Glenn Beck, the conservative radio and TV host and author, tearfully announced that he’s losing his eyesight because of a disease called macular dystrophy, which affects the central vision.
Beck may never fully go blind. But as the degenerative disease progresses, he may lose the ability to read, recognize faces, drive and make out other fine details. Macular dystrophy, as with its close cousin, macular degeneration, leaves intact the peripheral vision.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a good explanation of the two diseases: Dystrophy is inherited, while degeneration normally comes with age.
Both affect the macula, an area of the retina in the back of the eye. With macular dystrophy, a pigment builds up, gradually damaging the cells of the macula and causing blurry vision when looking straight ahead. There is no effective treatment.
Dr. Stephanie Lu, an assistant clinical professor in UCI’s Department of Ophthalmology, says that since Beck hasn’t disclosed which type of macular dystrophy, he could have a range of outcomes. The most common type is vitelliform, which can present as adult or juvenile onset, and which Lu says can progress slowly or not at all. ”If the lesion isn’t in the center, a lot of times they can maintain very good vision throughout their life,” Lu said. If it’s a more serious kind of macular dystrophy called Best’s disease, which is genetic, vision will deteriorate more quickly.
Beck announced his diagnosis to an audience in Salt Lake City, during the last stop of his “American Revival” tour. He said he’d been having problems focusing his eyes, so he went to the doctor, who said he had the disease and that “you could go blind in the next year, or you might not.” There’s no way of telling how quickly the disease might progress.
Regardless of what you think of Beck’s views or his personality, his remarks appeared genuinely emotional — and darkly humorous.
I know what my wife looks like, I know what my children look like. I have a great imagination. I know what color looks like. But I love to read. And I thought to myself, in that time, I’m too darn lazy to learn Braille!
Back in the Fox News studio on Wednesday, Beck said he’d accept his fate “with a smile” and “with dignity.”
I don’t know what tomorrow brings. … C’est la vie, and that is the way I feel about it. … I don’t own my life, and I certainly don’t own my eyes. If that’s the price of admission, I’m grateful that I’ve had them. I don’t want to lose them, but I’m grateful that I had them.
You can watch the whole video here.
The disease taking Glenn Beck’s eyesight is a post from: Healthy Living - The Orange County Register
