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The Real effects of Age Related Macular Degeneration……

For true insight into the real effects of Age Related Macular Degeneration, read this copy of a great article published in the January issue of Optometric Management magazine……

THE HUMAN SIDE OF OPTOMETRY

Portraits of AMD

How do we see? Do we all see the same? And if not, how do others view the world?

ADAM HAHN, LONDON

When my grandmother passed away in 2006, I had already been investigating vision issues and I researched specifically age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which she had suffered towards the end of her life. This work eventually led to my series of portraits which were on display in New York in September, in conjunction with AMD Week, the AMD Alliance International and Lighthouse.

I was not aware at the time that AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the United Kingdom and yet so little is known or heard about it. The visual representations in the text-books, on the whole, presented AMD as a black/grey hole in the center of one’s field of vision and I wanted to challenge medical journals. They were all too scientific and lacked any human content. I wanted to investigate what it was that people with AMD actually saw. Was it a concentrated black mass, or something else?

I soon contacted Prof. Pete Coffey who heads The London Project at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, who gave me the scientific grounding necessary to understand the condition and what the sufferers of AMD actually see.

He introduced me to a patient who became the first of more than 20 sitters, Dennis Lewis.

A common trait with every person I met was how lonely and often isolated they felt. Not speaking to their families and loved ones as to what they could or could not see was common with every person I met – and was true also with my grandmother.

They do not wish to worry their families or admit that they can no longer do certain things, or recognize friends or family in the street. It was sometimes difficult to comprehend the lives people led, how their peripheral vision, that we take for granted, became their lifeline. I wanted the work to give my sitters a voice, a platform with an accurate portrayal of what it is like to have AMD.  On meeting each sitter I kept the lighting conditions and the distance between us as constant as possible throughout and asked what they saw of me. Asking for a detailed description of where information within their field of vision came into focus, or what was in the void is not something they were used to being asked and many sitters found it difficult to describe what they could see.

At each sitting I took a series of photographs and then manipulated a chosen photograph to the level of vision described by the sitter.

With all the information gained from each sitting and a manipulated photograph, I began the deductive process in painting each portrait. Each portrait is unique to the individual representing the level of sight experienced by each sitter.

The project would only have been possible due to the co-operation and belief of the sitters and it was their reaction to the work, when viewed at the first opening of the exhibition, that gave the portraits the necessary validation. Every sitter said I had accurately portrayed their vision. OM

Mr. Hahn is an award-winning portrait artist based in London

February is AMD Awareness Month…..

Become better informed about the effects of Age Related Macular Degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in adults over 50.  Click on the following link to visit Zeavision’s great new website…….

http://www.zeavision.com/patients.html

A First Hand Look at Contact Lens Manufacturing…..

Read the article below by Dale M. Stein, O.D. about his first hand look at how a contact lens is born……

I just returned from an excursion to Puerto Rico along with a group of some of the leading contact lens fitting eye doctors in the country.  We were invited by Coopervision, a company which is a leader and innovator world wide in the manufacturing of soft contact lenses.  One of Coopervision’s manufacturing plants is located in a modern and beautiful facility in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico.  Our group was priveleged to be invited down for a tour of this facility.

When we arrived, we were required to cover our shoes, hair (including facial hair), and clothing before we entered.  We also washed our hands thoroughly with antimicrobial soap.  Your contact lenses are manufactured under the most sterile of conditions.

During the tour, I was particularly impressed with the work ethic, enthusiasm, and pride in which each employee approached their responsibilities.  It is fascinating to observe and to learn of the detail which goes into the development of a single soft contact lens.  The lenses are made through a process of molding a combination of water and plastic material.  Each lens is inspected through a computerized instrument and any lens exhibiting the slightest imperfection is discarded.  Even the packaging must be perfect in order for the contact lens to be approved.

Soft contact lenses are considered to be one of the greatest technological innovations of the past 50 years.  It is truly amazing that a tiny piece of material popped easily onto our eyes can be so comfortable and can enable us to see so clearly.

It is equally “eye opening” to be made aware of the tremendous amount of work, expense, and detail in which Coopervision exhibits in order to research, develop, and manufacture a soft contact lens, so that our lenses can provide us with excellent vision, and can be worn comfortably and safely.

When the Doctor becomes the patient………

by Wayne Goldschneider, O.D.

A different perspective never hurts.  In fact, often it can make you a better practioner.

In the last few years, I personally had two eye health issues which gave me a different perspective on the job I perform on a daily basis.  When the doctor becomes the patient, it certainly gives a unique insight into the eye problems that patients describe and worry about, and that we diagnose on a daily basis.

