Coloboma - the single identifiable feature of Madeleine

It's ludicrous and very unhelpful to suggest that the McCann's should spend their public donations on an advertising campaign of this magnitude when they clearly need their money to silence Tony and commit him to jail.

Maddie has had to wait to be rescued from the secret lair in the lawless hills of PDL, where Edgar said she was being held captive, whilst her mother wrote a book so it won't hurt her to wait a bit longer.

There is no evidence that Margaret...sorry, Maddie has been harmed, she is currently being treated like a princess in the situation she finds herself in and will most likely be giving her captor her t'penceworth.

Normally, though, that would be an excellent idea! But the McCann's told BBC's Jane Hill they didn't physically search for Maddie when she first went missing so what would be the point now?

Well, it's acceptable for other people to get off their backsides and search.

The McCanns did of course make one of the biggest about turns in history when they announced in 2011 (I think) that they'd never made much of the eye defect as it was barely noticable.

It certainly has happened elsewhere that an abducted child has read up on the Internet that he is missing. One particular case is that of Shawn Hornbeck who was found after more than four years.

This is his own website. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

aquila wrote:I've recently watched so many McCann interviews. One in particular stood out - their main focus is on finding Madeleine.

I think it should be their ONLY focus. To use their website to gain money, buy our book, online shop etc, thank people for supporting them in their latest campaign (without actually telling anyone what that campaign actually is), to direct people to a real charity (the Fund is not a charity remember) for which KM has become an ambassador (that one is a triumph as imo it gives a subliminal message that the Fund is a charity - who reads smallprint?) and to give no real guts to their search for Madeleine. No real information. It will be very interesting to see how much is declared for the running of this website in the latest accounts.

Their ONLY focus is on going through the motions (yawn). They're not trying to get rich or anything just stay out of jail for as long as possible whilst the twins grow up IMO.

aquila wrote:I've recently watched so many McCann interviews. One in particular stood out - their main focus is on finding Madeleine.

I think it should be their ONLY focus. To use their website to gain money, buy our book, online shop etc, thank people for supporting them in their latest campaign (without actually telling anyone what that campaign actually is), to direct people to a real charity (the Fund is not a charity remember) for which KM has become an ambassador (that one is a triumph as imo it gives a subliminal message that the Fund is a charity - who reads smallprint?) and to give no real guts to their search for Madeleine. No real information. It will be very interesting to see how much is declared for the running of this website in the latest accounts.

From the Irish Interview :

at approx. 25 min.11 sec. Gerry says ‘It’s a terrible situation actually - apart from your daughter going missing..... unquote

And in the interview on going back to work he says that finding Madeleine would be one of a number of possible significant developments. Not THE ONLY significant development.

All that remains is working out how that particular 'development' is ranked, 5th, 100th?

Brilliant idea.
However, in Madeleine's passport no coloboma, only a mark on one of her legs? was mentioned.
Not sure, but has anyone ever seen thát on a photo?

So, díd she have that good ploy coloboma, which Kate in her book downsizes again, or didn't she?
Will we ever know?


parapono


eta If Madeleine did not have that coloboma as an infant, and it developped later, ( McCann stating the truth for once), my conclusion would be that she was suffering of a very serious illness (and died as a result of that,
perhaps?)

parapono wrote:Brilliant idea.
However, in Madeleine's passport no coloboma, only a mark on one of her legs? was mentioned.
Not sure, but has anyone ever seen thát on a photo?

So, díd she have that good ploy coloboma, which Kate in her book downsizes again, or didn't she?
Will we ever know?


parapono


eta If Madeleine did not have that coloboma as an infant, and it developped later, ( McCann stating the truth for once), my conclusion would be that she was suffering of a very serious illness (and died as a result of that,
perhaps?)

I would love to answer that question regarding serious illness but my healthy bank account means I cant.

@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

O yes I do,
parapono

parapono wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

O yes I do,
parapono

Nice to know someone on the same wavelength.

