Welcome to the Fall 2011 Edition our Newsletter
WHY BACK TO SCHOOL EYE EXAMS ARE SO IMPORTANT
With the beginning of fall and the start of the school year, it is important to remember that eye exams are an important part of your child’s back to school routine. Back to school eye exams cannot only ensure that your children get off to the right start, but also ensure that any vision difficulties are distinguishable from learning disabilities. Both "eye problems" and learning disabilities can have a dramatic effect on your child’s school performance. Some of the eye signs for parents to be aware of are:
1. Squinting to see the board or when reading
2. Consistently closing one eye, especially when reading
3. Excessive eye rubbing, which can also be a sign of eye allergies
4. Headaches or pain around the eyes when doing close work, i.e., reading or computers
5. An eye that turns in or out constantly or intermittently
6. Using a finger or guide to stay on line when reading
In the area of learning disabilities:
7. Reversal of letters or numbers after 1st grade
8. Poor comprehension/recall skills, which are especially related to remembering what is read.
Remember in grades one & two, students "learn to read," while in later grades, they "read to learn." If they have not mastered the proper vision skills "on time," then their school work may suffer.
EXCESS WEIGHT AND EYE HEALTH: According to an article in the Review of Optometry from July 2011, people who are overweight and/or obese have significantly higher rates of eye disease such as:
Hypertensive retinopathy -- damage to the eye from high blood pressure
retinal vascular occlusions -- eye stroke
diabetic retinopathy -- damage to the back of the eye from diabetes
floppy eyelid syndrome --an eyelid that can flip over while sleeping & cause dry eye
cataract -- clouding of vision due to internal changes in the lenes of the eye
glaucoma -- potentially blinding disease with no symptoms
age-related macular degeneration -- dramatic decrease in central vision
thyroid eye disease -- can lead to protruding eyes & double vision
According to the USDA Center for Nutritional Policy and Promotion, nutrition-based measures, as well as exercise, are essential to managing weight loss. By going to www.choosemyplate.gov you can learn more about how to manage your nutrition and keep your eyes healthy.
GROW A NEW RETINA??? Recent advances in research have shown that stem cells can now successfully be used to regenerate damaged cells in the retina (light sensitive part of the eye). This is significant because it opens up the distinct possibility of replacing diseased or dead (non-functional) retinal cells with cells that have the potential to restore some or all of the vision that has been lost, due to diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa.
While human trials and successful solution to these diseases may take years to come into common use, the first steps toward restoring lost vision have been taken.
DECREASING DRY EYE SYMPTOMS FOR CONTACT LENS WEARERS: One of the chief complaints that eye doctors hear from their contact lens patients is symptoms of dryness with their contact lenses, especially at the end of the day. This is particular true for patients forty years and older. As we age, our eyes do not stay as moist, as when we were younger, and this is especially true for people who wear contact lenses.
Some of the things to decrease dryness include:
1. Re-wetting drops to moisten the surface of your lenses
2. Removing your lenses at lunch time and soaking them in saline to rehydrate the lenses and give your eyes a chance to rebound from lens wear.
3. Use an effective contact lens cleaner/disinfectant to maintain a clean lens surface --- which allows your tears to more effectively keep your lens hydrated and more comfortable.
4. One day contact lenses are excellent choices for people with dryness issues. Because they are single use, they are essentially always "clean" and for that reason tend to "wet" better and feel more comfortable, especially at the end of the day.
5. Another potential cause for dryness and discomfort can be extended periods of close work and computer use. This is due to the fact that a persons blink rate slows significantly when they concentrate on reading or staring at a computer screen. "Remembering" to blink every 5-7 seconds is a way to ensure that your contact lenses will stay hydrated and more comfortable for longer periods of times. This is not an easy task to remember. While some people will discontinue contact lens wear due to dryness and discomfort issues, the above are several strategies to increase comfort and allow continued contact lens wear.
FYI: Contact Lenses For Those Over 40! As most people who wear contact lenses enter their 40's, they begin to notice that reading with their contacts becomes more difficult. This process is due to a weakening of the focusing mechanism inside the eye. Some of the things that can be done to allow people to wear their contacts and see at distance as well as for reading, are:
1. Reading glasses worn over your contacts
2. Multi-focal contact lenses, which afford simultaneous distance & near vision
3. Mono-vision - this is where your dominant eye is fit with a contact lens to see far away and your non-dominant eye is fit with a contact lens that is set for reading distance.
