Eye Care: Diabetes, Vision, and Blindness

Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults under the age of 74 in the United States. Historically thought of as an adult disease, diabetes affects children too. Poor diet and a lack of exercise put children at risk. Often optometrists detect it first through routine eye exams. As part of National Diabetes Month, Dr. Kimberly Friedman of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians appears on CN8s Your Morning to remind us of the importance of having regular comprehensive eye exams. 

A Journey Through the Human Eye: How We See

We depend on our eyes more than any other sense, however many of us take this precious gift for granted. Without them, we could not experience a beautiful sunset, see the faces of our loved ones, or view the natural marvels of the world. We rely on our eyesight for so much, but most people have only a vague idea of how our eyes work. There are actually many different parts of the eye working together to form a unique self-sustaining system. Though smaller than a ping-pong ball, the eye allows us to see, while cleaning, moisturizing and disinfecting itself at the same time.

Children's Eye Care: When to Start Visiting the Eye Doctor

Good vision is essential to a child's success as they enter school-age years. As much as 80% of everything students learn is through their eyes, and if their vision is not performing properly their academic performance can suffer. As children progress in school, so does the demand on their visual capabilities; therefore, it is important to start monitoring your child's eye health long before they're in the classroom.

Between the ages of 2 and 5 years old, a child's visual abilities become more and more fine tuned from the abilities they were born with. That is also the frame of time that vision problems can start to develop. Crossed or lazy eyes are problems that can be spotted, but approximately 10% of all preschoolers have vision problems, and most children at that age do not voice their complaints about eye sight. Keep an eye out for these signs that your child may be having vision problems:

1. Short attention span for their age
2. Difficulty recognizing colors, shapes, letters, numbers
3. Sitting close to the TV/holding a book close to their face
4. Squinting
5. Difficulty with hand-body coordination

By the time your child 3 years old you should take them to an optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam to be sure their eyes are developing properly, and are clear of any signs of eye diseases. With today's diagnostic tests, a child does not need to know the alphabet or be able to read before having an eye exam. You can aid your pre-school age child's visual development at home by engaging in some simple activities such as: playing catch or other hand-eye coordination games, using finger paints, reading, memory games, and interacting with other children.

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The Dangers of Wearing Glasses With the Incorrect Prescription

If you've been wearing eyeglasses for a long time and you are sick of the annual check-ups at your optometrist because you know that your prescription has changed, yet again, and you are in need of a new pair of prescription eyeglasses. This probably upsets you and it's an understandable feeling. Unfortunately, this is a fact of life - eyesight deteriorates earlier for some, and faster than others.

While your eyes can start deteriorating at any time, you don't want to be stuck wearing an outdated pair of frames with old prescription lenses. Although wearing eyeglasses with the wrong prescription will not damage your eyes, it can cause some very unpleasant side effects that are really not worth suffering through just to save a few dollars on buying new eyeglasses. Just think, how would you like to suffer from nausea, headaches, blurred vision, strained eyes, dizziness and vertigo? Aside from making you feel sick; these side effects can also prove dangerous if you are in a situation such as driving, carrying glass or hot beverages, handling machinery and so on. Your reluctance to buy new glasses and suffer the side effects instead, can cause harm, not only to yourself but to others as well.

Incidentally, even without a formal trip to your eye doctor, these side effects will be your first clear indication that your eyesight is waning and that you need a new, stronger optical solution. If you are stubborn enough to continue wearing your old prescription eyeglasses, the symptoms of nausea, dizziness and headaches may reduce, or even completely disappear; however, the blurred vision and eye strain would remain because you aren't seeing properly and the lenses are no longer compensating for your loss in optical strength.

Similarly, when you begin to age and your eyesight begins to change, you will not be able to continue wearing regular prescription eyeglasses when you actually need multifocal glasses. If not corrected with the appropriate prescription strength, you will continue to strain your eyes and suffer from these other unpleasant symptoms.

When you decide to give in and invest in eyeglasses for the sake of your overall health, you should know that following a thorough eye examination, your eye doctor will have your most updated eyeglasses prescription. This will allow you to get lenses made with the correct prescription strength to fit your vision difficulties and allow you to see as you should.

You should keep in mind that the first time you put on your new pair of eyeglasses, you will feel a bit dizzy and nauseous. This is because you eyes will need a few short moments to adjust to their new advanced vision. If, after an hour or two, you still feel these negative symptoms, then it is a sure sign that the lenses were not manufactured exactly according to your prescription and they will need to be changed.

