How to Protect Your Eyes from Glaucoma?
Eye is such an important organ for us that we can not live without it. However, it is very fragile and is prone to many diseases. Therefore, for the sake of our eye health, we should pay more visits to eye doctors.
Sometimes, eye problems can also be inherited. For example, some investigations have disclosed that some sufferers of particular eye problems, as glaucoma, have such related family eye history. Glaucoma can always lead to blindness if not properly treated. Here is some information about this problem.
The disease, glaucoma, might be strange to most of us. It can make our vision weaker and weaker, or even blind. It is known that optic nerve is very important for our vision, but it will be damaged by glaucoma.
Theoretically, glaucoma will happen to anyone, but the old people are more inclined to it. There are many factors that can lead to glaucoma. Generally, open angle and close angle are the two main forms of this disease.
Glaucoma can be accumulated. This means that this disease will not happen suddenly, but anytime that we do not notice. It can usually lead to decline in eyesight.
Some people may run high risk of getting glaucoma, say, people with such family history, people with other eye problems, and people with diabetes. And people who are over forty are also included. Therefore, the above mentioned people should pay regular visit to eye doctors and receive some eye examinations. This disease can lead to irreversible damage to the eyes. But it can be prevented or treated at early stage.
As it mentioned earlier, glaucoma will happen to people of any age group, though the older ones run much higher risk. For those younger sufferers of glaucoma, they may have such family history. Biologically, their optic nerve is genetically abnormal when they are born, though they have good vision for some years.
Therefore, those people should be more careful in eye maintenance. Monitoring the change of the optic nerve is essential. In a word, glaucoma may happen to any people of any age.
If the problem is too serious, eye surgery is the only and good alternative. In most cases, receivers can leave the hospital the day when the surgery is finished. Of course, some complications can not be avoided, but they can be treated with some special measures.
More info
Diabetic retinopathy signs and treatments
High intraocular pressure and glaucoma
eye disease | Comment (0)Brain holds early signs of glaucoma
In a recent study, David Calkins, Ph.D., director of Research at the VEI, discovered that the first sign of injury in glaucoma actually occurs in the brain.
Glaucoma
is generally considered a disease of the eye in which sensitivity to ocular pressure causes damage to the retina and optic nerve, which are components of the central nervous system and do not regenerate. The damage begins in the peripheral visual field and progresses toward the center resulting in complete blindness unless detected early. For this reason, degeneration in glaucoma is often hard to detect.
The report this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes recent experiments in which Calkins’ laboratory shows that glaucoma is very much like other central nervous system diseases.
“This is a paradigm shift on how we think about this disease,” said Calkins, associate professor of Ophthalmology at VEI and a member of the neuroscience program. “This will have global implications. This information opens up an entirely new domain of nerve-derived therapeutics.”
Combining this new understanding of where the first neuronal injury for glaucoma occurs, with the fact that the incidence of injury increases with age, researchers now have insight into how the loss of sensory function occurs in normal aging.
Traditionally, glaucoma therapies have focused on lowering ocular pressure within the eye. But the recent PNAS study gives credence to taking a new direction of study focusing on neuronal activity in the middle of the brain where the optic nerve forms its first connections.
“This is very exciting work that demonstrates that we must consider not just the eye, but also the brain, in our efforts to understand blinding diseases such as glaucoma,” said Paul Sternberg, M.D., chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director of VEI. “We are optimistic that Dr. Calkins’ neurobiological approach will lead to new targets for potential treatment of this devastating condition.”
eye disease | Comment (0)Contributors to the advances of medical science
There were some significant breakthroughs in the medical science field during the 20th century. In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin and cardiac surgeon Christian Barnard from South African first developed the human-to-human heart transplantation in 1967. All these advances have significantly contributed to the progression of medical science.
During the long period of medical science development, these individuals mentioned before are lucky that they are remembered by modern people. However, there have been a great number of medical visionaries, who have also made meaningful contribution. Some technological inventions may have resulted from the cooperation or collaboration of many scientists or surgeons.
Indeed, some medical advances have been honed and perfected over a long period of time, so that it is hard to give credit to a specific person or a specific group of contributors. The fact is that many people should receive their deserved credit due to their contribution to certain medical advances.
