Actress Jane Seymour has partnered with Prevent Blindness America to launch a campaign called "Don't Lose Sight" to educate adults ages 40-69 about macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss in people over 50 and affects over 15 million Americans. Seymour's mother suffers from macular degeneration and can no longer read or recognize faces. The campaign launched an educational website that provides risk assessment tools and allows users to submit questions to an eye doctor.

1. upfront
January 2007 20/20 • 29
Actress Jane Seymour has teamed up with Prevent
Blindness America (PBA) for”Don’t Lose Sight”—
a movement to educate adults
ages 40 to 69 about their risk for
macular degeneration. More
than 15 million Americans are
affected by macular degenera-
tion, a leading cause of blindness
and severe vision loss for people
50 and older.
In a recent study conducted by
PBA, 96 percent of Americans
believe that vision retention is
important to overall quality of
life. However, nearly 40 percent
of people are unaware that a dis-
ease like macular degeneration
exists and can be responsible for
vision loss.
Seymour is personally affected
by macular degeneration. Her
mother, Meike, now 92, was diagnosed with the
disease more than 20 years ago. As a result, she
can’t recognize people’s faces and can’t read with-
out using a special magnifying glass. Seymour has
watched her mother’s struggle
with macular degeneration and
wants to educate others about
the disease. The actress recently
participated in “a day without
sight” using a special pair of sim-
ulation glasses to illustrate the
effects of macular degeneration.
In addition, the “Don’t Lose
Sight” campaign interactive, edu-
cational web site www.dontlos-
esight.org was recently launched.
The online portal offers resources
to consumers including risk assess-
ment tools and an opportunity to
submit questions regarding mac-
ular degeneration to Dr. Michael
Cooney, a New York ophthal-
mologist who has done extensive
research into eye health and macular degeneration.
—JM
In Her Sights
Steaks on paper plates, bottles of beer, bug spray
and a tin can of ravioli are unlikely subjects for
an ad. However, ic! berlin launched an amusing
press campaign showing just how they are ironi-
cally uncool yet icy hot. A team of European
designers have transformed sheet metal into
frames while their press
information includes a
book of outrageous
postcards that focus
on anything but eyewear.
The metal, patented
screw-less, spring-hinge
clasp-system is simply a
day in the life of sum-
mertime fun in the
sun, according to
these opti-posers. “ic!
berlin smells the
summer right now, even though it’s becoming
colder outside,” says Coco Hermsen, press depart-
ment manager. The postcard montage shouts that
it’s hip to be a bit disheveled when protected by
the cutting edge of ic! berlin and depicts the look
of rock-n-roll, yet married-with-children. Intrigued?
Contact Coco for more info at coco@ic-berlin.de
—Angela J. Carroll
Metal edge, mail art
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