This, however, is a little bit different in the case of multifocal glasses. With these, the adjustment process is a little bit more difficult as there is an optical jump within the lenses that take some getting used to. This adjustment period could take a while, but they usually normalize within 72-hours. Some have even reported a month or more, however, in the end, there is no doubting that your visual needs will be completely taken care of.

Should you be suffering from any of the above-mentioned side effects, or you have already visited your eye doctor and your updated eyeglasses prescription dictates the need for new frames, do not hesitate! Get eyeglass frames that will give you the perfect sight that you deserve! It is not a waste of money; it's a favor that you do for yourself, to enjoy your health and your life.

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How to Protect Your Eyes From Glaucoma

Damage to the optic nerve of the eye is known as "Glaucoma" and this eye disease serves as the leading cause of blindness in the United States today. What causes this condition? Usually increased pressure in the eye, known as intraocular pressure (IOP).

Ok - let's take a step back and explain this life-changing disease in full.

Basically, our eyes contain a certain amount of fluid. When and if this fluid pressure rises, it causes pressure on to the eye's optic nerve - damaging it, which is responsible for sending visual messages from the eyes to the brain. The pressure is known as intraocular pressure (IOP).

The scariest part of the disease is that it rarely carries symptoms to start with and will only be discovered through a comprehensive eye exam. Therefore, today, experts recommend that certain risk groups should have their eyes thoroughly checked out very two years, in order to catch this disease early and thereby avoid vision loss. Those groups include African Americans over age 40; people over age 60, especially Mexican Americans; and people with a family history of glaucoma.

How is glaucoma tested? The doctor looks right inside the eye, through the pupil. There are numerous glaucoma tests, namely: Gonioscopy (use of a special lens to see the outflow channels of the angle); Tonometry (test to measure eye pressure); Optic nerve imaging (photographs of the inside of the eye); Pupillary reflex response; Retinal examination; Slit lamp examination; Visual acuity; Visual field measurement. Your doctor will explain them to you in detail.

If caught early, treatment of glaucoma can be very effective; the main goal, however, is to reduce the eye pressure. The type of glaucoma you have will invariably decide on whether you will be treated with medication or surgery. All in all, there are four major types, namely: angle-closure (acute) glaucoma; congenital glaucoma; secondary glaucoma; and open-angle (chronic) glaucoma.

Angle-closure (acute) glaucoma is an emergency! Usually it is very sudden and if not treated quickly, people become blind within a few days. Symptoms can be anything from sudden, severe pain in one eye, decreased or cloudy vision, nausea and vomiting, rainbow-like halos around lights, red eye, swollen eyes. Treatment involves drops, pills, and medicine given through by IV. In worse cases, people may need an emergency operation, known as an iridotomy. The only way to save your vision with this version of glaucoma is quick diagnosis and treatment. You will then need regular follow-up with your doctor.

Congenital glaucoma is hereditary and usually people are born with it and you will usually notice this when your child is just a few months old. Signs to watch out for include cloudiness of the front of the eye, enlargement of one eye or both eyes, red eye, sensitivity to light and tearing. In almost all cases, this is treated with surgery while the patient is under general anesthetic. If diagnosed and treated early on, patients will usually have no future problems and will only need check-ups every so often.

Secondary glaucoma is caused by drugs such as corticosteroids, eye diseases and systemic diseases. While, open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of the disease and is described as a gradual loss of peripheral (side) vision (also called tunnel vision). It is usually treated very successfully with eye drops but some patients may also be give pills, while others may need some form of laser treatment. Although the condition cannot be fully cured, it can be managed so as to prevent vision loss. What's important is constant follow-up with your doctor and ensure optimal eyesight with annual eye tests to check that your eyeglasses prescription is up to date so that you're wearing the correct prescription eyeglasses.

In short, glaucoma, in general, is an eye disease that can affect anyone - whether they've never worn glasses before or if they have been wearing multifocal glasses for years. The basic information to know is that should you have any sudden loss of vision or severe pain, get to an eye doctor immediately; as in this case, speed really is what can save your sight.

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What is Farsightedness?

Farsightedness, or hyperopia is the inability to properly focus on close up objects. Objects that are distant may appear in normal focus, but those at a short distance will be blurred. You may find that you can read distant traffic signs with no problem, but you have trouble reading text in books or newspapers until you place them far enough away to regain proper focus. You may find that as your condition worsens with age, that you'll no longer be able to hold reading material far enough away to bring it back into focus.

