DR. JOSEPH DELLO RUSSO

From a study that appeared in the Review of Optometry, February 15th, 2008.

Wine helps prevent cataracts? That is what a study by Dr.Paul Kopecki concluded after a five year study at Rekjavk Eye Center.
 
Researchers believe that regular consumption of red wine in moderation allows the French to counter-balance their fatty diets and live healthier lives, possibly living as much as ten years longer than others. The Rekjavk Study also indicated that moderate drinkers of red wine seem to be less prone to developing cataracts as well as retinal degeneration, which are both aging problems. Researchers believe that red wine contain antioxidents that are beneficial to a healthy diet.

One of the most discussed topics at the Eyeworld meeting in Mexico (February 2008) was presented by Drs. D. Koch, H. Wu, T. O’Brien and Robert Osher who explained that cataract surgeons now have greater choices when performing a cataract surgery. They can often customize lenses for the needs of the individual patient.

Not long ago the cataract (cloudy normal lens of the eye) was removed and replaced with a lens or an implant powered to focus for distance alone. Reading glasses were required for nearsightedness. New implants are now available, providing not only give distance vision but also some degree of reading ability. Also available are implants corrected for astigmatism, that would be left after conventional cataract surgery.

Editor’s note: as exciting as these new implants are, recently developed lenses have been used on people without cataracts but who have a prescription that is beyond the treatment range of Lasik. These “phakic” lenses are implanted in front of the normal lens. People who have had this lens implanted have been exceedingly happy within our practice, but this technology is still young.

As appeared in the Ocular Surgery News of Jan. 25, 2008

Dr. Marcelo Netto discussed some of the uncertainties that he observed about preventing Kerectasia. He noted that he was often surprised that some patients with multiple risk factors for ectasia had uneventful Lasik surgery, which is something that is genetically known.

He went on to discuss some risk factors most often picked up at a good screening before Lasik which are generally well known nowadays.

He did note that the disease probably starts on its own in the early twenties and that patients often have a family history of the disease. He noted that kerectasia is most likely to occur in patients with some signs of the disease and are to be screened out.

Where this editor disagrees with Dr. Netto is that PRK can lead to ectasia. Performing PRK from 1990 on I have never run into ectasia after PRK.

He did note also what we all know as true that ectasia also occurs in patients without any known or diagnosable kerectasia risk factors.

He went on to describe some of the tools that are currently available for us to screen out potential or early ectasia, which we did not have in the 1990′s or early 2000′s, even until a couple of years ago.

From a study appearing in Eye Net , a Journal of the AAO, February 2008.

Many people who spend much time on computers especially daily at work may often experience eyestrain. The main cause of the discomfort is that the tear film of their eyes may not be healthy due to several reasons.

One cause is that some people do not blink enough to freshen and the tear distribution on the surface of their eyes. In essence, they tend to stare at the computer, blinking less than the average of twenty times per minute. A second reason for the poor tears is that many people simply develop a very mild but persistent inflammation of the lid tear glands which allows for less than normal tear production. Drying of the cornea is also worsened in some people who wear contact lenses, which tend to absorb some of the normal tears produced.

Editors note: If you suffer from computer eyestrain, try to make yourself conscious of blinking more often than you presently do and keep a bottle of wetting drops within reach of the monitor.

The Bausch and Lomb “Run For Vision”, held during the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, attracted 253 participants and raised a sum of $12,000 for the needy New Orleans Eye Bank.

Editor’s note: long distance running is quite popular among ophthalmologists (no longer for this editor)…