For instance, there were numerous pioneers of the laser eye surgery. Fyodorov from Russia was performing groundbreaking work in eye surgery field even before the invention of laser eye surgery. Later in 1960, the first artificial crystalline lens was implanted by him. With precise incision near the cornea region, Fyodorov created a surgery for myopia correction.
Besides contributions by Fyodorov, there were other doctors who have helped push laser eye surgery forward. The American physicist Theodore Maiman first developed and patented laser. All these pioneers have made concrete efforts for the invention of laser eye surgery in 1980s.
Another example is the invention of excimer laser eye surgery. Excimer laser was first invented by Nikolai Basov in 1970 but used for silicone computer chips at first. In 1980s, excimer laser was introduced to biological tissue. Steven Trokel from America patented excimer laser for use in corrective eye surgery. All these efforts and pioneering contributions made the first appearance of excimer laser eye surgery in 1987.
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Factors associated with macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among people over 50 years old in industrialized countries. Scientists have found that antioxidants such as carotenoids are helpful in decreasing the risk of AMD. In particular, spinach is one of the best sources of carotenoids, which are considered as normal macular protective pigment (MPP).
UV rays have been long reported to damage eye tissues because they produce free radicals in the eye. What’s more, blue light is particularly harmful to the macula which is the central retina. A common way to fight against these harmful rays is to wear sunglasses with HEV and UV protection. And brown or amber sunglasses are believed to block out HEV most effectively.
In addition to sunglasses, experts also recommend some nutrients for AMD prevention. Zeaxanthin and lutein are two of the powerful antioxidants that have been found in the macular tissue of the retina. Both of the two nutrients protect the photoreceptors against oxidative stress, inflammation and even degeneration.
There are many sources of zeaxanthin, including foods and supplements. Those foods include egg yolks, squash, pumpkin, orange peppers, collard greens, tangerines, romaine lettuce, green beans, spinach and so on. In addition, supplements from various brands such as Eye Promise-Restore are helpful for those who can not get adequate amounts of zeaxanthin from a diet.
Omega-3 fatty acids are also thought to help maintain eye health. The most common way is to consume fish oil extracted from cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies as well as sardines. Ordinary people are encouraged to contain certain amount of fish oil in the diet.
Glutathione is an intracellular antioxidant. It can literally prevent degeneration in the delicate photoreceptor cells. This type of antioxidant is a billion more times potent than Vitamin C in neutralizing those free radicals in the eye.
One’s lifestyle is also critical. Obesity and smoking are both thought to increase the risk of severe macular degeneration by 4 times. And regular exercises are usually helpful in maintaining a health life.
more info
·Factors associated with macular degeneration
·Types and treatments of macular degeneration
eye disease | Comment (0)Keep An Eye On Glaucoma
It’s the second leading cause of blindness in our county, but few of us know what glaucoma is.
Eye care professionals are trying to get the word out during January’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month.
Dr. Babek Marefat, an opthamologist with Topeka’s Cotton-O’Neil Clinic, says in glaucoma, elevated pressure in the eye damages the optic nerve, reducing blood supply to the smaller vessels that feed off the optic nerve, causing them to whither and die.
Marefat says the peripheral vessels go first and the subsequent damage leads to loss of peripheral vision. That initial loss often goes unnoticed.
Unchecked, the vision loss will slowly creep toward your central vision and, eventually, you could go blind.
However. Marefat says, reducing the pressure can slow the progression or stop it and reach stability with the vision.
That’s what makes an annual dilated eye exam so important. While it can’t be prevented, anyone can get glaucoma. Your risk is increased if it runs in your family. Marefat doctors also are starting to see a correlation between glaucoma and obstructive sleep apena and vascular conditions in general. In a vision exam, doctors can look for elevated pressures or damage to the optic nerve and catch the first signs of a potential problem.
Elevated pressures can be controlled long-term with medications. Some more severe cases might require surgery to reduce the pressure in the eye.
eye disease | Comment (0)Eye Problems You May Encounter
Most of us will experience eye problems, such as itching eyes, dry eyes and eye discharge, etc. from time to time, some of which are short-lived and will probably disappear on their own, and we often do not take them seriously. However, those short-lived problems, if not treated properly, will lead to long-lived ones later. Therefore, it is of significance and necessity to be clear each eye problems and their possible causes, in case of coming down with some one day. The following is a list of common eye problems for reference.
