to help two others to see, after you have lived your life seeing its colors.

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They include glasses, contacts and eye surgery. Individuals that need corrective lenses or alternative options for fixing their eyesight should consult with an optometrist for more information. The optometrist will perform a thorough eye exam and explain options available for corrective vision.

One of the most popular corrective vision options is glasses. Most people that have vision problems have worn glasses at some point in time. Glasses are made of a frame and lenses that are made to improve the eye condition so that individuals can have 20/20 vision.  Both the frames and the lenses can be made per the individual’s request.

Lenses are now available in lightweight options that make the lenses appear less bulky, specifically for those that require a stronger prescription for the lenses for serious cases of myopia or astigmatism.

Similarly, frames are also customizable and allow those that wear glasses to have their own personal style.  Frames are available in different shapes, sizes and colors. The optometrist will measure an individual’s face to ensure that the frames fit the face nicely.  Most people own at least one pair of glasses as a backup in case one breaks or if a person is unable to wear their contacts for any reason.

Contacts are another corrective vision option that many people utilize. It should be noted that not everyone that wears contact lenses has an ocular problem. Some contacts are for aesthetic purposes only which means that these contacts are used to change the appearance of the iris.

Contacts for corrective vision are available in both hard and soft varieties. Individuals can also obtain disposable contacts that are worn for a specific amount of time before being discarded. Extended wear contacts allow people to wear their contacts for longer periods because the material is breathable allowing more oxygen to reach the eye.

To obtain contacts individuals must see a licensed optometrist for a contact lens eye exam. Overall, there are varieties of options available to people seeking corrective vision eyewear.

One of the main causes of vision loss is eyestrain. Eyes strain produces stress on the muscles around the eyes and the eyes themselves. Straining to see words both near and far simply makes vision problems a lot worse in the end. Attempting to read books in poor lighting can also result in vision loss.

Staring at a computer screen all day without taking a break can result in the decline of one’s vision. The eyes are like any other area of the body and they require rest. The failure to provide the eyes with the necessary rest they need can result in a loss of vision over time. Individuals should give their eyes a break when they feel pressure or pain or when the eyes simply feel tired and look red. Providing the eyes with rest can decrease the chances of vision loss.

Another factor that causes vision loss is diet. Diet and eyesight are linked. A poor diet can deeply affect a person’s eyesight. Just as high fat diets can cause heart problems, a similar affect is experienced with the blood vessels in the eyes. If the eyes do not receive an adequate amount of blood and oxygen, vision problems can occur.

For this very reason, it is important for people to eat a healthy diet high in vitamin A and lutein to support eye health. It is best to avoid fattening foods that can affect the health of the blood vessels in the eyes and throughout the body. Understanding the various causes of vision loss is important to prevent eye problems.

It is important for people to understand why corrective eye surgery is necessary at times and what the implications are for this type of eye correction procedure. Those considering corrective eye surgery as an option should consult with their optometrist and an eye surgeon for more information.

There are instances where corrective eye surgery is necessary. People that suffer from ocular conditions such as cataracts and eye pressure may seek the eye surgery to improve their conditions. Individuals such as these that require an eye surgery because of an existing condition that cannot be fixed with corrective lenses will need to have several eye exams to confirm the need for such a surgery.

Individuals will be briefed about the effects of eye surgery and what can be expected. Those considering eye surgery for corrective purposes should follow all rules and guidelines as provided by the optometrist and eye surgeon to ensure that surgery is successful.

Likewise, there are those individuals that choose to have elective corrective eye surgery. Many people are familiar with the very popular laser eye surgery. This procedure utilizes small lasers to correct all types of vision problems. The lasers cut into the eye and result in a minimally invasive procedure.

Individuals are usually able to recover most if not all of their vision within a week. While the results of laser eye surgery have been relatively positive, a number of people do experience complications in relation to laser eye surgery. Those interested in this type of procedure should speak to a licensed optometrist and eye surgeon that have learned verifiable experience dealing with laser eye surgery.

In all, there are different corrective eye surgery options for people that require surgery to improve their eyesight and for those that are interested in elective eye surgery for vision improvement.

In certain countries there are provisions of eye donation even if no written proof is available of the    consent of the deceased. In such cases, only it is required that an individual relating to him should tell the authorities that the deceased had ever expressed his wish to donate his/her eyes.

There are rules and regulations relating to eye donations. Due to the social, religious and other reasons the progress in the laws promoting the eye donation has been slow but now the thrust on modifying the laws in this direction is there as some countries have come up with good results of their more effective laws.

In the US the laws relating to organ donation and eye donation have been left with the states. But these are expected to be in conformity with laws in other states. Whereas the promotion of eye donation is good through many popular measures like the one in which one’s wish is to be given on his/her driving license. It makes the authorities easy to know if the deceased person was willing to donate his/her eyes or not.

But the laws of US fall in the category that are called to be a matter of ‘pure consent’ that restricts the donation, subject to the availability of the evidence of the concerned fellow’s wish to donate eyes. The similar is the system in many of the countries of Europe including the UK. But in as many as 24 countries in the European Union, there has been the laws following ‘presumed consent’ in the matter of eye donation. And these countries have been performing well in this regard. The figure of 24 countries is as of 2010. The UK is likely to switch to the presumed consent system of laws soon, as there are debates on the issue and the shift is evident in the general opinion there.

Given the fact that the humane concern for the blinds can be meted out in this 21st century dominated by science, it is logical for countries to shift to this presumed consent system. But there are still many hindrances in this way. There are backward societies to come out of the superstitions of people and there are various modern democratic concerns that advocate the explicit consent. Awareness both on humanitarian and scientific grounds is a must in any case.

Eye donation for me is just a noble humane deed. You may find it superior to the above or petty before that, but it is how I take the issue. And I think this viewpoint can be more effective if put properly.

Let me talk in concrete terms to elaborate the issue. Why should one donate or why should one not donate his or her eyes? There are people who would donate their eyes on religious grounds. Up to this the role of religion in our lives is good as it serves the purpose of humanity.

There are people who would do it for their sensitive nature. They might have dealt with some blind people closely. This would have led them to a firm determination that they would do what they could. Such people find all they can do is that they can help two needy people by donating their eyes. And they finally fill the forms to that end.

But the surprising thing is that the majority of the people don’t fall in either of the categories. They are not at all motivated toward eye donation; no matter they are religious or ‘materialists’. You cannot say that the number of people having their faith in religion has been reducing and so the humane concerns have been reducing to result in conditions like this.

You cannot say so because most of the religious people, like most of the non-religious people are not donating their eyes. That most of the religious people don’t donate eyes, is enough for proving that religion cannot help evoke people’s humanity.

It is science that would help this cause. The lack of scientific awareness makes people wary of any such activities involving dissection etc. And religion mostly stands opposed to science here. It makes people suspicious of science and makes them superstitious. If we spread scientific awareness about life and death, and about body and soul; the case will become simple for people to understand.

A little should also be done to increase the social sense of people beside scientific awareness. Scientific awareness would equip people with that there are no long and destroying acts done on the dead body while eyes are removed. And social awareness would tell them, contrary to the prevalent mantra of capitalism that everyone should live for himself or herself, that humans are social being by their very nature. We couldn’t even learn our language by adhering to ‘live for oneself’ mantra.

Scientific consciousness is also required for alleviating the fears of many communities that donating our eyes wouldn’t harm our fate after death. These efforts could effectively change the sorry state of matters in this regard of eye donation where millions of people are unable to see anything because those who are able to see are obsessed with superstitious versions of what they see.

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