Vision Recap Of Previous Articles of Interest

Besides the comments that we get, one of the best parts of putting together this blog is the wonderful group of guests who share their expertise and personal stories. I want to thank all of the eye care professionals and friends that have contributed to make this blog a success.
Vision Recap
Here is a quick vision recap of some of the articles we had in the past that you may have missed.

Jullia A. Rosdahl, MD, PhD – Coffee and Glaucoma and Taking Control of Glaucoma

David Liao, MD, PhD – What Are A Macular Pucker and Macular Hole?

Kooshay Malek – Being A Blind Artist

Dan Roberts – 15 Things Doctors Might Like Us To Know

Jennifer Villeneuve – Living With KC Isn’t Easy

Daniel D. Esmaili, MD – Posterior Vitreous Detachment

Donna Cole – Living With Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Pouya N. Dayani, MD – Diabetes And The Potential For Diabetic Retinopathy

Robin Heinz Bratslavsky – Adjustments Can Help With Depression

Judith Delgado – Drugs to Treat Dry AMD and Inflammation

Kate Streit – Hadley’s Online Education for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Catherine Warren, RN – Can Keratoconus Progression Be Predicted?

Richard H. Roe, MD, MHS – Uveitis Explained

Sumit (Sam) Garg, MD – Cataract Surgery and Keratoconus

Howard J. Kaplan, MD – Spotlight Text – A New Way to Read

Gerry Trickle – Imagination and KC

In addition to the topics above, here are few more articles that cover a variety of vision issues:

If you have any topics that you would like to read about, please let us know in the comments section below.

6/23/15


Susan DeRemerSusan DeRemer, CFRE
Vice President of Development
Discovery Eye Foundation

9 Ways To Relieve Cataract Surgery Stress

It’s an extremely rare person who would not feel nervous before surgery of any kind, even if it’s an outpatient procedure that will only take a few minutes. In the case of cataract surgery, the fear can be even worse than the procedure itself.


9 Ways to Relieve Cataract Surgery Stress
People who are under intense stress can suffer a range of symptoms, including irregular or racing heartbeat, nausea, upset stomach, difficulty breathing, and an inability to sleep. It can even affect your mind, causing you to forget important details about the operation, like advice on how to get ready or what to do after you come home from surgery.

Here are 9 ways to relieve cataract surgery stress:

1.  Just Think About It – Let’s start with the first, and most difficult, suggestion—change your own mind about how you feel. Admittedly, it takes a great deal of discipline that’s hard to muster in the face of great anxiety, but try to remind yourself how your sight will be saved after a relatively short, quick, and easy procedure. What you are about to go through will prevent you from going blind.

 

2.  Learn Everything You Can – For many, it helps to learn as much as possible about the surgery before it happens. Knowing exactly what’s going to happen and how others have dealt with what you’re going through can be a great relief. Knowledge may be all you need to relieve your anxiety.

 

3.  Talk to Your Surgeon – It almost always helps to just talk to someone, and who better than your surgeon? Who else knows every detail of the procedure you’re about to undergo? It’s fairly likely that your surgeon has performed many successful surgeries of this kind before, and he or she may have some stories of encouragement for you, as well as important and comforting knowledge of his or her own personal experiences.

 

4.  Imagine the End Result – It may help if you keep focused on what happens after, as if it’s already done and you can go home, the procedure over. This takes a great deal of imagination, rather than the discipline of thinking rationally about it, but if you have that level of imagination, it’s certainly worth trying.

 

5.  Alternate Methods – This encompasses a whole range of stress-reducing tactics that are not usually under the medical umbrella. Nevertheless, they have done a great many people a lot of good. Yoga, hypnosis, massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and other treatments have allowed those suffering preoperative stress to sleep better at the least.

 

6.  Herbal Supplements – A form of alternative treatment involving traditional ingredients to produce a more restful state. The herbs are often just infused into tea and drunk. While these supplements are generally called “all natural,” you should always consult your doctor before taking them, since they can have an effect on other medications you may be taking, including the anesthetic you are given before surgery.

 

7.  Have Some Fun – Do something fun to take your mind off of what’s about to happen. Whatever that specific thing may be is up to you, since an individual’s idea of fun differs from person to person. Whatever you generally do to take your mind off of things and unwind after a hard day may be just the thing to help you out before undergoing cataract surgery.

 

8.  Treat Yourself – In the same vein has doing something fun, do something that usually relaxes you. If you like going for long walks, do that the day before the surgery. Or listen to music that fills you with peace (or joy). Take a long bath. If it makes you feel relaxed or calm, it will help you deal with your anxiety.

