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

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

Ways to prevent cataracts formation

Astronauts receive higher daily dose of radiation, especially on a long mission such as the future Mars flight. As a result, cataracts may occur more frequently in these professionals. Currently, NASA and the National Eye Institute have been cooperating in developing a non-invasive instrument that can be used to detect very early signs of cataracts and monitor any progression.

The Alpha crystalline proteins in the lens are thought to help the lens maintain its refractive index, which allows the lens to focus light on the retina and offer clear vision. Oxidative stress may cause some proteins to break down in the lens, resulting in damaged proteins. Once these damaged proteins and other damaged cellular substances are crossly linked, they can lead to large clumps and form opacity in the lens. This opacity can gradually interfere the eyesight when they grow large enough and become cataracts.

This new instrument is supposed to evaluate the function of Alpha crystalline proteins and measure their levels as well as changes. Originally developed for space program, this measurement method can now be used to detect early signs of protein damage caused by oxidative stress. Age-related cataract, diabetes, and some neurological diseases are closed associated with oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress can be caused by UV radiation, drugs, chemicals, smoking, dietary components as well as other environmental factors. Alpha crystalline proteins in normal level can prevent these damage proteins from aggregating into clumps. However, Alpha crystalline level will be lowered due to natural aging. As a result, cataracts may develop.

As mentioned before, oxidative stress is the original cause in the lens of cataract formation. Currently, antioxidants are widely accepted to prevent cataracts, although their capacity is also unclear. In detail, lutein and zeaxanthin are two of the antioxidants that can reduce the incidence of cataract formation. A daily supplement containing antioxidants is helpful in preventing cataracts formation. These antioxidants can be gained from vegetables and fruits.

People should also control some risk factors such as smoking, obesity and eating a diet high in refined food with high sugar content. Smoking is believed to systemically decrease antioxidants in the body. Some experts also think that visible blue light can cause oxidative damage in the retina. UV protection by wearing sunglasses or UV-blocking contact lenses is also quite necessary.

More related articles:

·Causes for various congenital cataracts

·Cataract surgery preparation and outcome

·Three types of cataracts and their treatments

·Kinds of cataract surgeries and their costs

Causes for eye twitching

Eye twitching bothers many people and even drives them crazy. Actually, it is pretty common and mostly happens to the lower eyelid. Eyelid tics can last for weeks and even months but most of them are benign and harmless. However, there are still other forms of eyelid twitching that are more serious because they may caused by neurological conditions such as blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.

People’s bodies react to stress differently, and some people may suffer from eye twitching caused by excessive stress, especially those with eye strain. Vision-related stress may result from eyeglasses wearing and long period computer use. People have persistent eyelid twitching that caused by vision-related stress should take an exam for potential vision correction. Insufficient sleep, too much caffeine and alcohol consumption can trigger eye twitches. These conditions are easy to deal with.

Eyelid twitching can also result from dry eye. There are many reasons for eye dryness, such as natural aging, excessive computer use, antihistamine taking, contact lenses wearing and so on. All of these reasons are curable by various treatments.

Nutritional imbalance is suspected to cause eye twitching, even though there is no scientific evidence. Experts suggest that patients should talk nutritional conditions with family doctor for professional advice, rather than buying random nutritional products. Histamine is also indicated to bring eyelid twitching, so that antihistamine eye drops or tablets may be prescribed to provide help.

Persistent eye twitching can be stopped by Botox injections, which can successfully terminate muscle contractions. Severe eye twitching may clamp shut your eyelid, and you should see a doctor for precise diagnosis.

Acute and chronic forms of glaucoma

Most types of glaucoma are associated with narrow filtration angle, which hinders the outflow of eye fluids so that high IOP is caused. High IOP spikes and damages the optic nerve, which is responsible for images transmission from the eye to the brain. Optic nerve damage in turn causes vision loss.

There are mainly two types of angle-closure (closed-angle or narrow angle) glaucoma: acute angle-closure glaucoma and chronic forms of narrow-angle glaucoma. Acute angle-closure glaucoma occurs suddenly and has symptoms such as eye pain, headache, light halos, dilated pupils, and red eyes and so on. If the high IOP is not removed within hours, acute angle-closure glaucoma is likely to bring permanent vision loss. Once suffered from acute angle-closure, patients should contact an eye doctor immediately for emergency treatment. Chronic forms of narrow-angle glaucoma have no obvious symptoms and develop slowly. Both acute narrow-angle glaucoma and chronic angle-closure glaucoma cause at least part of peripheral vision loss.

Narrow-angle glaucoma always causes the abnormal positioning of the iris. And there are reasons for this situation. In a normal way, eye fluids produced by ciliary (behind the iris) flows easily through the pupil into the anterior chamber. Once the back of iris adheres to the lens, eye fluids can not pass through this pupillary channel. The blocked eye fluids will push the iris forward until it closes the drainage angle in the anterior chamber.

Another reason for narrow angle is iris plateau, which is caused by the extreme close distance between the iris and the ciliary body. In this case, the peripheral iris tissue bunches up in the filtration angel due to pupil dilation, so that the angle is narrowed.

