Would you trade part of your life expectancy to be rid of strabismus?
Written on November 3, 2007 – | by Lois (admin)
David Marshall writes:
Dr. David Guyton at the Wilmer Eye Institue of Johns Hopkins sent this to me along with some other articles, but this one is a very powerful reminder of how crippling strabismus can be to those of us who suffer from it. It is a study conducted by George R Beauchamp, MD, Joost Felius, PhD, David R Stager, Sr, MD,and Cynthia L Beauchamp, MD from the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dr G. Beauchamp, Dr Felius, Dr Stager, Dr C. Beauchamp), and the Retina Foundation of the Southwest (Dr Felius), Dallas, Texas.
This study shows 60% of those studied indicated willingness to trade part of their life expectancy in return for being rid of strabismus and its associated effects. You can find a link here.
It speaks volumes about how debilitating strabismus can be.
This interesting item above is shared by David Marshall (who also provided some input for last week’s post.) The study linked in David’s item is called “The Utility of Strabismus in Adults.” “Utility” is defined in the article as “quality-of-life weight.”
Photo credit: G & A Scholiers
6 Responses to “Would you trade part of your life expectancy to be rid of strabismus?”
By antoinette on Nov 6, 2007 | Reply
yes i would. nobody knows how depressing this condition is. For me I feel so inferoir to others and I can’t really defend myself because i cannot make eye contact. It is hard. As far as dating is concerned,it has not really stopped me from being approached, but I don’t even feel confortable in the situation so I don’t even entertain it. Having a companion doesn’t make me feel any better. Nobody understands how hard it is ti live with until they have it.
By kyle on Nov 20, 2007 | Reply
definitely. easily 5 years. possibly 10 years. strabismus sucks!
By andy on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
you have got to be kidding, your right strabismus sucks but is it worse than losing a child to hunger or war is it worse than being paralysed or blind there are 1000s of people in the world who would trade places with someone with strabismus i worked with what i had and got educated and went to the gym so come on get positive .
By jamie on Mar 26, 2008 | Reply
Andy I’m not kidding you. Yes people have it worse off but it doesn’t change the facts. Speaking for myself I hate having strabismus with all my might. You say think positive. Some times the bad out weighs the good.
By elena on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
I agree with you Jamie, people are worse off but I even seen two homeless men making fun of me and my friend. I have esotropia, and she has exotropia. I heard them say oh her needs to go a little out and hers needs to go a little in. then laughing. People who usually say there are some worse off don’t have it.
By antoinette on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
I agree jamie. I saw two homeless men making fun of me and my friend. it is embarrassing