Pain in eyes:
Some people may have experienced pain in eyes, around their eyes or behind their eyes, it is rather miserable and to a great extent, it affects their normal lives. Generally speaking, pain in eyes can be of ocular pain and orbital pain. The main cause of the former is possibly Conjunctivitis, Styes, Blepharitis, Corneal Abrasions or Ulcers and Chemical Burns, which come from the disorder from the outer structure of the eye. The latter is more probably comes from a deep, dull ache behind or within the eye itself. Diseases like Glaucoma, Migraines, Trauma, Optic Neuritis, and Iritis may cause orbital pain.
In a sense, those suffering from eyes pain may feel stabbing, throbbing, aching, burning or the feeling that “something is in the eye”. No matter what kind of feeling you have, the point is to seek medical attention for treatment or, if necessary, go for an eye doctor immediately. If not critical, some easy applications such as flushing eyes with lukewarm water or commercial eye solutions can be tried by yourself at home. Do remember not to rub or even touch your eyes.
Watery eyes:
It is fairly ironical that watery eyes are often caused by dry eyes, for when eyes get too dry, eye system will automatically produce tears to supply the lack of water in eyes and in the meantime, too many tears can actually begin to reverse the good and start working against itself. Watery eyes are the common eye problems for elder people due to aging. Additionally, the cause of watery eyes can be of other eye conditions, such as Blepharitis and Conjunctivitis, and other factors, such as allergies from the outer environment or dust. If your watery eyes is induced by a lack of tears, dropping artificial tears or eye drops can be helpful; if your watery eyes is induced by allergies, taking relative medication, such as counter antihistamines can alleviate the symptom; if you experience watery eyes for more than couple of days, you’d better go to see a doctor before it turns into something worse. As for elders, they should see their eye doctors regularly because they tend to go the bad more easily.
Red eyes:
Red eyes, a synonym of bloodshot eyes, should be one of the most common eye problems people would suffer from. It comes from the distensible and enlarged blood vessels on the surface of eyes, and the inducement is of a great variety, ranging from illness, injury, eye infection to allergies, etc.. If you have red eyes, it is important to find out why, because red eyes have several causes, some maybe of little concern while some maybe of a sign of a medical emergency, such as lurking such as Blepharitis, Conjunctivitis, Corneal Ulcers or Acute Glaucoma. If it is just of allergic conjunctivitis, an inflammation or infection of the clear, protective layer that coats the front part of the eye, taking antihistamines or dropping eye drops or artificial tears may help and applying coolness of the pack also relieve red eyes, as well as other symptoms like swelling and pain; if it is a serious condition, coupled with eye discharge or eye pains, it is always best to seek the advice of a medical professional.
Ways to prevent yourself from red eyes include, if your red eyes are caused by allergies, trying to stay away from pets and pollens as soon as possible; not rubbing your eyes with dirty hands or handkerchief; getting adequate sleep; and maintaining good health and reducing stress.
Eye discharges:
Eye discharge is a yellowish, sticky, crusty substance that can sometimes make eyes feel glued shut. Some people would have such an experience when they wake up in the morning. Usually eye discharges are harmless, for it is a natural defense against the outer environment that makes eyes discomfort. Although eye discharges are of little concern in most circumstances, there is still a possibility of severe results. Therefore, if the eye condition is mild, some ‘ at home ‘ methods can be applied, such as using a warm washcloth and washing eyes with baby shampoo or other mild detergent, etc.; if you experience a constant discharge from eyes for more than a couple of days, you need to see a doctor. For the reason that eye discharge may be a sign of bacteria invasion, which can lead to Blepharitis or other more serious eye conditions, such as Conjunctivitis and corneal ulcers. They are able to probably cause severe problems, even cause an external blindness. Therefore, eye discharges, in some degree, should be reckoned with carefully when you encounter.
