New Dry Eye Treatment

Recently I have added a new device to my office. Its called the TearLab. http://www.tearlab.com/

So, I procured this item and thought to myself, of what use is such an item?

First I want to tell you that a great many patients who clearly suffer from symptoms of dry eye do not truly have dry eye. The tear lab clearly shows what patients have a lack of tears and what patients do not.

The only benefit I can see from the product would be if once measured, I could prescribe a new treatment and see a change. The change would need to be shown in a numeric fashion.

This device clearly does that. It is repeatable. I have also added a new drug to my formulary. It seems to clearly make a difference in dry eye patients. I will not go into what the drug is, but suffice it to say that it is much better than any other on the market. I hope to explore these novel treatments in greater detail in the future.

New Toyos Dry Eye Treatment Film

Unmet needs-By Kelly Nichols, O.D.

Unmet Need in Dry Eye

A recent "Industry News" article in the AOA News (http://newsfromaoa.org/2011/11/06/new-allergan-survey-shows-48-have-dry-eye-symptoms/) caught my attention and continues to intrigue me. The article reports several very interesting facts indicating unmet dry eye need including: 1) Nearly half of all U.S. adults (48%) experience one or more dry eye symptom(s) regularly; 2) 19% of women age 55 and older have experienced dry eye symptoms for more than 10 years, 3) 69% who experience one or more dry eye symptom(s) have not visited a eye care professional to treat symptoms; and 4) of those who visited an eye care professional to treat their dry eye symptoms, 19% visited more than once before finding relief, and 22% reported that they still have not found relief.

My bottom line summary of this market research indicates that there is more unmet need in dry eye disease than likely any other ocular condition. Potential patients self-treat (with or without clinician), experience significant visual and quality of life issues due to dry eye, and have not found substantial relief from the condition. Therefore, ask about symptoms, examine for dry eye, actively manage dry eye and lid disease, and hopefully make a difference.

Chromagen Eyeglass Lenses

In all my years of being an optometrist I have never given much thought to vision therapy. Many years ago at several meetings I saw a device known as a colorymeter. Kind of a funny looking device it was a plywood box with a light inside and several knobs outside.The premise was that as the patient looked into the box the doctor changed the color of the light shining on the reading material. I could not figure out how I would decide which lens to use. After many years, I once again came across the company. This time the promise was that the doctor would introduce each lens in front of the patient's eye demonstrating two choices and narrowing the possibilities from 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 to one. This lens was placed into a trial frame and the process is repeated in the other eye. Finally with the two lenses in place the patient reads with and without the glasses to see if there is any improvement. I have been amazed! Many individuals increased 50%.

For more information please look at the website:http://www.ireadbetternow.com/

3 D Movie Problems

The Wall Street Journal (5/18, Valentino-DeVries) “Digits” blog reported that, according to the American Optometric Association, an estimated three million to nine million Americans suffer from vision issues which make it difficult or even impossible for them to view 3-D television shows and movies. While some people get eyestrainfrom watching 3-D films, others become dizzy, nauseated, and experience headaches. The AOA suggests that people having difficulty with 3-D films should see their optometrist for evaluation of possible dysfunction in their binocular vision.

Dry Eye...its complicated

I have recently installed a device called a Tear Lab. I have the first unit in Houston and I intend to use it to monitor the success or failure of treatment for dry eye.

Here is a video. Not for the typical patient, but one that will educate you on the complexities of dry eye.

http://www.trbchemedica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=61

Benefits of Being Vegetarian

FROM CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY TODAY — 8/12/2011
MEDICAL STUDIES

Vegetarians may have a reduced risk of developing cataracts, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.[1] Researchers at the University of Oxford in England studied the lifestyle characteristics of 27,670 self-reported nondiabetic participants aged 40 and older by using data from the Hospital Episode Statistics in England and Scottish Morbidity Records.

Participants were asked to fill out dietary surveys between 1993 and 1999, then their medical records between 2008 and 2009 were monitored to see if they developed cataracts. Almost 1,500 had cataracts during the follow-up period. The data showed that vegetarians and vegans were 30 to 40 percent less likely to develop cataracts than high meat eaters.

“There are many good reasons to follow a healthy diet and our study
suggests that lowering your risk of cataract can now be added to these,” lead author Paul Appleby, Senior Statistician, Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said in an email to Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today. “How far individuals move along the path towards a plant-based diet is a matter of personal choice.”

There was a strong relation between cataract risk and diet group, with a progressive decrease in risk of cataract in high meat eaters – those who ate 100 grams (3.5 or more ounces) daily -- to moderate meat eaters (1.7 to 3.4 ounces), low meat eaters (less than 1.7 ounces), fish eaters (participants who ate fish but not meat), vegetarians, and vegans, with risk ratios of 0.96, 0.85, 0.79, 0.70 and 0.60, respectively.

The study authors point out that eating meat does not necessarily promote cataract formation, rather it is vegetables that may have protective nutrients that lower cataract risk; and vegetarians may practice other healthy lifestyle behaviors that can contribute to a lower risk for cataracts.

“There was no obvious explanation of our findings in terms of specific nutrients. It may be that diet group is simply a better marker of a healthy diet than the intake of any given nutrient,” Mr. Appleby said.

1. Appleby PN, Allen NE, Key TJ. Diet, vegetarianism, and cataract risk. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;93(5):1128-35.