According to survey by the Ocular Nutrition Society and Bausch + Lomb, 78% of baby boomers consider vision the most important of their five senses.  This demographic also rated vision loss third among their health concerns, just behind cancer and heart disease.  Even though vision loss ranked high, only 43% of the 1,001 individuals surveyed saw their eye doctor once a year.

Education regarding eye health was also a concern; Two-thirds did not know lutein was a key nutrient for eye health, 89% were unaware of the importance of zeaxanthin’s; and more than half didn’t realize the significance of disease preventing omega-3 oils.

“Baby Boomers Prize Vision But May Not Know How to Safeguard It” Ophthalmology Management November 2012: 56 Print.

Priya Desai, MD will address these concerns at a lecture dedicated to "Protecting the Eyes of Baby Boomers".  Don’t miss this educational event at the Health and Wellness Center by Doylestown Hospital located at 847 Easton Road, Warrington, PA 18976.  Registration is free and you will be gaining valuable information about the symptoms to look for and the newest treatments available for treating common eye conditions.  If you would like to attend this event, you can register online at https://www.dh.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=225&registration=true&action=detail&ref=1967 or call (215) 345-2121. 

Data analysis of studies published between 1994 and 2010, involving 48,161 patients, found an association between high and low myopia and open-angle glaucoma.

“This should be taken into account when it comes to individualized risk management in, for example, screening or treatments decisions,” the study authors said.  “A better understanding of the role of the magnitude of the refractive error is clinically important to the point of view of individualized risk management, among others.”

Authors used a random effects model to pool study-specific odds ratios.  The primary outcome measure was odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of myopia as a risk factor for open-angle glaucoma.  Based on the 11 risk estimates, the pooled odds ratio of the association between myopia and open-angle glaucoma was 1.92. 

Heterogeneity among the 11 studies was statistically significant (P=.02) Data showed significant heterogeneity among studies that reported an association between any myopia and glaucoma and between low myopia and glaucoma, but not between high myopia and glaucoma.

After studies contributing marketedly to heterogeneity were excluded, overall pooled odds ratios were 1.88 for any myopia and glaucoma, and 1.77 for low myopia and glaucoma.

“Study Finds Link Between Myopia, Open-Angle Glaucoma Risk” Ocular Surgery News 25 November 2011:29 Print.

Cynthia Matossian, MD

A large study involving U.S. military veterans with dry eye syndrome was conducted during a 5 year interval, resulting in a correlation between post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other co morbidities.

The retrospective study included 16,862 patients who visited two Veterans Affairs eye clinics; 2,056 veterans were diagnosed with dry eye syndrome, and 14,806 veterans had no dry eye.  Nineteen percent of patients with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder had a concurrent diagnosis of dry eye, compared with 11% of patients without post-traumatic stress disorder.  In addition, 17% of patients with depression and 10% of those without depression had dry eye.

Twenty-two percent of patients using antihistamines were diagnosed with dry eye, compared with 10% of non-users.  Anti-depression medications, anti-anxiety medications and anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia medications were strongly associated with dry eye syndrome.  Autoimmune conditions, non-autoimmune arthritis, thyroid disease and sleep apnea also correlated strongly with dry eye syndrome.

“Veterans with Various Co morbidities Show Increased Risk of Dry Eye Syndrome” Ocular Surgery News November 10, 2011: 22

Cynthia Matossian, MD

Cornea Bank

The small island of Sri Lanka, south of India, is a major cornea donor to the world. Over 3000 corneas leave the country each year to over 57 countries.  So many residents have agreed to donate their corneas upon death that a new internationally funded eye bank has been established there.  Buddhists believe they will go on to a better life upon reincarnation if they complete an act of giving.

George Saunders, CFO

In a recent study of contact lens wearers, patients actually admitted to using substances as varied as baby oil, beer, soft drinks, lemonade, fruit juices and even butter and petroleum jelly to wet their contact lenses!!!  The study showed that 20% of wearers admitted using "unconventional" solutions to lubricate lenses in their eye.  Many said they occasionally used tap water or saliva to wet their lenses before putting them in their eyes.  THESE ARE ALL BAD IDEAS.