Ways to avoid eye discharges are of a great variety. Do not share towels and washcloths, because this is one of the most popular ways of bacteria spreading; throwing away old make-up, especially those used while you had an infection in your eyes; staying away from contaminated cosmetics and removing oil from eyelids frequently.
What is more, pay a close attention to the change of your vision. In normal condition, when we are grown up, our eyesight, either nearsightedness or farsightedness, will come to be stable. If you find your vision changes persist, this is probably a sigh of some eye problems, diseases and conditions, such as Presbyopia, Cataracts, Glaucoma, Retinal Detachment, Floaters, Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Retinopathy.
Similarly, do not make a big fuss over a minor issue; that is to say, do not feel too upset whenever you encounter any eye problems. What you should do is to stay reasonable, checking whether the eye problems are really serious or not. If they are, go for an eye doctor; if not, enough rest and proper medication will solve the problem.
If you want to know more about Vision knowledge, then feel free to visit http://vision.firmoo.com/
eye disease | Comment (0)How to Deal with Strabismus
If people do not use their eyes properly, there will appear some eye problems, of which astigmatism, nearsightedness, etc are very typical. Still more, crossed eye is also very common, and this eye problem is also called strabismus medically. And the treatment of strabismus can be very simple in natural ways, without any lenses.
As its name suggested, the main character of strabismus is that people’s eyes can not focus together on one object at the same time. It is known that people can see objects clearly only by focusing on them. And focusing may cause some stains to people’s eyes. So the only way that can consume least energy is to make sure that two eyes can look at any object simultaneously.
If people have suffered from strabismus, their eyes can not work together with one eye working and the other idling. When one eye is looking at one subject while the other at something else, this is called cross-eye. If two eyes can not look at the same thing simultaneously, this is called lazy eye.
People’s eyes may get strained if they are too physically stressed. And eye may turn to any direction once eye muscles are too stressed. And gradually, strabismus will be formed unconsciously. Sometimes, people’s two eyes can not work together for the sake of uncontrolled feelings and thoughts in each respective eye. Furthermore, people can recognize their inner clashes by telling the state of each eye.
ADHD is a very ordinary problem for people with strabismus, be they children or adults. These suffers can not see other people clearly, for there are some inner conflicts in their minds. This will lead to some bad occasions, such as people will feel things are out of control.
Relaxation is the best way to deal with strabismus. People should relax themselves by finding their inner conflicts in the first place. To some extent, relaxation can cure almost all sorts of vision problems.
reference
·Resection and adjustable suture strabismus surgeries
eye disease | Comment (0)Away From Dry Eyes
More than 33 million people in America suffer from dry eyes, ranging from young to old. It is one complication of eye disease and will affect the comfort of eyes. The problem of dry eyes always means eye dryness, irritation, burning or grittiness, and sometimes it means pouring out too much tears.
The causes of dry eyes vary differently according to different situations.
One is due to environment influence, such as too windy or too dry weather. This is a temporary symptom, and you can take actions to prevent it. Wear protective sunglasses during windy weather, or keep the air fresh and wet are all effective measures to keep away from dry eyes. But you are recommended not to expose your eyes in this environment for a long time.
Another is due to health problems leading to dry eyes, which means some kind of diseases will have side effects on eyes. By changing the composition of tear film, the diseases prevent proper distribution or production of tear or reduce the production tears.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjogren’s syndrome are two representatives of the corresponding disease which are detrimental to eyes. Sjogren’s syndrome is called the disorder of immune system, where cells, producing tears and saliva, the exocrine glands, can not be identified by human body so being attacked or destroyed by body.
One common symptom of Sjogren’s syndrome is dry, including dry eyes, dry mouth, dry nose, dry skin and dry vaginal. Most seriously situation is that blood vessels, pancreas and brain will be in danger as for the disease. However, the bad is there is no cure for this kind of disease. You can only get some good treatment to only make you feel comfortable, such as using artificial tears to make eyes lubricating.
As we known, the problem of dry eyes can happen at any age, whether you are old or young. While women are likely to suffer from Sjogren’s syndrome, especially at the time of more than 40 years old, because there are huge hormonal changes during the time of menopause as a woman. Take care of your body, including eyes, any time, especially at some key point.
