Posts Tagged ‘eye disease’

News for Eye Health 2012

Friday, February 10th, 2012

The race is on in many areas of medical research to try to improve the lives of patients with eye disease, so what’s in the news so far this year?

The incidence of Macular Degeneration increases with age, and this disease is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology have been looking into the use of Vitamin D to help to prevent the disease. Trials have so far suggested that it may be successful in safeguarding blood vessels that supply the retina.

A new camera has been developed for use within the National Screening programme for Diabetic Retinopathy. Diabetes givers rise to many debilitating symptoms, and can also affect sight. Patients should attend for regular eye examinations and retinal screening. The new camera, produced by Haag-Streit UK will offer users a range of screening options and easy transfer of images between eye care professionals.

Stargardt’s disease is a type of macular degeneration that causes sight loss in young people. Moorfields eye hospital has been given permission to perform a trial into retinal stem cell treatment for this debilitating disease. The technology was developed in the USA, and involves injection of stem cells into the retina. Trials are going ahead on 12 patients this year.

Cardiff University are looking at the treatment of clinical depression in patients with visual impairment. The study will examine the results of different treatments on these patients – whose mobility and independence can be severely restricted by their sight problems and their mental health. The study will enlist the help of patients at St Thomas Hospital London, and patients from clinics in Wales.

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Which Opticians?

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Optics has changed dramatically over the past thirty years, as we’ve seen our industry blossom from an era of dusty, gloomy consulting rooms to gleaming, shop fronted practices with a glittering array of exciting stock. Ancient eye test techniques have given way to state of the art screening equipment and early diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. One thing that we thought hadn’t changed is that we still see ourselves as a customer service industry, looking after patients and taking care of their eye health and specs, contact lenses and accessories. So it was a shock to read a recent Which report, and note that mystery shoppers going for eye examinations were disappointed with the service given, and worryingly, that some eye conditions were not fully investigated.

So who do you trust with your precious sight, and who will give you the help you need? Generally speaking, an Independent practice will offer more continuity of care, as they are more likely to keep the same staff for longer periods, and you’re more likely to see the same optician each visit. Word of mouth is the best way to find someone who has looked after your friends well, so don’t pick a random name from Google!

All opticians are legally obliged to give you the same basic eye exam, but extras like retinal imaging, 3D retinal scanning and low vision advice are again more likely to be found at Independent opticians, so check this out with any practice you intend to visit for full eye health screening. All opticians must give you a copy of your prescription, and you can then order your glasses from any other High Street outlet, or indeed a well trusted internet optician like the Internet Glasses Company! We can offer you the best of both worlds in that we are fully trained professionals, able to offer lower prices due to our reduced overheads.

So when you find that perfect optician, who listens to you, takes full care of your sight, eye health and life style needs, tell all your friends about them, and the excellent service they offer. Just don’t forget to tell them about the Internet Glasses Company too!

Varifocal Glasse

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Red Nose Day Highlights Sight

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

We’re all accustomed to the joys of Comic relief and Red Nose Day, and our office is already awash with squidgy pens and thoughts of fundraising this year. This amazing charity has already done sterling work in raising over £650 million pounds over the last 25 years. From Cliff Richard and the Young ones releasing Living Doll in 1986, to Eddie Izzard running his amazing marathons in 2010, Celebs and the public alike embrace this mammoth event.

This year we‘re really pleased to hear that Comic Relief will be raising awareness of eye disease during one of their epic journeys in Northern Kenya. The BT Red Nose Desert Trek will see five days of gruelling work by a Celeb team including Dermot O’Leary, Lorraine Kelly and Kara Tointon. They will have the chance to see the work of charity Sightsavers, who are dealing with many visual problems, including Cataract and Trachoma. Eye health issues are one of the most common problems amongst the poor in developing countries, and involvement with Comic Relief gives the Charity funds to help them continue to prevent blindness.

Cataract is a common eye condition, where the crystalline lens within the eye becomes cloudy due to age, trauma, smoking, UV exposure or congenital defect. A simple operation corrects this – extract the lens when the density of the opacity affects day to day life, and replace it with an implanted lens. This is a day case surgery with fast recovery and sight is dramatically better immediately. Problems in developing countries include raising awareness that Cataracts can be treated, providing screening and treatment, and even arranging transport so that patients can be seen. Sightsavers treated 273,000 patients with Cataract last year.

Trachoma is a disease of the eye lids which arises due to poor sanitation. Bacteria cause repeated bouts of conjunctivitis, with discharge and sore eyes. This is highly contagious, and although anti-biotic drops can treat the infection, the repeated problem stops the tears from functioning to sanitize and protect the eye. This can trigger trichiasis, where the eyelid and ultimately the lashes invert and damage the cornea. This causes scarring of the delicate window at the front of the eye and leads to permanent damage and loss of sight. It’s presently the worlds leading cause of preventable blindness. This disease is most prevalent with children, even though corneal scarring may not affect them until after their teens. The problem is tackled with information about reducing the risk of infection, treatment of infections that do occur with antibiotics, and surgery to remove areas of the lid that could damage the cornea.

This is all preventable blindness, so the work of Sightsavers is invaluable in helping sufferers. We’ll all be supporting Comic Relief this year, and glued to the screen on March 18th to see the sterling work of Sightsavers and other charities like them.

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Reducing the Risk

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Glaucoma is a common eye disease which can wreak havoc in a sufferer’s life. Production and drainage of fluid within the eye becomes unbalanced for various reasons, raising pressure within the eye and ultimately damaging the optic nerve. Although it’s easily detected and treated too many patients slip through the net, due to not having their eyes checked regularly. So the first piece of advice is to keep up with your eye tests, especially if you are over the age of forty, and if you have a family history of Glaucoma. But can you do anything else to reduce your risk?

Watch what you drink – We’re told to drink plenty of water for our general health, but there is some evidence to support the fact that excessive water consumption can raise the production of aqueous fluid in the eye. This will increase pressure within the eye, an early sign of Glaucoma. If you are susceptible to the disease, and your regulation of the fluid you produce is not good, then this may increase your risk. So drink plenty, but not vast amounts at any one time. Caffeine, particularly coffee can raise pressure, so drink in moderation, or switch to tea!

Stay Fit – Keeping active and regularly taking moderate exercise can reduce the internal pressure of the eye, just a modest 20 minutes of brisk walking about five times a week will help. Your good work will wear off about a month after you stop, so keep at it! Strenuous activities however, such as weight lifting, will temporarily affect pressure, so it’s best avoided if you are at risk.

Think about supplements – Selenium is a mineral which many people are aware of as a healthy supplement to eye health. Excessive amounts will actually cause Glaucoma, so eat a varied diet, including plenty of cereal, nuts, seafood and dairy products to get your Selenium, but avoid over consumption via supplements if you have other risk factors. Gingko Bilboa, used to enhance brain function and aid memory loss, also has many positive effects on the eye. So a supplement of Gingko can be beneficial

Smoking – of course this is an obvious one! It has such a disastrous affect on the body that of course it’s implicated as a risk factor with Glaucoma too – another incentive to quit!

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