Farsightedness is usually brought about by a natural change in the shape of your eye that causes your eye to become more compressed, rather than retaining the normal round shape. This causes the light entering the eye to focus behind of the retina, resulting in an out-of-focus image. In many cases, double vision can also result from farsightedness.

Symptoms of Farsightedness

The main symptom is blurred vision when focusing on near objects. If you find yourself squinting when looking at close up items, you may be farsighted. If you use reading glasses but have no need of glasses to see distant objects, you may be farsighted. A routine eye examine can determine if you're farsighted.

Diagnosing Farsightedness

A routine eye exam will determine if you're farsighted. Farsightedness usually begins as we age and its effects can vary from mild to moderate to high. You usually notice the condition worsens each year. Mild cases may not require any corrective action.

People in their 40s and 50s are most likely to notice an increasing level of farsightedness. Many times they'll try to compensate by holding reading material further away in order to maintain proper focus. The problem with this approach is that eventually your arms may not be long enough to achieve the distance required for proper focusing.

Treatment of Farsightedness

Glasses or contact lenses can treat farsightedness by enabling you to focus on nearby objects. But this method will usually require removal of the lenses in order to see distant objects. As an alternative to removing your 'reading' glasses, you can choose to wear bifocal glasses. With bifocals, the lower portion of the lens allows you to focus on close objects and the top portion of the lens is optimized for distance focusing.

In the not too distant past, most doctors felt that LASIK surgery was not an appropriate treatment for farsightedness. The problem was that if the surgery corrected focusing for close up objects, distance focusing was sacrificed. But new methods have been developed that make this way of thinking obsolete.

LASIK surgery helps to correct farsightedness by using a laser to reshape the cornea so that close up focusing ability is restored. But here's the trick - it's only performed on one eye! A preliminary eye exam determines which eye is best equipped for distance viewing and that eye is kept as-is. The other eye receives the LASIK treatment to improve close distance focusing. Now you have one eye for distance viewing and one for close up viewing. Your brain merges the images from both eyes, and the result is that you can see near and far.

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What is Nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness, or myopia is the inability to properly focus on distant objects. Objects that are near may appear in normal focus, but those at a distance will be blurred. You may find that you can read text in books or newspapers with no problem, but you have trouble reading traffic signs until you're in close proximity.

Nearsightedness is usually brought about by a natural change in the shape of your eye that causes your eye to become more oval shaped, rather than the normal round shape. This causes the light entering the eye to focus in front of the retina, resulting in an out-of-focus image.

Symptoms of Nearsightedness

The main symptom is blurred vision when focusing on distant objects. If you find yourself squinting when looking at far off scenes, you may be nearsighted. If you have trouble seeing words on a blackboard or movie screen, but you can read a book with no problem, you're probably nearsighted. A routine eye examine can determine if you're nearsighted.

Diagnosing Nearsightedness

A routine eye exam will determine if you're nearsighted. Nearsightedness usually begins in childhood or early teens and its effects can vary from mild to moderate to high. Mild cases may not require any corrective action.

Most children are born slightly farsighted, but this corrects itself by the normal development of the eye as the child ages. However, if the correction is too pronounced, the light rays focus in front of the retina instead of directly on the retina, and the child becomes nearsighted.

Treatment of Nearsightedness

Glasses or contact lenses can treat nearsightedness, but surgery can also be performed to cure nearsightedness by reshaping the cornea.

LASIK surgery helps to correct nearsightedness by using a laser to reshape the cornea, and has been used successfully since the early 1990s. The goal of this procedure is to enable you to see without corrective lenses or to be less dependent on corrective lenses. LASIK procedures cause permanent changes in the eye that cannot be reversed.

The LASIK procedure involves cutting a flap in the cornea. This flap is then folded back and the laser modifies the contour. Upon completion of this modification, the flap is folded back to its normal position and the healing process begins. Most patients notice an immediate improvement in their vision.

Most people that elect to have LASIK surgery are very happy with the results they achieve. In many cases, patients of LASIK surgery can see well enough to eliminate the need for corrective lenses. However, some patients will still need to use corrective lenses under certain conditions.

How Long Does LASIK Last?

Research data gathered has shown that almost all LASIK patients have experienced vision improvement immediately after treatment and at least 40% of those patients were able to avoid the use of corrective lenses for ten years following the procedure. It's normal for the eye to change shape as a normal part of the aging process, so retreatment is recommended if significant reshaping occurs after several years.

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