Louis Kreisberg and the Foundation Fighting Blindness

The Foundation Fighting Blindness, with CEO Louis Kreisberg, has taken on the urgent mission of supporting the research into the causes of blindness and its prevention, treatments and also cures.

On the list of causes of blindness are retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and other diseases which cause the retina to degenerate.

Here are some facts about retinal degenerative diseases which can lead to blindness:

·       Blinding diseases affect people of all ages and races. Over ten million Americans suffer vision loss from these diseases.
·        Retinitis Pigmentosa and Usher syndrome are genetic diseases which are inherited and usually diagnosed during childhood or young adulthood.

•   RP is the cause of serious vision loss which leads to legal and/or total blindness.
•  Children who are born with Usher syndrome are born with varying degrees of deafness. They develop RP later.
•  Age related macular degeneration has inherited risks. It is characterized by increasing loss of central vision.
• The foremost cause of blindness in adults over 55 years old in the US is AMD.