The first experience was in May 2007, when I underwent cataract surgery (yes, at 48 years old!) in my left eye.  After a year of postponing surgery, I finally had the cataract removed.  Although I’ve referred hundreds if not thousands of patients for this surgery, and provided countless patients with post-operative care, I was very apprehensive.  I knew the surgeon very well and had ultimate confidence, I was well versed in the procedure, yet I was as nervous as could be!  However, the procedure was flawless, I was back in the office examining patients in two days, and could not believe the improvement in my vision. Now, when I refer a patient for cataract surgery, I can add my personal experience to our discussion, and this has been a great resource and a source of reassurance for my patients.

More recently, I experience flashes and floaters in the same eye.  Again these are symptoms that we deal with almost every day with our patients, to the point of where they seem very matter of fact.  We make our diagnosis and appropriate plan, and move on to the next patient.  However, I now have a different take on these symptoms.  The emotions running through my mind as the symptoms started ran from concerned to worrisome to frightened.  I could now only imagine how someone unfamiliar with these symptoms must feel, and I now understand my patients concerns and worries on a different level.  Fortunately, what I developed was a posterior vitreous detachment, as revealed by a dilated examination and Optomap evaluation.  No tears or breaks were noted in the retina.  But as with my surgical experience related above, I can now discuss my personal bout with flashes and floaters with my patients who have similar symptoms, and hopefully put them more at ease as we discuss their diagnosis.

Hope for patients with Low Vision…….

Click on the link below for information on a new development to help those with low vision due to eye diseases like Macular Degeneration.  Developed at Vanderbilt University, these new glasses offer improved vision and functionality to those individuals with limited ability to read…….

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/health&id=7245127

Did you know that you can finance your eye examination?

All of our offices participate in the Lenscrafters  “See Now, Pay Later” financing program.  You can use the ” same as cash” promotion available for eyeglass purchases at Lenscrafters to pay for your eye examination and contact lenses in our offices.  For more information, click on the link below…..

http://www.lenscrafters.com/eyeglasses/6/eyeglasses-financing-card

Check out the Optomap Technology………

Optomap® Retinal Exam to be Featured on the Dr. Oz Show!

On Wednesday, January 13th the optomap® Retinal Exam will be featured on The “Dr. Oz Show”, a syndicated television program featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz, a well known expert who provides insight into healthy living.

Check your local listings for when and where the show airs in your area……

Yet another reason to stop smoking……….

Read this eye-opening article that was posted on AOL Health today………

Smoking Can Increase Blindness Risk

By Jordan Lite

You probably knew that smoking causes lung cancer and raises your risk of heart disease, but did you know that it also increases your chances of going blind?

New research from UCLA shows that smoking continues to take its toll even when we’re old and gray. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) occurs more than five times more often among female smokers over 80-years-old compared to non-smoking women of the same age. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the West and is two to three times more common among smokers than nonsmokers, according to AMD Alliance International. Age is the biggest risk factor for AMD, which occurs when the macula — an area of the retina in the back of the eye that processes fine detail — is damaged.

“The damage from smoking is cumulative over time,” said Michael Rosenberg, M.D., chairman of ophthalmology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. “The older you get, the higher the risk for AMD itself, regardless of smoking. That combined with more time smoking increases your risk.”

Overall, nearly a third of the nearly 2,000 women in the study — published in the January issue of the “American Journal of Opthalmology” — had AMD. Study co-author Anne Coleman, M.D., didn’t immediately respond to a call and emails from Aol Health seeking comment. But in a UCLA-issued press release, she noted that while the risk of AMD was slightly higher overall among women over 80-years-old than among those in their late 70s, “the rate was dramatically higher in older women who smoked.”

While the association between AMD and smoking isn’t new, most research has been done on people 75 and younger, Coleman said in the release. In this study, Coleman followed 1,958 women beginning at age 78. Doctors snapped photos of their retinas every five years. Among all women in the study, those who smoked had 11 percent higher rates of AMD than women who didn’t.

Smoking may increase the risk of AMD by decreasing blood and oxygen flow to the eye, by reducing pigment — or color — in the retina or by promoting mini-clots there, according to a 2005 study published in Eye. The good news is quitting can really save your sight. That study found that former smokers have only a slightly higher risk of AMD than people who never smoked and the risk evens out the longer a person goes without lighting up.

An estimated 1.75 million Americans have AMD, and the number is expected to hit 2.95 million by 2020 as the U.S. population ages, according to the National Eye Institute.

“There are many reasons to stop smoking, but this is another one,” Rosenberg said.

Hurry! Use Your Benefits Before They Expire!

December 31 is quickly approaching, and your vision care benefits may be expiring at the end of the year!  If you participate in an employer sponsored Flex spending program, you can use your dollars on eye examinations and contact lenses.   We offer evening and weekend hours.  You can call our offices or schedule an appointment online.  Visit snjeyecare.com and schedule an appointment today.