Louis Bosa born in 1905, in Codroipo, Italy immigrated to the U.S. at age 18 after studies at the Accademia della Belle Arti in Venice and became an American citizen. He then studied under John Sloan of the Ashcan School at the Art Students League in New York. A distinguished painter, Louis Bosa's work has been likened to that of artists ranging from Pieter Breughel the Elder to John Sloan.  Bosa painted for the Works Progress Administration and the Whitney Museum. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the New York Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, Syracuse University, and the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana.  His work was recently exhibited in the reception area of Matossian Eye Associates Doylestown, PA office to be enjoyed by patients and visitors.   “Waiting” won the People’s Choice Award from Matossian Eye Associates in the interactive portion of this exhibit as the favorite painting of the patients who voted.

Why Did Pirates Wear Patches?

"Ever wonder why a pirate wears patches? It's not because he was wounded in a sword fight," says Dr. Jim Sheedy, a doctor of vision science and director of the Vision Performance Institute at Oregon's Pacific University. Seamen must constantly move between the pitch black of below decks and the bright sunshine above.

When you move from dark into light the eyes adapt quickly, but going from light to the dark "requires the regeneration of photo pigments, and that takes some time to reach full dark-adaptation," says Dr. Sheedy. "When going from bright light to maximum darkness, studies have shown, eye sensitivity continues to change for up to 25 minutes," he says.

"Smart pirates wore a patch over one eye to keep it dark-adapted outside. Should a battle break out and the pirate had to shimmy below, he would simply switch the patch to the outdoor eye and he could see in the dark right away—saving him 25 minutes of flailing his cutlass about in near blindness."

Taken from an article that appeared April 9, 2013, on page D4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: BURNING QUESTION | Does reading in dim light hurt your eyes?.

Jennifer Viscusi, OD

Jan Lipes – House On Pidcock Creek

Jan Lipes of Solebury, PA has been painting in the New Hope-Lambertville area for the past twelve years. He has won numerous awards for his local landscapes, including the Phillips Mill Art Committee award at the Phillips' Mill 71st Annual Juried Fall Exhibition as well as the Sienkiewicz Award for Traditional Painting in the Style of the New Hope School at the Phillips' Mill 72nd Annual Juried Fall Exhibition. In 2002 he was a featured artist at the Gallery at Bristol-Myers-Squibb exhibition "Up the River Now".  His work was recently exhibited in the reception area of Matossian Eye Associates Hopewell, NJ office to be enjoyed by patients and visitors.   “House on Pidcock Creek” won the People’s Choice Award from Matossian Eye Associates in the interactive portion of this exhibit as the favorite painting of the patients who voted.

Reading in the Dark

Your mother always told you that reading in the dark would ruin your eyes. Was she right? Dr. Jim Sheedy, director of the Vision Performance Institute at Oregon's Pacific University conducted a study to see if mom was right. As it turns out, "There is no reason to believe nor evidence to support that any long-term damage to the eyes or change in the physiology to the eyes can be caused by reading in the dark," according to Dr. Sheedy. Reading in low light conditions can lead to eye fatigue and cause tiredness-which is often the point of reading before bed. Dr. Sheedy points out that nearsightedness is predominately genetic and there has never been any conclusive proof to show that what you do with your eyes can cause long-term damage.

A version of this article appeared April 9, 2013, on page D4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: BURNING QUESTION | Does reading in dim light hurt your eyes?.

Jennifer Viscusi, OD

Risk Factor for AMD

Sunlight Exposure is a Risk Factor for Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).  AMD is the leading cause of blindness in older people, accounting for 14% of blindness in individuals over 55 years and 37% over 75 years. 

Epidemiologists (Sui et al) recently reviewed published studies on sunlight exposure and AMD. 

The study found that people with more sunlight exposure are at a significantly increased risk of AMD, but there remains an ongoing dispute over this association due to insufficient evidence and unreliable data.

Michael Starrels, MD