================================================================= V I S I O N U P D A T E ================================================================= 20 Jan 2004 Issue #28 Promoting Health Through Knowledge Ted Roxan, Editor editor@visionupdate.net ================================================================= IN THIS ISSUE... 1. Feature Article New Vision Loss Treatment Shows Promise 2. Ask the Doctor Talking with the experts 3. News Briefs LASIK Eye Surgery OK for a Few Kids 4. Relevant Links Important resources. 5. Preventative Medicine Former Miss America, English target diabetes ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Feature Article New Vision Loss Treatment Shows Promise Wet macular degeneration is an incurable disease that affects the eyes of more than a million-and-a-half people in the U.S. Most of them are over the age of 55 and often the disease causes them to become legally blind. But now there is a new treatment currently in an Austin clinical trial that's showing promising results. The study involves a drug which is injected directly into the eye. Doctors say because it's less invasive than most wet macular treatments, it may actually help restore lost vision. This new treatment looks like it may have some potential in restoring vision," said Dr. Berger. "It looks very promising in that regard." Dr. Berger is one of two Central Texas physicians taking part in the clinical trial. To find out if you qualify for the two-year study, called the "anchor" trial, you can call 1-888-662-6728. In order to be eligible for the study, patients must: be diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, predominantly classic form; be 50 years of age or older; and not have received treatment for wet macular degeneration. http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=1607789 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ASK THE DOCTOR SPONSOR The Homemaker`s Journal is an e-mail newsletter published Mon- Fri that poses fun questions to readers about organizing, crafting, gardening, frugal living and other homemaking subjects; readers can respond to the questions and receive the resulting, very informative `tip sheet`. Join the fun!http://www.getswap.com/subscribe.asp?list=2-7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Ask the Doctor Talking with the experts Question from : Carrie I have had a viral eye infection for the last 3 weeks and have been to the doctor twice. For the last 3 days the infected eye looks much better but my vision in kinda blurry and Im unable to focus that eye. I was just wondering if this was normal and if my vision will return to normal once the infection is completely gone? Dr. Webber: Many viral infections cause infiltrates, which are white blood cells in the cornea. Those infiltrates is why your vision is blurry. Part of the treatment should therefore be a topical steroid eye drop to reduce their presence and improve your vision. It is normal for the vision to be a little blurry, but it will improve. Question from : Dale Fearon Is it possible that needing large amounts of oxygen and suffering trauma while being ventilated for 3 hrs at birth and fnally having a tracheostamy could have damaged the bowmans layer of our babies right eye causing severe damage.He is a perfectly normal baby otherwise.Pax6 was not the cause.Brain scan normal. Dr. Webber: The Oxygen deprivation at birth usually results in retinal problem NOT corneal. More then likely, the corneal nomaly is a dystrophy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. News Briefs LASIK Eye Surgery OK for a Few Kids NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - LASIK eye surgery, commonly used to correct blurry vision in adults, may be a safe option for some children with nearsightedness, according to researchers. Investigators in Ireland found that the laser procedure improved visual acuity in six children who were significantly nearsighted. Five of the children had amblyopia, or "lazy eye," a condition in which the brain favors one eye, leaving the other with much poorer vision. LASIK, which uses a laser to reshape the eye's cornea, is an increasingly common way to correct common vision problems in adults. However, it is usually not considered suitable for children. An exception may be made when a young child has one highly nearsighted eye, and the goal of LASIK is to give the child symmetric vision, according to Dr. Robert Maloney, director of the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles and a leading LASIK expert. Otherwise, it is generally considered inappropriate to perform LASIK in children and teenagers, in large part because their vision is still changing, Maloney explained in an interview. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter Courtesy of VisionUpdate ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Relevant Links Important resources. National Eye Institute http://www.nei.nih.gov Eye Net http://myeyenet.com/ Blind Foundation http://www.afb.org Macular Degeneration Foundation http://www.eyesight.org LASIK Institute http://www.lasikinstitute.org NIH http://www.nih.gov ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Preventative Medicine Former Miss America, English target diabetes More than 17 million Americans have diabetes, including about 20,000 Erie County residents. A disproportionate share of them, including Bounds, is black. More than 11 percent of adult blacks in the United States have diabetes, compared with 8.4 percent of adult whites. Because of this situation, U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-3rd District, is co-sponsoring bills that would expand diabetes research and improve minority access to treatment. One bill English supports would increase diabetes research in minority populations. It would examine the causes and effects of racial disparities and discrimination on health-care access and also would direct the federal government to conduct programs that would treat minorities with diabetes. Another bill would authorize the National Institutes of Health to investigate pancreatic islet cell transplant research. The transplant procedure helps some diabetic patients live insulin-free, but they currently must take powerful immune system-suppressing drugs. For more information about diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------- CLASSIFIED AD **Discover A New Breakthrough In Compensation** Get your FREE TRIAL Membership NOW! We will have this offer for a very limited time! Get yours NOW! http://www.ezineblaze.com/index.php?73211 aol friends ----------------------------------------------------------------- CLASSIFIED AD Quick Humor for Quick Minds. Subscribe to Bruce H.G. Calder`s Joke of the Day for (usually) brief, (almost) always funny, and (occasionally) original stuff.http://www.getswap.com/subscribe.asp?list=2-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- To un subscribe; reply to this email with the subject un subscribe ----------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001-2003 VisionUpdate Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please rate this Ezine at the Cumuli Ezine Finder. http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/ra22176.rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~