StemCell Therapy

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Good vision is a key factor for our overall health, safety, and quality of life. Though the eyes are one of the most important organs of sense in our body, people often neglect to get their eye tested regularly, unless they have some problem with their vision. Vision problems such as cataract, refractive errors, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and retinopathy can impact people of all age groups.

Infants, school-going children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities or a family history of visual impairment, and those with chronic lifestyle disorders such as diabetes are especially vulnerable. According to data from IAPB (The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness), early detection of vision problems can prevent more than 75 per cent of visual impairment.

Vision impairment or vision loss can affect all aspects of ones life and well-being such as performing activities at home and school, work opportunities, and interacting with family and the community. A comprehensive eye examination can help with early detection of potential eyesight problems, which could lead to vision loss and blindness if left untreated. Data from Avoidable Blindness India, a study group, indicates that about 88.2 per cent of blindness in India is avoidable.

Routine eye examinations are very essential for children at six months of age, three years of age, and five years of age to detect any potential vision abnormalities, which can be corrected in the early stage, while the childs vision system is still developing. For people over the age of 40, dilated eye exams every couple of years can help detect diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and AMD in their early stages. An annual, dilated eye exam is essential for senior citizens who are at increased risk of developing degenerative age-related eye problems that cause slow but permanent damage without any noticeable symptoms.

Eye health during the pandemicEye health has taken a backseat during the coronavirus pandemic, and this could lead to permanent vision loss for those with chronic conditions such as diabetes or glaucoma. Regular follow-up visits are very important, even during this time of Covid-19, in order to monitor vision changes and ensure that any complications can be treated in the early stages to prevent vision loss. It is safe to get an eye exam or surgery done at this time as hospitals are following necessary Covid-19 safety measures such as thermal screening, social distancing of 6 feet, prior appointment system, only 1 attender per patient, use of masks and sanitizers, regular disinfection of waiting areas, testing equipment, and the OT.

Yearly check-ups by an ophthalmologist is a small investment to ensure the long term health of your eyes, and those of your family members. Timely screening can help diagnose a vision problem early and you can get treatment at the right time to avoid vision loss at a later stage. So do not neglect your annual eye check-up which can help you reduce the chance of developing serious eye problems, and keep your eyes and vision healthy in the years to come.The author is the chairman of Narayana Nethralaya

Here is the original post:
Vision 2020 - The New Indian Express

Oct 14, 2020 11:30 AM

Author: Moran Eye Center

An uninformed Halloween costume decision could haunt you for life. Were talking about disguising your eyes with freaky colored contact lenses without a prescription.

Before you go down that road, heres what you should know.

Did you know? Contact lenses of any type are medical devices that sit directly on the cornea (the clear dome of tissue over the iristhe part of the eye that gives you your eye color). Because of the risk of bacterial infections and other potential problems from poorly fitting or contaminated lenses, you should never buy any contact lenses without a valid prescription from a licensed eye care practitioner.

Its illegal to buy contact lenses without a prescription. Even if you dont need any vision correction, you still need a prescription for decorative lenses that will be a good fit.

Vendors who sell cosmetic or special-effect lenses as a type of accessory or jewelry without asking for a prescription are breaking the law and endangering your eyesight.

Cosmetic lenses need to fit correctly on your cornea; otherwise, they can be dangerous.

Any time you place something in your eye, you are risking infection, or injury, so as a general rule, I discourage the use of cosmetic lenses altogether. Even if a patient really wants them and is willing to get a proper fitting and accurate prescription, I am only OK with them being worn temporarily,saysDavid Meyer, OD, director of Contact Lens Services at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah.

CheckFood and Drug Administration (FDA) websitewhere you can learn more and report the illegal selling of these lenses. They also warn against anime or circle lenses, saying, dont buy them and dont expect your doctor to prescribe them.

The FDA has not cleared these bigger-than-normal lenses that give the wearer a wide-eyed, doll-like look.

Poor contact lens fit can cause severe eye damage, including:

According to the FDA, you shouldneverbuy lenses from:

If your eyes start burning or itching while wearing your lenses, take them out immediately, says Meyer. See your eye doctor if you notice any pain, blurry vision, or discharge. Causing damage to your eyes for the sake of a costume is much scarier than any Halloween fright.

The John A. Moran Eye Center is a world-class institution offering some of the best patient care in the country. It is a nationally ranked care center in the Mountain West centered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Originally posted here:
Halloween Contact Lenses: Beware! - University of Utah Health Care

The series "Imaginary Earths" speculates what the world might be like if one key aspect of life changed, be it related to the planet or with humanity itself. What might Earth be like if it had rings, or if everyone could photosynthesize like plants?

Albinism, from the Latin "albus," meaning "white," is a group of hereditary conditions with striking results a dearth and often complete absence of pigment in the eyes, skin and hair.

In the United States, about 1 in every 18,000 to 20,000 people have albinism, according to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH). Meanwhile, in parts of Africa such as areas within Zimbabwe, as many as 1 in 1,000 have albinism, according to the United Nations.

What might the world be like if everyone on Earth had albinism, from prehistoric times until now?

