In recognition of American Diabetes Month and World Diabetes Day on November 14, Dr. Richard Driscoll and Dr. Alycia Green urge community members to schedule yearly eye exams.  Yearly eye exams are particularly important for people with diabetes or that are pre-disposed to diabetes. Approximately 25 million Americans have diabetes, representing 7% of the population, and 6.2 million Americans remain undiagnosed.  Read more facts about diabetes and how the optomap® Retinal Exam is an important aid in fighting diabetic retinopathy.

Johnson & Johnson conducted a study using rabbits and concluded that UV absorbing contact lenses significantly reduced the UV induced changes in the cornea, aqueous humor (fluid in the eye) and the lens.  The study authors concluded that UV absorbent contact lenses were capable of protecting the cornea and crystalline lens of rabbit eyes from UV induced changes.

So the question is how does this affect humans?  There are a number of contact lenses on the market today that block most of the UV rays.  While we can’t guarantee that the results of the study would apply to humans we can generally infer that wearing this type of contact lens is beneficial for patients that spend a lot of time outdoors and do not wear sunglasses.

UV absorbent lenses do not protect our conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the clear membrane that covers the blood vessels over the white part of the eye.  This is an important reason as to why UV absorbent contact lenses are not a replacement for quality sunglasses.  Excessive exposure to UV light on the conjunctiva is a leading cause for pterygia and pinguecula.  A pterygium is the fleshy growth that grows over the colored part of the eye, usually located at 3:00 or 9:00.  A pinguecula is the yellow bump on the white part of the eye, which is also located at 3:00 or 9:00.

While not a replacement for good sunglasses, using UV absorbent contact lenses, especially in children, is a good practice.

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals announced promising results for patients that suffer from dry eye syndrome during Phase 2 of a new class of anti-inflammatory medications.  RX-10045, as it is now called, is a resolvin compound administered as an eye drop. In a 28 day study patients reported improved symptoms and the doctors reported a statistically significant improvement in the patients dry eyes.  The entire press release is available on the Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals website.  This is great news for patients that suffer from dry eyes.  This is one of many medications on the horizon for the pharmaceutical treatment of dry eyes.

I have not done and article on Ehlers-Danlos in a while.  A friend sent me a one page PDF summary of Ehlers-Danlos for Pediatrician’s from the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation and I thought I would share it.  A good accompaniment to the Pediatrician’s Guide to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is the Eye Doctor’s Guide to Ehlers-Danlos.

Today we’ll take a departure from the typical eye care related topics.  If you have never heard of  Perpetuum Jazzile, they are an a cappella group from Slovenia.  Here is a video of them performing Africa, a popular hit of the 1980s, originally performed by the group Toto.  Check out the African thunderstorm sound effects at the beginning and the beat box percussionist, all without instruments …. amazing.  Turn your sound up.  It starts quietly.

That is the opinion of The National Commission on Vision & Health, in a new report entitled “Building a Comprehensive Vision Care System“, found that 25% of school age children have undiagnosed vision problems and that correcting this must become a national health care priority.

Some of the vision problems cited in the literature review included undiagnosed nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia, retinoblastoma, congenital defects, and strabismus.  The report went on to state that a vision screening was not a substitute for an eye exam and that eye exams from an optometrist or ophthalmologist were a very effective way to detect vision problems in children.

In 2004 The Vision council of America estimated that the rate of undetected vision problems in children to be 25%.  The 2010 National Health Objective 28-4 to reduce blindness and visual impairment in children and adolescents has experienced little progress in it’s goal to reduce childhood blindness.

In 2002 the American Public Health Association (APHA) issued a statement supporting regular eye exams in children to improve the detection rate of vision problems instead of regular screenings.  APHA recommended eye exams at age 6 mos, 2 years and 4 years.  A failure of the current screening program is the lack of follow through for children when problems are detected.  “Most forms of vision loss in children are preventable.  Improving the access to eye care for children should be as important as are our current childhood vaccination programs” said Dr. Richard Driscoll.

Sixteen states do not require any vision assessment prior to a child entering school.  The remaining states require some for of vision assessment prior to a child entering school, however only five states require a follow up examination to the screening.  Screenings are clearly not effective if the results are not acted upon.  Only three states, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri have legislated mandatory eye exams prior to a child entering school.

Cost was found to be an issue with getting visual assessments for children.  Uninsured children did not receive a well child visit 54% of the time.  Often a well child visit includes a visual assessment.

The recommendations of the study to improve access to eye care for children  included funding national campaigns to educate the public regarding the need to seek care for their child, setting up national standards to be adopted by all states, assure adequate vision coverage by all public and private insurers.

For more articles written on The Eye Doc Blog on vision problems in children see

• Survey Shows Most Children Have Never Had an Eye Exam
• Eye Exams are a Crucial Part of Back to School
• When Should My Child Have Her First Eye Exam
• Optometrist and School Nurses Partner to Link Healthy Vision and Classroom Learning
• See our Children tag for all articles written about children on The Eye Doc Blog

Scientists at the University of Florida Restore Some Sight to Three Adult Patients with Congenital Vision Loss

One year ago the retina of two men and one woman in their 20s were injected with a harmless virus that contained vision correcting genes.  All three patients lived with severe vision loss from a congenital problem call Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis Type 2.  A gene responsible for a necessary protein used in the visual process is defective, gene therapy fixes the failed gene.  One year after the gene therapy treatment these patients reporting being able to see light which was a significant improvement in their vision.  One of the patients reported that she was able to see her parents clock, she had never been able to do this before.  The study has two more years to run and it is likely that more patients will be added.

This is a very exciting medical development and shows that gene therapy holds great promise.  There are so many genetic conditions, not only in the eye but the entire body, that can benefit from this type of treatment.  Much research still needs to be done, however this lays the groundwork for promising future development. The exciting thing about this discovery is that it shows that it is possible to fix bad genes and improve people’s lives.

Computer glasses can not only help reduce eyestrain but they also reduce neck pain at your desk.  Numerous factors need to be addressed to maximize your comfort and effectiveness while working at the computer.  Computer related eyestrain is especially common for those approaching their 50s and above.

When working at our computer we often find ourselves raising our chin to make the monitor clear.  This puts our neck in a very bad, uncomfortable position.  Everyone that experiences neck pain should see their eye doctor about computer glasses. A few minutes to read a quick email is not a problem, however the longer you spend in this position the worse it is for your eyes, your posture and your neck.  Computer glasses place your monitor in the proper focus allowing you to look directly at the monitor while still allowing you to view reading material at a normal reading distance.

Another important consideration while working at the computer is your blinking.  When we work at the computer we become so engrossed in what we are doing that our blink rate goes down which increases the symptoms of dry eye syndrome.  The video below gives a good summary of computer vision syndrome and computer glasses.

Coopervision has produced this 10+ minute video on how to insert, remove and take care of soft contact lenses.    There is a brief commercial at the beginning outlining the different kinds of contact lenses offered by CooperVision.  This video outlines the right way to do it.  Throw away that contact lens solution everyday!

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