Did Facebook photo save little girl's vision???

Parents posting all those photos of their
children on Facebook can usually count on
receiving a steady stream of Likes and
comments along the lines of, "Awww!" or
"OMG she's gotten so big!"
However, Tara Taylor's photo of her 3-year-old
daughter, Rylee, received something much
different -- and much more valuable: some
well-founded concern from her friends.
In the picture, which Tara posted because
Rylee had done her own hair, the 3-year-old's
left eye has a white circle in the middle, not
unlike the reflection you sometimes see from
using the flash. But two of Tara's friends saw
something else.
"They said 'Hey, I'm sure it's nothing. It's
probably the lighting, but your daughter's eye
is glowing and you might want to have it
checked out because it's a sign there could be
an issue with her eye,'" Taylor told CNN
Memphis affiliate WREG .
Turns out, there was. Taylor took Rylee to a
retina specialist who diagnosed the little girl
with Coat's disease, an eye disease which
causes full or partial vision loss, typically in
one eye. But early detection is key with Coat's
disease and Taylor can credit her Facebook
post for that.
"If caught early, some level of vision can
typically be restored. If not treated until its
later stages, complete loss of vision can
occur," according to the Coats Disease
Foundation.
Photographs of children play a key role in
diagnosing Coats' Disease and many other eye
disorders , as a majority of cases are first
detected after a parent notices a white or
yellow glow in one of their children's eyes,
according to the Vision Center at Children's
Hospital Los Angeles .
"Rather than the light going in and bouncing
off the blood vessels in the retina, it bounces
off [a fat and lipid] deposit, which is yellow,
and comes back as a yellow reflex," explains
Dr. Thomas Lee , an ophthalmologist at
Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
"It's very important that if a parent does
notice that, they take it to the attention of
their pediatrician or their eye doctor," Dr. Lee
advises in a video made for advocacy group
"Know the Glow."
The Coats' Disease Foundation says less than
200,000 people have the disorder, which is
often diagnosed between the ages of six and
eight. There is no cure for Coats' Disease, but
in addressing parents the Foundation's website
says, "With your support, as well as that of
doctors, therapists and teachers, your child
should be able to do everything a fully sighted
child can do."
WREG reports Rylee Taylor now has procedures
done every few months on her left eye to help
maintain the vision she still has.
Follow Jonathan Anker on Twitter
@JonFromHLN