The heath of body and eyes are accompanied with each other. There are some side effects of an underlying disease. For example, a runny nose and a little headache indicate a common cold. When you get the serious dry eyes, you can take a check of your whole body to make sure everything is all right. Meanwhile, if you have the disease of SLE and Sjogren’s syndrome, you can see if you have the symptom of dry eyes. These are all basic knowledge to protect your eyes away from dry eyes.
reference
·Dry eye causes and treatments
·Flaxseed oil for dry eye treatment
eye disease | Comment (0)Treatments for KeratoconusTreatments for Keratoconus
People who got the eye disease of Keratoconus in the past means the vision is deteriorated progressively by Keratoconus and there is little hope for their eyesight. So it was a huge strike for people when they get diagnosis of Keratoconus. However, with the rapid development of new vision technologies, it is lucky for people diagnosed of Keraroconus that they still have hope in their poor vision, and even for people who lost sight, the sight still has the chance to be regained. The following will introduce some treatments for Keratoconus to help people to get more knowledge of it.
In the past, when new vision technologies have not been developed or mature, hard contact lens or corneal transplant is used to treat Keratoconus. But they don’t work well. They are invasive, more important, they are usually uncomfortable and even painful. And what kind of treatments has so much magic power that can treat this serious eye disease? The following will introduce two kinds of effective treatments: INTACS and C3-R? the invention of which attract great attentions in the world of vision treatments
INTACS is a procedure that reshapes the cornea by putting a small plastic insert in the cornea. By this way, clearer vision can be realized and the vision can be improved. You may think it must be very difficult and need to take a long time to make it. Definitely not! It is just a ten-minute procedure.Another big issue people may concern is if it is painful. You can rest assured that it is painless. When you need, you can choose to remove the INTACTS. What is strange is that you don’t even can feel it.
C3-R is also not as difficult as what we thought. It is just a simple procedure to treat Keratoconus, which only needs 30 minutes. This treatment is reached by a set of drops and UV lights. A set of drops will be put in the eyes to strengthen the cornea, and UV lights are added to activate the medication during the treatment. It is magic that only 30-minute UV lights can improve patient’s vision for more than 2-3 months.
People can also choose to use the combination of INTACS and C3-R according to the feature and severity of your eye problem and your eye doctor’s advice. For the treatments of Keratoconus, we are confident with the rapid and progressive development of new vision technologies, there will be better treatment for it in the future.
Reference
·Keratoconus treatments
·Intacs corneal implants for myopia and keratoconus
Eye Associates of Colorado Springs, P.C. Increases Productivity With SRS Hybrid EMR
SRS, the leader in high-performance hybrid EMR solutions, today announced that Eye Associates of Colorado Springs, P.C. has increased physician productivity with the SRS high-performance hybrid EMR. Eye Associates of Colorado Springs has been providing exceptional medical and surgical eye care to the Colorado Springs area for over thirty-five years.
“Our physicians experience a high volume of patient visits on a daily basis, so it was imperative to find a robust EMR solution focused on physician productivity,” says Dean Carlson, M.D., Eye Associates of Colorado Springs. “The SRS hybrid EMR is easy to use and provides us the cutting-edge tools that increase workflow efficiencies throughout our practice.”
“SRS delivered all the EMR functionality we need to consistently provide excellent patient care and service, yet the implementation was effortless,” says Jim Barad, M.D., Eye Associates of Colorado Springs. “I didn’t realize how productive the SRS hybrid EMR really is — I thought I’d have to reduce my volume on the day we went live, but I didn’t.”
SRS was designed with direct input by its high-performance physicians to provide them with a system that fits their needs, helps them to work more efficiently, and enables them to achieve a rapid return on their investment. SRS, which has built the largest national network of high-performance practices that successfully use an EMR, attributes its unmatched adoption rate to ease of use, fast implementation, and an accelerated timeframe for training physicians and office staff.
“At SRS, we’re very happy to have Eye Associates of Colorado Springs join our national network of nearly 5,000 high-performance providers,” says Evan Steele, CEO of SRSsoft. “The user-friendly hybrid EMR has a proven productivity track record, and Eye Associates of Colorado Springs experienced these benefits immediately.”
Article from:
http://au.sys-con.com/node/1205937