The paradox of Schrödinger's Cat seems to pop up in this case a few times..

Is there or isn't there a colombola
Is maddie dead or alive


I guess we'll have to look in the box to find out (we'll have to find the box first though)

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

O yes I do,
parapono

Nice to know someone on the same wavelength.

***
Wouldn't preplanned mean : better planned?

Châtelaine wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

O yes I do,
parapono

Nice to know someone on the same wavelength.

***
Wouldn't preplanned mean : better planned?

It could have been planned to the nth degree then human error/mistake or just the law of sod mucks it up.

Châtelaine wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:

Observer wrote:

parapono wrote:@observer
Lets make it a retoric question of mine, just to be safe.
I was just thinking aloud, let's say

kindest regards

parapono

As much as I would like to give my tuppence worth, I think you would agree with me on a preplanned agenda.

O yes I do,
parapono

Nice to know someone on the same wavelength.

***
Wouldn't preplanned mean : better planned?

---------------
That would all depend on the actors !!!

aquila wrote:Last week there was another 'sighting' of Madeleine in New Zealand. The store retailer noticed the coloboma 'fleck' in a young girl's eye and reported her concerns. It turned out that it wasn't Madeleine and apparently this same girl has been reported previously as a sighting.

The McCanns used a photograph of Madeleine at the time of her disappearance pointing out the coloboma which became her iconic photo. It was done against the advice of the Portuguese police who felt it could be a dangerous thing to do and place Madeleine in further jeopardy. Gerald McCann said in terms of marketing it was a good ploy.

In the five years since Madeleine's disappearance the McCanns have voiced their concern about things their twins might read on the internet regarding the case of their sister's disappearance. The McCanns know that their twins will use the internet. Most children in first world countries use/are exposed to the internet. Why would Madeleine not have access to the internet?

There has been to my knowledge no direct appeal to Madeleine from her parents in the last couple of years or so. Madeleine will soon be 10 years old. Surely it's worth a stab at promoting that coloboma again in the hope that a nine/ten year old or her friends, parents of her friends, her teachers etc have use of the internet. Unless Madeleine is locked up in an ivory tower and shielded from all contact with modern technology there can't be much to lose in a concerted campaign (the Fund can afford it) to promote this single identifiable feature of Madeleine. The McCanns have a website, a FB page and a lot of supporters to use as a platform.

A lot of children in first world countries have eye tests. Would it be beyond the realms of possibility that a concerted campaign to all opticians/eye specialists might get a result? Most of these professionals have websites/email addresses as do schools.

If a little girl in New Zealand with an eye fleck can be identified twice on the basis of media exposure to the McCann's plight just think what else could be done (well apart from suing people and writing books of course).

Just thinking out loud.

Fantastic post aquila!

Hobs, that's what many [and I] have been saying from the very beginning ... Give them enough rope ... and ... they'll hang themselves ... before we [I] knew anything about statement analysis. Little could we have known at the time, that we would still be here almost 6 years later ...

from the RNIB re coloboma - very interesting. [ I have bolded what I found of particular interest.] No wonder the PJ wanted medical records, lets hope SY simply demand them. In a case like this, why would anything be refused?


We need light to see what is around us and to see colour.
Light bounces off the objects we look at. These reflect different
amounts of light which we see as different colours.



Front of the eye



Light rays enter the front of our eye through the clear
cornea and lens. It is very important that both the cornea and lens are
clear as this allows the light to pass directly through the front of the
eye to the retina.


The cornea and lens bends light so that it can focus on the retina at the back of our eye. This gives us a clear, precise image. The cornea focuses the light towards our retina. The lens fine tunes the focussing of this light.


Our tears form a protective layer at the front of the eye and also help to direct the light coming into our eye.


The iris, the coloured circle at the front of our eye, changes the size of the pupil which allows different amounts of light into our eye.


The pupil is the dark hole in the middle of
the coloured part of our eye. The pupil gets smaller in bright
conditions to let less light in and bigger in dark conditions to let
more light in.