 

9.  Distract Yourself – Once you get to the hospital, you’ll probably be waiting around, even if you get there right on time, giving plenty of time for stress to ramp up. You’ll do better if you keep yourself entertained, but the hospital waiting room is probably one of the more boring places on earth. Fix that by bringing something along to entertain yourself, like a book or some magazines, or even stream your favorite movie or podcast. You’ll probably want to bring more than one thing to do, in case the wait is long.

 

Stress adds complication to the body’s systems, and can therefore cause some complication in the upcoming surgery. Do what you can, whether you kick back with friends or take some herbal supplements, to help yourself get into the best mind space possible. Think about the positive outcomes, and you’ll do well.

 

Glaucoma Awareness Month

In recognition of Glaucoma Awareness Month, here is a list of the top 20 things you should know in order to help save your vision as you get older.
Glaucoma - glaucoma awareness
What is Glaucoma?

1. Glaucoma is not just one eye disease, but includes a group of eye conditions that are a result of damage to the optic nerve thus causing vision loss. While unusually high pressure inside your eye (known as intraocular pressure – IOP) is often the cause, this may not always be the case.

2. It is one of the leading causes of vision loss in the US, and left untreated can result in blindness. It is estimated that 2.2 million people in the US have glaucoma, but only half of them have been diagnosed. While it primarily affects those over 60, it affects all ages with 1 in 10,000 babies born with glaucoma in the US.

3. The two most common types of glaucoma are primary open-angle glaucoma and closed angle glaucoma. Fluid in the eye flows through and area between the iris and the cornea and drains through the trabecular meshwork – this area is the “angle.”
optic nerve - glaucoma awareness
Symptoms

4. Often call the “silent thief of sight,” open angle glaucoma, which affects 90% of those diagnosed, is not indicated by eye pain. There is a gradual loss of peripheral vison, generally in both eyes, and in the advanced stages there is tunnel vision.

5. The symptoms of closed angle glaucoma are easier to recognize and include eye pain, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, vision issues in low light, halos around light sources and red eyes.

What to Expect From a Glaucoma Exam

6. Tonometry to measure your intraocular pressure. Your eyes will be numbed with eye drops making the procedure painless.

7. Dilated eye exam to look through your pupil to the back of your eye and the optic nerve.

8. Visual field test to check your peripheral vision.

9. Visual acuity to test your ability to see at a distance.

10. Pachymetry to determine the thickness of your cornea. Your eyes are numbed so this will be painless.

11. Gonioscopy to check the angle in the eye where the iris meets the cornea to help determine between open angle and closed angle glaucoma.

Treatment Options

12. Eyedrops are a common treatment options and may include more than one type. The importance here is to let your doctor know your complete medical history and comply completely with your doctor’s instructions to get the desired result. All include side effects and your medical history will allow your doctor to select the safest option. Some examples include:

  •  Prostaglandins – they increase the outflow of the fluid in your eye and reduce internal pressure.
  • Beta Blockers – they reduce the production of fluid in the eye.
  • Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors – they reduce the production of fluid in the eye.
  • Cholinergic or miotic agents – they help increase the outflow of fluid from the eye.
  • Alpha-adrenergic agents – they reduce the production of fluid in the eye and increase the outflow of fluid.

13. Oral medications, such as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, will be used if the eye drops cannot bring your eye pressure down on their own.

14. Surgery is an option if the medications or don’t work or you can’t tolerate them. In some cases you may need to continue using eyedrops. Surgeries include:

  • Trabeculoplasy – laser is used to unblock clogged drainage canals.
  • Viscocanalostomy – laser used to remove a small piece of the trabecular meshwork.
  • Aqueous shunt implant – small tube is inserted into the eye to improve drainage of the fluid.

Risk Factors

15. Age – you are 6 times more likely to get glaucoma if you are over 60.

16. Family history – you are 4-9 times more likely to get open angle glaucoma if someone else in your family has it.

17. Ethnicity – it plays a big factor in being diagnosed with glaucoma:

  • African Americans are at a higher risk than Caucasians of developing glaucoma; develop it earlier and experiencing permanent blindness.
  • Mexican-Americans have a greater incidence than Caucasians.
  • Asians are at increased risk for closed angle glaucoma, with people of Japanese descent being at higher risk for normal tension glaucoma.

18. Steroid use – long-term use increases the risk by as much 40%.

19. Medical conditions – such as diabetes, high blood pressure and hypothyroidism.

20. Other eye conditions – blunt injuries that “bruise” they eye (most commonly sports-related), retinal detachment and eye tumors, eye inflammation and certain eye surgeries are examples that increase the risk.

You can work to prevent, or at least lessen the effects of glaucoma on your vision by getting regular comprehensive eye exams, use any eye drops prescribed by your doctor to treat eye pressure according to their instructions, eat a healthy diets and wear eye protection to prevent eye injury.

1/20/15


Susan DeRemerSusan DeRemer, CFRE
Vice President of Development
Discovery Eye Foundation