GODS OWN CHILDREN..

Children who are physically and mentally challenged are God's own favourite children.
When I pause to think about this, I realize I have taken for granted the use of my legs,eyes,hearing.... I remember how much joy I get running my marathon.
This has led me to re-discover a part of me....the journey to discover oneself will continue and may take a life-time.

Dr.Bernice Johnson Reagon ,the American Scholar and Musician says "Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are."

Coloured Cosmetic Contact Lenses

Coloured contact lenses come in three kinds of tints: visibility tints, enhancement tints and opaque color tin
Under U.S. law you need a contact lens prescription. This is true even for plano lenses that don't have prescriptive power and are worn for cosmetic purposes only.This is because the cosmetic look may be desirable to some, the potential dangers and risks outweigh any fashionable benefit. According to the American Optometric Association Blog, the "improper use of contact lenses can cause corneal ulcers, corneal abrasions, visual impairment, and blindness."
Contact lenses need to be fit properly - always consult an eye care professional before considering or using any type of contact lenses.

Eye Camps in Rural India...Our Fight to Prevent Blindness

ULTRA VIOLET RAYS & EYES

Ultraviolet (UV) rays are part of electro-magnetic radiation. They are invisible rays lying beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum.
Scientific research has linked several eye diseases to damage from UV light. These diseases include cataract, macular degeneration,pterygium and cancer, to name a few disorders.
The eyes are particularly sensitive to UV radiation. Even a short exposure of a few seconds can result in a painful, but temporary condition known as photokeratitis and conjunctivitis.
Photokeratitis is a painful condition caused by the inflammation of the cornea of the eye.Eyes water and vision may be blurred.
Conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the conjunctiva which becomes swollen and produces a watery discharge. It causes discomfort rather than pain and does not usually affect vision.

Ways to limit exposure the sun's UV radiation include avoiding working in the sun wearing protective clothing and hats, and applying sunscreens.

Protective clothing can include long pants, hats, and long-sleeved shirts. Some newer, sun-resistant fabrics are more efficient in blocking UV radiation.

Sunscreens are rated according to Sun Protection Factor (SPF), an index of protection against reddening of the skin).

* SPF 15 sunscreen may absorb more than 92 percent of UVB radiation.
* SPF 30 sunscreen may absorb 96.7 percent.

* SPF 40 sunscreen may absorb 97.5 percent of UVB radiation

To protect your eyes from harmful solar radiation, sunglasses should block 100 percent of UV rays and also absorb most HEV rays. Frames with a close-fitting wraparound style provide the best protection because they limit how much stray sunlight reaches your eyes from above and beyond the periphery of your sunglass lenses.
The amount of UV protection sunglasses provide is unrelated to the color and darkness of the lenses. A light amber-coloured lens can provide the same UV protection as a dark gray lens. Your eye specialist can verify that the lenses you choose provide 100 percent UV protection.

But for High-Energy visible(HEV) radiation protection, colour does matter. Most sunglass lenses that block a significant amount of blue light will be bronze, copper or reddish-brown (see lens tint guide).

Again, your eye specialist can help you choose the best "blue-blocking" lenses.


More information:http://www.allaboutvision.com/sunglasses/spf.htm

INDIAN CORNEAS:CENTRAL CORNEAL THICKNESS

Studies done on Indian eyes at Sankara Netralaya,Chennai and Suraj Eye Institute,Nagpur showed the following results:

The mean CCT for the South Indian adult population was 511.4+/-33.5 microm, and CCT in males (515.6+/-33.8 microm) was significantly (P = 0.0001) greater than females (508.0+/-32.8 microm). The CCT was significantly greater (by 18 microm) in the urban population and decreased with age in both genders (P<0.0001).
Among Indian subjects from Central India the mean CCT was 514+/-33 microm (median, 517 microm; range, 290-696 microm).Central corneal thickness and steepness of the anterior corneal surface may thus both have to be taken into account when applanation tonometry is performed the study concludes.
Thus these studies have implications on the diagnosis and management of Glaucoma.

STEM CELL RESEARCH & THE EYE

According to ISSCR, Stem cell research is a evolving technology that takes primitive human cells and develops them into most any of the 220 varieties of cells in the human body, including blood cells,brain cells,eye,etc
Stem cells have two properties. First, they can ‘self-renew,’ that is they can divide and give rise to more stem cells of the same kind. Second, they can mature or ‘differentiate’ into specialized cells that carry out a specific function, such as in the skin, muscle, or blood
A stem cell therapy is a treatment.This utilises stem cells, to replace or to repair a patient’s cells or tissues that are damaged. The stem cells might be put into the blood, or transplanted into the damaged tissue directly, or even recruited from the patient’s own tissues for self-repair.
Blood stem cells by bone marrow transplant is being done more than 50 years, and advanced techniques for collecting blood stem cells are now used clinically. Umbilical cord blood, like bone marrow, is often collected as a source of blood stem cells and is being used experimentally as an alternative to bone marrow in transplantation.
A few years ago, Dr. Funderburgh and other University of Pittsburgh researchers identified stem cells in a layer of the cornea called the stroma.The US team took stem cells from human corneas and implanted them into the eyes of partially blind mice who were missing a structural protein.
Three months after treatment with the cells, the cloudiness was gone and their corneas were as transparent as those of normal mice.
We look forward to more good news from Stem Cell therapy.So keep watching this space for more and more news on Stem Cell therapy in the Eye.

GROWING RESISTANCE TO OCULAR ANTI-BIOTICS

Eye bacterial infections include conjunctivitis,keratitis, endophthalmitis,preseptal cellulitis,orbital cellulitis, and dacryocystitis.Broad spectrum antibiotics are the choice of treatment.These are effective against the most common bacteria associated with these ocular infections. However, the widespread use of broad-spectrum systemic antibiotics has resulted in resistance among both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to a number of the older antibiotics used to treat ophthalmic infections.

A recently published study from India has shown a link between in vitro resistance and clinical failure to respond in patients with keratitis caused by Pseudomonas isolates. Garg et al(Ophthalmology 1999;106:1319-2)reported that of 141 culture-proven cases of Pseudomonas keratitis, 22 cases were caused by isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin (mean MIC 43mg/ml). Of the 19 (of 22) cases treated initially with ciprofloxacin, 15 (76.7 per cent) worsened or showed no clinical improvement after three days of intensive therapy and required modification of antibiotic therapy, corneal grafting or evisceration (surgical removal of the contents of the eyeball).

Broad-spectrum, bactericidal antibiotics and its resistance is becoming a greater problem in managing ocular bacterial infections.The fourth-generation fluoroquinolones with broader gram-positive coverage and greater effectiveness against emerging resistant isolates are now available for ophthalmic use.