Eye 2 Eye Optometrists: December 2012

Sunday 30 December 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Tomorrow is the first blank page of 365 page book,
Write a good one. Aamer Niazi

Saturday 22 December 2012

Role of Optometrists in the society

Optometry (a health care profession concerned with the health of the eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans )is a field that is going strong with increasing number of professionals being trained who eventually commence practice. There is a definite increase in the demand for quality optometric treatment due in part to some of the following factors:

o Frequent and abrupt changes in lifestyle-making it hectic
o Unhealthy diets
o Long hours in front of computers and television sets
o Harmful rays of the sun.

All of the factors above can contribute towards excessive strain on the eyesight. The only means by which you can safeguard your eyes and maintain perfect vision is visiting an optometrist (A medical professional who examines and tests the eyes for disease and treats visual disorders by prescribing corrective lenses and/or vision therapy. In many states, optometrists are licensed to use diagnostic and therapeutic drugs to treat certain ocular diseases)at timely intervals for an eye check up.

People generally avoid going to optometrists for an eye check up till they face the following difficulties:

o Difficulty in reading street signs and billboards.
o Words in a book or magazine appear blurred and hazy posing problems in reading.
o While walking down a street accidentally bumping into walls or street signs that were not visible.

If any or all of the above happens, it is time you paid your optometrist an urgent visit. They are responsible for the well being of your eyesight. They examine your eyes and diagnose eye related problems such as poor vision. Their treatment to correct poor eyesight does not consist of a bottle of "great vision" pills or a shot of eyesight injection. They correct vision with lenses and similar optical aids. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are usually prescribed by such professionals.

The following is what may likely happen if you visit an optometrist's office. Upon entering the premises you will be immediately shown a chair to sit down in. Before the lenses are offered you will have to undergo a vision test to check your vision acuity. This exam determines whether you are short or far sighted. After this test the Optometrist will proceed to determine the level of prescription you require in your glasses and whether you at all need to wear glasses.

At the office, they check your vision coordination, vision depth, color viewing and recognition, as well as your capability to focus. After this a glaucoma test is done to detect other diseases that are eye-related. For instance, if you suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer-these could have serious repercussions on your eyes. So the Optometrist will test all such possibilities. Of course they will also provide you with your treatments and give eye therapy.

Optometrists fall into the category of general practitioners. Most of their patients are children and elderly people. There are some of them who practice in private. It is a mistaken assumption that optometry is all about looking into eyes throughout the day. These eye care professionals also have to run an office. They perform functions such as hiring staff, billing, new patient services, maintaining electronic records. Besides they have to order supplies of equipment, lenses and medicines and take care of other administrative stuff to run their office.

Thursday 13 December 2012

Vision problems with increasing rates of diabetes

Vision problems that can’t be corrected with eyeglasses are on the rise among Americans age 20 and older, a new study finds. And the growing prevalence of these problems may be partially related to increasing rates of diabetes.

Researchers reported that nonrefractive visual impairment, a vision problem not caused by the need for eyeglasses, rose 21 percent, from 1.4 percent between 1999 and 2002 to 1.7 percent between 2005 and 2008.

During the same time period, the number of people with diabetes has climbed from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 10.7 percent in 2007 and 11.3 percent in 2010.

Younger adults are especially at risk for vision problems, the study reported. Among non-Hispanic whites ages 20 to 39, nonrefractive visual impairment soared by 40 percent, climing from 0.5 percent during the 1999-2002 period to 0.7 percent during the 2005-2008 period. While the increase may sound small, the authors of an accompanying editorial wrote that "with about 230 million people aged 20 years and older in the U.S. population, a 0.3% increase could potentially represent an increase of almost 700,000 individuals with nonrefractive visual impairment over a relatively short time."

The study researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an ongoing survey of the health and nutritional status of Americans. This particular survey examined information on 10,480 people ages 20 and older.

The most common causes of nonrefractive visual impairment in the U.S. are age related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and other retinal disorders, the study noted.

Diabetic retinopathy, which can affect people with Type 1 or Type diabetes, is caused by damage to the small blood vessels in the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, according to the National Eye Institute. This disorder is the leading cause of blindness in Americans 40 and older. Diabetes can also increase the risk of cataracts and glaucoma.

Survey found that people who were older, who were living in poverty and who had been diagnosed with diabetes 10 or more years previously had the most risk for nonrefractive visual impairment. However, the researchers wrote, "Among these risk factors, only the latter has increased in prevalence during the two time periods considered."

An estimated 25.8 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Nearly two million new cases were diagnosed in people 20 and older in 2010.

The study findings concern serious health problems, the researchers said. "Blindness and visual impairment are associated with increased medical care expenditure, decreased work productivity and decreased quality-adjusted life years," the researchers wrote. "If the current finding becomes a persisting trend, it could result in increasing rates of disability in the U.S. population."

Femtosecond LASIK flap creation poses little added risk to corneal endothelium

Corneal clarity and function depend on an intact and healthy corneal endothelium, and surgical procedures of the cornea should not adversely affect this nonregenerative cell layer,” the study authors said.

The prospective, randomized study included 21 patients with a mean age of 38 years and myopia or myopic astigmatism. Patients underwent LASIK with mechanical microkeratome flap creation in one eye and femtosecond laser flap creation in the fellow eye.

The corneal endothelium was evaluated preoperatively and 3 and 5 years postoperatively.

Study results showed similar endothelial cell densities at 5 years in the groups that underwent microkeratome flap creation and femtosecond laser flap creation.

Mean endothelial cell loss was 0.8% in the femtosecond flap group and 0.4% in the mechanical microkeratome group at 5 years; the between-group difference was statistically insignificant.

Data showed no linear relationship between endothelial cell loss and contact lens wear, residual bed thickness or preoperative refractive error, the authors said.

Delayed Rapid eye movements in glaucoma patients

Rapid eye movements are significantly delayed in patients with glaucoma.

The findings may shed light on why glaucoma patients are at an increased risk of falls and car accidents.

The researchers used head-mounted devices to measure saccadic (rapid) eye movements of individuals with and without glaucoma. They found that people with early, moderate or advanced glaucoma had significantly delayed rapid eye movements compared with individuals without the condition.

Lead study author and ophthalmologist, Neeru Gupta, said: “Now that we know that eye movement reaction times are delayed in people with glaucoma there is an opportunity to understand the effects of glaucoma on daily activities of living that most of us take for granted, such as walking up and down stairs, driving, navigating and reading.

“Further studies are needed to determine pathological processes implicated in delayed initiation of saccades, and to assess whether alterations of saccades affects daily activities in glaucoma patients.”

Sunday 9 December 2012

Achievment of POS Punjab Chapter

Pakistan Optometric Society acknowleged the services of Punjab Chapter and presented a shield to the active members of the cabinet. The shield was presented by Dr Brien Holden to Iqbal Javed, Aamer Niazi, Lubna Iram, Arooj Niaz, Shehreen Azam and Sadia. President Pakistan Optometric Society, Mr Waqas, highlighted the activities and achievments of Punjab Chapter in the year 2012 and appreciated their excellent work and wish them best of luck for the future.