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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2016)
January 20, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News “(African Americans) tend to lose vision at quicker rates at younger ages than other people do,” Parikh said. It is not clear why Black people are at higher risk. Parikh said right now there are studies look- ing into the optic nerves of people with African ancestry to see if these Parikh likened glaucoma to other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, where treatments are focused on management rather than curing. The most important treatment is early detec- tion of the disease. This is difficult to do — early warning signs are often subtle and easy to miss. Parikh likened Glaucoma to other chronic diseases such as Diabetes where treat- ments are focused on man- agement rather than curing nerves are different than those in White, Asian or Hispanic peoples. Glaucoma is a con- dition where the optic nerve is damaged due to fluid pressure that builds up in the eye. Un- der normal circumstanc- es, the eye continuously produces a fluid that cir- culates and flows out of the front part of the eye. In glaucoma, the fluid leaves the eye at a slower rate which damages the nerve. Parikh said this nerve damage is progressive and irreversible — once vision has been lost it is gone. “Whatever vision loss from nerve damage, we can’t recover any of it. We can’t do any surgery to fix the nerve, we can’t do surgery to bring vi- sion back,” she said. There has been exper- imental research to re- generate the optic nerve, but viable treatments are many years away. Glaucoma treatments aim to prevent further damage. Practices in- clude eye drops, oral medications and surger- ies to open eye drainage. Flint An early symptom of glaucoma is trouble see- ing in the dark. Another early indicator is trouble seeing areas to the side of one’s vision. Parikh urges against trying to visually self diagnose glaucoma. She said most people will not be able to pick up the op- tical cues of the disease in the early stages. “It is not until the nerve becomes really damaged that people have prob- lems seeing from the glaucoma, by that point there has already been a significant amount of damage,” Parikh said. The best early detec- tion is through an eye screening with an oph- thalmologist. Using an Opthalmoscope, the doctor can look directly through a dilated pupil to observe the optic nerve. This test is the best way to diagnose and monitor Glaucoma. Eye doctors can also check eye pres- sure levels and perform visual field tests. The American Acad- emy of Opthamology recommends screening exams for everyone over the age of 40. Gavin Hoffman (as Joe Gargery), Dana Green (as Mrs. Joe) and Stephen Stocking (as Pip) star in “Great Expectations” at Portland Center Stage, which opened Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 14 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Adapted for the stage by Lucinda Stroud (from Charles Dickens’ classic coming of age novel) and directed by Jane Jones, “Great Expectations” tells the adventures of the Victorian orphan Pip. As a boy, Pip has three encounters with people that will change his life: the escaped convict Magwitch, the bewitching and cold Estella, and the unhinged Miss Havisham. When Pip comes into an unforeseen fortune and begins the life of a gentleman his past is not so easily left behind, and the surprising adventures of his new life are decidedly unexpected. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.pcs.org. Breakfast cont’d from pg 3 continued work for racial justice. The annual breakfast celebrates the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Lu- ther King, Jr. Event sponsors present scholarships to deserv- ing students and a Drum Major for Justice award is presented. Bonner said that, as a youth, he looked around and saw African Americans sharecropping in cot- ton fields for poverty wages. The moment when he noticed the difference between what he learned in school and what he saw around him constituted a “paradigm shift,” he said Monday morning. He became a nonviolent activist at the age of 16. You can read the text of Bonner’s speech online at theskanner.com. Bonner said another paradigm shift came when an organizer from the Student Nonviolent Co- ordinating Committee came to Selma in 1963 and spoke to him and a friend to persuade them to get involved in fighting segrega- tion. At first, Bonner said, he wasn’t convinced nonviolent direct ac- tion was a good idea. Then the or- ganizer asked if he’d ever heard of Gandhi. When Bonner and a friend said yes, the organizer asked if they “ created human beings is God, and we, too, are God. Human being shave segregated themselves not just racially, but spiritually, iso- lating themselves and failing to recognize our connectedness. “You and I are one. We know we are one.” The moment when he noticed the differ- ence between what he learned in school and what he saw around him constitut- ed a ‘paradigm shift’ could name the man who killed Gandhi. They said no. The organizer asked the same questions about Jesus Christ. Gandhi and Christ made history because they were men of love. The men of hate who killed them were forgotten. “Basic Christian doctrine teach- es that humans are made in the image and likeness of God,” he said. The star dust energy that The Skanner Foundation’s 2016 Drum Major for Justice Award went to Eddie Rye, Jr. Rye, of Se- attle. Rye was instrumental in re- naming Seattle’s Empire Way to Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and in organizing the city’s first MLK celebration in 1983. The Seattle celebration Monday included a march of thousands from Gar- field High school to the Federal Building downtown. cont’d from pg 1 agement. “I’m sorry most of all that I let you down,” Snyder, whose administration is engulfed in criticism, said in address, as hundreds of protesters demonstrat- ed outside the Capitol. “You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops “ Great Expectations local authorities and volunteers have been distributing lead tests, filters and bottled water. Snyder aides pledged that by the end of the week officials would visit every household in Flint to ensure they have water filters. Democrats said Snyder only recently This is the kind of disaster, the kind of failure to deliver basic services that hurts people’s trust in government here with me. Most of all, you deserve to know the truth, and I have a respon- sibility to tell the truth.” The lead— which can lead to behavior problems and learning disabilities in children and kidney ailments in adults — has left Flint residents unable to drink unfiltered tap water. The National Guard, state employees, admitted the magnitude of the fiasco, at least three months too late. “This is the kind of disaster, the kind of failure to deliver basic services that hurts people’s trust in government,” House Minority Leader Tim Greimel said. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver refused to call for Snyder’s resignation while at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., saying investigations should go forward. She said she wants Snyder to give Flint “the services and the money, the funds that we need to address the population.” “People have said how they want things handled with him,” Weaver said Wednes- day. “I’m staying fo- Protestors rally outside of the state Capitol during Michigan Gov. Rick cused on what I need Snyder’s State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, in Lansing, to get from him right Mich. With the water crisis gripping Flint threatening to overshadow nearly everything else he has accomplished, the Republican governor now.” In his speech, Sny- again pledged a fix Tuesday night during his annual State of the State der committed $28 speech. specialists, testing and monitoring — million more in the short term to pay for more filters, bot- on top of $10.6 million allocated in the tled water, school nurses, intervention fall. SEAN PROCTOR/THE FLINT JOURNAL-MLIVE.COM VIA AP “ cont’d from pg 1 PHOTO BY PATRICK WEISHAMPEL/BLANKEYE.TV COURTESY OF PORTLAND CENTER STAGE Glaucoma