Narrowed filtration angle is also associated with certain eye problems such as hyperopia. Hyperopic people are more likely to have shallow anterior chambers and narrow angles. A tumor behind the iris also increases the risk of angle-closure glaucoma. Normal aging always enlarges lens and increases pupil block. The filtration angle is likely to narrow as people age. There is also anatomical difference between races that Asians and Eskimos have narrower anterior chamber angles than whites. Angle-closure glaucoma does not occur equally between genders in some races.

Acute forms of glaucoma may bring vision loss if high IOP is not removed within several hours. The drainage angle may be narrowed by many factors such as dim lighting, eye drop administration, medications such as antihistamine drops and so on. All treatments for narrow-angle glaucoma aim at removing high IOP within a short period, such as systemic medications, topical glaucoma eye drops, and laser or non-laser glaucoma surgery.

A variety of glaucoma surgeries

Glaucoma with high IOP probably brings high risk of vision loss, so that early detection and treatments including glaucoma surgery are important. Currently, both laser and non-laser glaucoma surgeries aim at either decreasing the production of internal eye fluids or increasing the outflow of them. These surgeries can remove the high IOP and stabilize normal IOP, thus optic nerve is also under protection.

In fact, surgery is not the only treatment for glaucoma. There are also some medications can control the development of glaucoma, such as topical eye medications and oral medications. However, some glaucoma patients do need a surgery to improve the drainage of their eye fluids. There are several glaucoma surgeries that are proved effective: selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), trabeculectomy and other variations.

Laser trabeculoplasty is performed by using a laser to create tiny holes in the filtration angle so that the outflow of eye fluids can be increased. And a SLT creates minimal heat damage to adjacent tissue, which is an adjunct to the patient’s ongoing eye drops. The study of SLT treatment for open-angle glaucoma is on the way.

The non-laser surgery trabeculectomy performs in another way. This procedure involves partial removal of the eye’s drainage system. Trabeculectomy can deal with severe glaucoma that is beyond ordinary eye drops, pills and laser trabeculoplasties by making a surgical incision into the eye’s drainage system and creating new channels for fluids flow.

Trabeculectomy also involves small plastic devices including shunts and implants, whose tiny tubes will be inserted into the holes created in the surgery. Offering a direct passageway, these tubes divert eye fluids to bypass the eye’s damaged drainage channel. These shunts are most made with silicone or polypropylene. They can be made with or without valves for drainage control. Complications of applying these devices also exist, such as too low IOP, mal-positioned implants and tube erosion.

There are also some new types of shunts that are either recently approved or in clinical trials. Reports show that they are safer, even if more complex. Ex-PRESS Mini Glaucoma Shunt and DeepLight Glaucoma Treatment System are two of those types.

Similar variations of trabeculectomy include trabeculotomy without tissue removal and goniotomy for infants and children. Surgeries involve iris treatment include iridotomy and iridectomy. The first type creates a hole in the iris to remove iris blockage and the latter type removes a small piece of iris.

By altering the eye’s drainage channels, minimal penetration surgeries can also improve the flow of fluids. These surgeries only create superficial incisions and are less likely to cause complications. Examples of them include a deep sclerectomy that invades the sclera and a viscocanalostomy involves viscoelastic.

There are still different opinions about the application of glaucoma surgeries. Some experts argue that glaucoma surgeries are far more expensive than long-term drug treatments.

A comparison between pinguecula and pterygium

Both pinguecula and pterygium occur on the surface of the sclera, so that many people are confused. In fact, these two eye problems are different in causes, symptoms and treatments.

Pingueculae are yellowish, slighted raised lesions on the sclera, while pterygia are wedge- or wing-shaped growths of benign fibrous tissue on it. Most pingueculae are found in the open space between eyelids, and pterygia may grow into cornea in extreme cases. Both of them are commonly related to overexposure to UV light, which is considered as a major contributor. Of course, these two eye problems can both affect people’s appearance.

In most cases, pingueculae and pterygia have no obvious symptoms. However, they have different signs in some cases. Irritation-caused pinguecula makes people feel something in the eye and some pingueculae may become swollen and inflamed, a condition named pingueculitis. Differently, some pterygia become red, large or thick. Large and advanced pterygia may cause corneal distortion and astigmatism.

Pinguecula and pterygium also have subtle differences in treatments, and they can both benefit from sunlight protection for eyes. Mild pingueculitis symptoms such as foreign body sensation can be eased by lubricating eye drops. Steroid eye drops or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be prescribed to relieve serious inflammation and swelling. And more severe conditions of pingueculae require surgical removal.

Treatments for pterygium depend on its size and symptom. For small or slightly inflamed pterygia, lubricants or a mild steroid eye drop is enough, while severe pterygium needs surgical removal. A pterygium procedure can be operated either in the doctor’s office or an operating room and involves various available techniques. An eyelid speculum help you open the eye during the removal process, which lasts less than an hour. Pterygia may reoccur even after a surgical removal at a chance between 3% and 40%. The surgeon may suture or glue a piece of surface eye tissue onto the affected area, in order to reduce the recurrence rate. Drugs such as mitomycin can also be prescribed to slow metabolic processes.