[blindlgbtpride] 60% of Americans fear blindness more than heart disease

[Don Brown]

FYI:

Americans Fear Blindness More Than Heart Disease Survey Finds Posted on:
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:01:19 EDT

New York, NY, Aug 11, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- 

Most Americans fear blindness more than getting heart disease, the
primary killer of both men and women in the United States, according to
the findings of the "Eye on Eyesight" survey. 

The "Eye on Eyesight" survey confirms that a significant fear exists
when it comes to losing one's eyesight, as 60 percent of Americans say
they are more frightened by the prospect of going blind than of getting
heart disease. The survey was conducted by Surge Research Inc. on behalf
of Choice Magazine Listening, a nonprofit organization which produces
and distributes audio anthologies of magazine articles, stories, and
poetry, professionally narrated and free of charge for the visually
impaired and physically disabled. 

"Many of us take our vision for granted. The thought of losing abilities
that are basic to us, including important day-to-day functions like
reading, creates tremendous fear," said Sondra Mochson, Editor in Chief
of Choice Magazine Listening. "Although we hope you'll never need our
free service, we do fill a crucial need by providing access to
entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking literature for people
who have difficulty reading due to vision loss  or other factors." 

The survey shows that the fear of losing one's eyesight is nearly double
that of getting heart disease (63% vs. 37%) for Americans between ages
50 and 64, a group that is at the highest risk not only for heart
disease, but also for conditions that can cause visual disability such
as diabetes  and macular degeneration. 

According to the survey, 79 percent of Americans also say that other
than their own death or the death of a loved one, losing one's eyesight
is the "worst thing that could happen to me," clearly positioning vision
as one of the most important elements of one's life, if not the most
important. 

"Heart disease awareness campaigns touch almost every American, from
educating the public about good and bad cholesterol, proper exercise
regimens, and healthy diets, to pharmaceutical companies trying to
market their cholesterol or high blood pressure medications," said
Andrew Edwards, Chief Executive Officer  of Surge Research Inc. "For
many years the Centers for Disease Control has declared heart disease as
the number-one killer in America. Yet despite all this awareness, this
survey implies a greater concern with quality of life than with a severe
medical condition  that kills one person every 34 seconds." 

The "Eye on Eyesight" survey was conducted by Surge Research Inc. from
July 26 to 28, 2010 using an invitation e-mail and online survey. This
survey measured the opinions of 1,050 American adults ages 18-64 and has
a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% incidence level.

About Choice Magazine Listening Choice Magazine
Listening(
www.choicemagazinelistening.org
) is a free audio anthology for
a special audience of blind, visually impaired, physically disabled, or
dyslexic subscribers. CML was created in 1962 by the nonprofit  Lucerna
Fund to offer the best of contemporary magazine writing, completely
without charge, to adults unable to read standard print. 

About Surge Research Inc. Surge Research Inc. (
www.surgeresearch.com
) is
a leading global marketing research firm providing qualitative and
quantitative research expertise and capabilities extending across all
areas of marketing, communications, advertising  and business. Surge
Research offers multifaceted market research services, including omnibus
surveys, public relations surveys, focus groups, competitive
intelligence, customer satisfaction surveys, social media and social
networking analysis, employee surveys, in-depth interviews, tracking
studies and advertising research. 

For more information about the "Eye on Eyesight" survey or Choice
Magazine Listening, please call Paul Rabin, Public Information
Consultant at Choice Magazine Listening, 516-503-0271 or Andrew
Edwards, Chief Executive Officer at Surge Research Inc. at 646-206-9017.

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