Middle of the eye



The middle of our eye is filled with a jelly-like substance called the vitreous. The vitreous is clear and allows light to pass directly from the front to the back of our eye.



Back of the eye



The retina at the back of the eye is a
light-sensitive layer which consists of rod and cone cells. These cells
collect the light signals directed onto them and send them as electrical
signals to the optic nerve at the back of our eye.


Rod cells are concentrated around the edge
of the retina. They help us to see things that aren't directly in front
of us, giving us a rough idea of what is around us. They help us with
our mobility and getting around by stopping us from bumping into things.
They also enable us to see things in dim light and to see movement.


Cone cells are concentrated in the centre of our retina where the light is focused by the cornea and lens. This area is called the macula.
Cone cells give us our detailed vision which we use when reading,
watching TV, sewing and looking at people's faces. They are also
responsible for most of our colour vision.


The optic nerve is made up of thousands of
nerve fibres. These fibres pass the electrical signals along to our
brain where they are processed into the image we are looking at. This
connection is known as the visual system and develops through use from
birth to around seven years of age, after which it does not develop
further. For this system to develop normally all parts of the eye need
to be functioning well.



How we see



Seeing can be likened to the process of taking pictures on a film with a camera
which you then get developed. The retina is like a camera film which
stores an image of what we are looking at. The image directed onto the
retina is then sent along to the brain where it is processed, like
developing a camera film. Therefore we actually "see" in our brain with
the light information sent to it from our eyes. This whole process
happens very quickly so that everything we see is in focus.



About coloboma



A coloboma is a gap in part of the structures of the eye.
This gap can be large or small and is normally in the bottom part of the
eye. A coloboma is caused when a baby's eyes do not develop properly
during pregnancy. The eyes develop between the fourth and anything up to
the fifteenth week of pregnancy, though development is usually
completed around eight weeks. This condition occurs in about 1 in 10,000
births.


Coloboma can affect one eye (unilateral) or both eyes
(bilateral). Coloboma can affect a number of different parts of the eye.
A coloboma does not mean that there is a hole in the eye, but that
certain structures or parts within the eye did not fully form.



How effects the eye



A coloboma can affect the iris which is the coloured part at
the front of the eye. It can affect the lens, the part of the eye which
helps focus light onto the retina.


Coloboma can also affect the choroid which is a thin network
of blood vessels which help to keep the retina healthy. Finally, it can
affect the retina at the back of the eye. Very rarely coloboma can also
affect the optic disc or the eyelid.


A coloboma forms whilst the baby grows in the womb. The eyes
develop early during pregnancy and start off as little buds. Usually
the eye folds in on itself as it develops which leaves a small gap
called the foetal cleft.


The foetal cleft helps maintain the blood supply to the
developing parts of the eye. In the final stage of eye development
during pregnancy the cleft seals up from the back of the eye forwards
and all the structures of the eye are formed. In an eye with coloboma
this gap does not fully close and remains in some of the structures of
the eye.



Diagnosis



If the hospital staff suspect a child has a coloboma, which
is normally first noticed by the possible keyhole-like shape of the
pupil, then an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) will carry out a full eye
examination.


The ophthalmologist would normally use an instrument called
an ophthalmoscope to examine the inside of a child's eyes. The
ophthalmoscope is held close to the eye but will not touch it. A baby
may be given a general anaesthetic to allow the ophthalmologist to carry
out a eye examination. This allows the doctor to look thoroughly at the
baby's eye whilst he or she is still without causing any distress.


This kind of thorough eye examination at the hospital will
help them to find out how much of the eye has been affected by the
coloboma. It may be hard to tell how much a child's sight has been
affected until they are older. This is because small children aren't
able to communicate in words how good their vision is.


The hospital may also carry out other examinations to check on your child's general health.



Effect of coloboma on vision



The effect coloboma has on vision depends a lot on which
part of the eye is affected and how big the gap is. Normally the gap is
at the bottom of the eye (where a 6 is on the face of a clock) and runs
from the front to the back of the eye. Coloboma may affect only the
front of the eye if most of the cleft has sealed up. It may affect the
eye from the front to the centre and back if more of the cleft has
failed to close.


