Myth-busting with Heather O'Reilly

The Buzz about iHealth

Mini Health Expo

MINI HEALTH FAIR

ASTI - what???? Astigmatism 101.

When we diagnose patients with ocular disease or refractive error, we take great care explaining the condition to our patients. Astigmatism is one of the diagnoses we discuss with patient on daily basis.

Astigmatism occurs because the cornea is curved more in one direction than the other direction, so that it is shaped like the back of a teaspoon. With astigmatism, images at all distances will be blurry. A person's eye is naturally spherical in shape. Under normal circumstances, when light enters the eye, it refracts evenly, creating a clear view of the object. However, the eye of a person with astigmatism is shaped more like a football or the back of a spoon. For this person, when light enters the eye it is refracted more in one direction than the other, allowing only part of the object to be in focus at one time. Objects at any distance can appear blurry and wavy.

Astigmatism can be hereditary and is often present at birth. It can also result from pressure from the eyelids on the cornea, incorrect posture, or an increased use of the eyes for close work.

Patients do not have to worry about astigmatism too much. Just as other refractive errors, astigmatism can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Additionally, LASIK can also correct most types of low to moderate astigmatism.

Circle Contact Lenses

The other night I was watching a show about lifeguards in Hawaii. One clip showed a middle-aged man trying to body surf on a beach on which the waves broke dangerously close to the shore. The lifeguards repeatedly warned him to get out of the water and advised him over and over not to try to body surf there. They were very patient and I kept thinking, "If a lifeguard came up to me and advised me that something I was doing is dangerous, I'd listen" (or at least I hope that I would).

Doctors everywhere are warning people about "Circle Lenses" which are made overseas and are being shipped by the ton to teenagers in the U.S. Wearing contact lenses without a prescription is not a new phenomenon. Flea markets everywhere have been illegally selling contacts for many years. And the complications from people wearing these lenses are everywhere!! We see them almost on a daily basis. And the flea market lenses are FDA APPROVED!!! The "circle lenses" coming from Asia are manufactured and sold not only without FDA approval but without any diffuse public knowledge of the manufacturing process.

The thousands of doctors who are speaking out about this (me included) have no financial gain in taking the time to advise against these lenses. They, basically, are just worried about people's safety.

Don't be like that body-surfing guy (of course he ended up going to the hospital at the end of the show)....take the warnings seriously and please be careful with your eyes. You only have 2....for life.

I think Lady Gaga should step up and start talking about the risks of these lenses. She seems to have created this fad, now she needs to help advise young people about the risks....Lady Gaga??

VSP EyeFiles Episode #4: Can Eating Carrots Really Improve Your Vision?

VSP members are now eligible for a "risk-free" way to try Transitions lenses!! VSP is so confident its members will love the enhanced performance of new Transitions lenses, it's offering to refund any fees paid by the member for Transitions AND allow for a new pair of lenses as a replacement IF the patient is not 100%... satisfied!! GREAT TIME to try them out!!! Come in NOW!!!

http://www.transitions.com/VSP/

Today's World (from "Learning to Learn" by Thea van Eijk-Looijmans)

In today's world, many skills people had in the past have disappeared. We have become used to machines and computers taking over...We live in an environment where we teach our children how to push the right buttons, and make life as easy as possible. Much of the real visible handwork is gone. When we look at this from a child's perspective, we can begin to learn to understand what is really happening in their own and their parent's world. This means that children are frequently deprived of sufficient meaningful experiences and activities, activities that are the foundation for understanding what is later taught in school.
We seem to have forgotten that children need to play and move in order to learn and to develop motor skills, vision and reasoning skills. Planning, structuring, sequencing, concentration, being able to focus and be persistent, being creative and being able to experiment and learn from it are very important skills to develop.
These skills are needed for learning in school and later for becoming successful. Many children have become very passive and do not know how to get their bodies and brains to work together so they can do what they want to, or do what is expected of them.
Many children with learning problems have difficulties focusing and concentrating. Television screens change images every few seconds...This, however, causes children to become used to changes every few seconds.
We forget to think about what children really need in order to develop basic life skills. We forget to teach and allow them to learn on their own, to think for themselves and solve problems appropriate to their age. We, as adults, are responsible for the world our children live in, and we should provide them with plenty of useful opportunities to develop to the full extent of their capabilities.