Helping Hands for the Blind
East Coast

A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization Supporting
People With Impaired Vision

Online contributions to the blind.

Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Eye Disorders

These are some that people with vision impairment and blindness suffer.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) - AMD is a disease associated with aging that gradually destroys sharp, central vision.

Behçet's Disease of the Eye - Behçet's disease is an autoimmune disease that results from damage to blood vessels throughout the body, particularly veins.

Bietti's Crystalline Dystrophy - Bietti's crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is an inherited eye disease named for Dr. G. B. Bietti, an Italian ophthalmologist, who described three patients with similar symptoms in 1937.

Cataract - A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people.

Cortical visual impairment (CVI) is a neurological disorder, which results in unique visual responses to people, educational materials, and to the environment. When students with these visual/behavioral characteristics are shown to have loss of acuity or judged by their performance to be visually impaired, they are considered to have CVI.

Diabetic Eye Disease - refers to a group of eye problems that people with diabetes may face as a complication of diabetes. All can cause severe vision loss or even blindness.

Dry Eye - occurs when the eye does not produce tears properly, or when the tears are not of the correct consistency and evaporate too quickly.

Glaucoma - a group of diseases that can damage the eye's optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness.

Low Vision - means that even with regular glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, people find everyday tasks difficult to do.

Macular Hole - A macular hole is a small break in the macula, located in the center of the eye's light-sensitive tissue called the retina. The macula provides the sharp, central vision we need for reading, driving, and seeing fine detail.

Rare Diseases - Anophthalmia and microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia is a disorder in which one or both eyes are abnormally small, while anophthalmia is the absence of one or both eyes.

Retinoblastoma is a type of cancer that forms in the retina (the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye).

Retinal Detachment - The retina is the light-sensitive layer of tissue that lines the inside of the eye and sends visual messages through the optic nerve to the brain. When the retina detaches, it is lifted or pulled from its normal position. If not promptly treated, retinal detachment can cause permanent vision loss.