Most commonly coloboma only affects the iris. Children with
this type of coloboma often have fairly good vision. Their pupil may be
shaped a bit like a keyhole. They may have some problems with and
dislike bright lights because the iris, which usually limit the amount
of light entering the eye by controlling the size of the pupil may not
work properly. Too much light entering the eye can cause discomfort and
distort the image created. Measures can be taken to help protect a child
from sunlight such as tinted glasses, sun hats or sunblinds in cars.


If the coloboma goes further back into the eye then the
child may have more visual problems, especially if the retina is
involved. If this has happened then central vision may be affected.
Central vision is used for detailed activities such as reading, writing
and close work or play. If this is the case, specialist support services
for children with a visual impairment will be involved.


Support services can help a child and his or her carers
learn how to make the most of the vision the child has. Specialist
services are mentioned at the end of this leaflet. They can provide
information on development, play, education and many other issues.


Coloboma may affect one eye more than the other, so one eye may have better vision than the other.



Effects of coloboma on other parts of the body



Sometimes children with coloboma may have other problems and some 'syndromes' which include coloboma, such as


CHARGE, a rare condition which stands for:

C - coloboma

H - heart defects

A - atresia of the choanae (problems with the nose passages)

R - retarded growth and developments

G - genital hypoplasia (undescended testicles)

E - ear abnormalities.


The hospital and medical staff will tell you if there are
any other existing health issues and offer the relevant treatment and
support services from a very early age.



Causes of coloboma



Most cases of coloboma appear without any previous family
history. In some families coloboma can be inherited. If a child is
diagnosed with coloboma it is advisable for the child's parents to have
an eye examination. This is because coloboma can be present without
causing any visual problems. Therefore a parent might have coloboma but
not know it. If an eye examination detected coloboma then a parent could
explore inheritance patterns with the hospital or genetic counsellor.



The genetic factor responsible for most cases of coloboma
has not yet been identified. Research is on-going to identify genes and
any environmental factors that may cause coloboma. Information on this
can be found on the MACS website or from the Medical Research Council Edinburgh Eye Malformation Study (MEEMS) website. Their contact details can be found at the end of this fact sheet.


If coloboma has occurred in your family and you would like
to talk through the issues of genetics then you could ask your GP to
refer you to the local clinical genetics department who could explore
this with you.



Treatment



There is no treatment for coloboma at present. A child with
coloboma will receive specialist care at hospital during the early years
to monitor the effect of the coloboma and their eye health. The
frequency of these checks will depend on the child's needs. Children who
have coloboma can be more at risk of glaucoma (increased eye pressure)
and retinal detachment. There are treatments for both of these
conditions which the hospital would explore with you.


If your child's eye health is stable and no further
complications appear then they will usually attend an eye test every six
months up to the age of seven years and then annually. These eye tests
will usually take place with an optician or orthoptist.


Children with coloboma may need glasses. Glasses cannot
correct the vision problems caused by the coloboma. However, glasses can
correct short-sightedness or long-sightedness which can help to correct
the parts of vision that haven't been affected by coloboma.


Sometimes cosmetic contact lenses may be considered at a
later stage. These can help to make the pupil look round rather than
keyhole shaped.


Prescription sunglasses due to the light-sensitivity may
also be suggested, as may some low vision aids and equipment to help a
child make the most of their sight.

"A child with coloboma will receive specialist care at hospital during the early years
to monitor the effect of the coloboma and their eye health."

"If your child's eye health is stable and no further complications appear then they will usually attend an eye test every six months up to the age of seven years and then annually."

So IF she would have had a real coloboma, there would be quite a lot on medical records.
IF it was only a fleck and she was a healthy child, there would have been hardly anything on record ...

I get the picture.

Maybe PeterMac or HiDeHo can send this information to their contact at NSY?