The most common form of albinism in the United States is oculocutaneous albinism, which interferes with the production of the dark pigment melanin in both the eyes and skin, according to NOAH. To date, there are seven known subtypes of this kind of albinism, which doctors have named OCA1 to OCA7, NOAH noted. Depending on the subtype, people may have white, blond or brown hair.

"I have OCA1, the most severe type of oculocutaneous albinism I have no pigment in my hair, skin and eyes," Kelsey Thompson, a rehabilitation counselor in the Chicago area, told Live Science. She previously served for 10 years on the board of directors of NOAH, including as its chair.

Related: The 7 biggest mysteries of the human body

A common myth is that people with albinism have red eyes. Although lighting conditions can make the blood vessels at the back of the eye visible, which can result in the eyes looking red or violet, most people with albinism have blue eyes, and some have hazel or brown eyes, NOAH noted. Thompson's eyes are light blue.

One key concern for people with albinism is the delicacy of fair skin. Melanin, a pigment found in hair and skin, protects skin against ultraviolet light, and people with albinism have to be wary of sunburns and skin cancer.

"When I was younger, I was a little cocky about sun exposure, and got severe sunburns," Thompson said. "Throughout my life, I've gotten in the habit of being more cautious and mindful about the sun, using sunscreen and seeking out shade as often as I can."

Related: 5 facts about skin cancer

It would be interesting to think about how perception of race might change if everyone had albinism.

So if everyone had albinism, what would happen? One scientist interviewed for this story thought this factor alone made it extremely unlikely that populations with albinism would survive over time.

"That's disappointing, but not surprising," Thompson said. "I think a lot of people who don't have the experience of living with albinism see it as they would any disability what a horrible fate to have, how it would be so awful to not do even daily tasks without struggle. But it's not a death sentence."

If everyone had albinism, people around the world might adopt long garments to protect their skin, like desert peoples in the Sahara, and hats, scarves or veils to protect their heads and faces. They might also rely on protective coatings on their skin to serve as sunscreens. The women of the Himba people in Namibia regularly wear an orange or red paste known as otjize that is made of butterfat and ochre, and often perfumed with the aromatic resin of the omuzumba shrub. Although Himba women use otjize for aesthetic reasons, I can imagine a population with albinism could conceivably create a similar paste to serve as sunscreen.

In addition, "I can imagine cultures probably evolving to do more daily activities outside the peak hours of sunlight more in the early morning and late afternoon," Thompson said.

Those with albinism might prefer to make their homes in shady environments and less sunny latitudes think Norway, not Arizona. "I still enjoy going out to the beach with my family," Thompson said. But "I do think there are parts of the world that would just be inhospitably sunny for people to even consider living there if everyone had albinism, like certain parts of the Middle East and American Southwest. Still, I do know people with albinism living in Southern California and loving it."

People with albinism have vision problems because structures within the eye rely on melanin as they develop in the womb. "My best visual acuity is 20/200, making me legally blind," Thompson said. "I have full color vision, but the details I can see are poor. It's not that things look blurry, but it's like the difference between a high-definition TV and a TV from the '80s. People with albinism can also have photophobia, or be more sensitive to glare from light."

Related: What if humans had visual acuity?

These vision problems might lead one to expect that preindustrial societies in a hypothetical past where everyone had albinism would have extraordinary difficulty surviving. "However, there's a lot of variation in vision in albinism, in what you can do," Thompson said. "I have to use certain accommodations for my vision every day, but I can function pretty independently. With albinism, an advantage we have is that we haven't lost anything with vision this is all we've ever known. To me, this is normal."

For instance, "I know people with albinism who are skilled hunters," Thompson said. "I've been involved with albinism organizations my whole life, and every time I think there's a task or job that there's no way a person with albinism can do it, sure enough, there's someone doing it."

So, if the entire human population had albinism, we might use canes, seeing-eye animals and perhaps even echolocation to help navigate the world. Still, there are people with albinism with enough functional vision to drive, Thompson noted.

"My younger brother has the same type of albinism as me, and when we sit in the optometrist's office, his vision tests pretty similarly," Thompson said. "But he adapted to it. He was even a hockey goalie. He didn't watch for the puck, but looked at the players to tell when the puck was coming toward him."

People with albinism with low vision may rely on magnifying glasses and handheld telescopes to help read, "or just hold newsprint closer to the face," Thompson said. "But a lot of the times, we use these aids to accommodate to the sighted world. If a world evolved only with people with albinism, I'd imagine all print would be large print."

Thompson does think preindustrial societies with albinism would likely rely more on agriculture than on hunting. Other possibilities include trapping and fishing with a pole or net, activities that don't require keen eyesight.

People with albinism often face stigmatization worldwide because of how they look. They are often villains in stories for instance, the evil monk Silas in "The Da Vinci Code," (Doubleday, 2003). Dozens of people with albinism have even been murdered for their body parts in Tanzania, according to The New York Times and other sources.

"Some people with albinism grow up in a very supportive environment and didn't face a lot of negativity, whereas others are pretty traumatized," Thompson said. "My experience was middle of the road not too terrible, but I did experience a lot of bullying as a kid. As an adult, it's more of a little annoyance. I get rude and invasive questions, and people wanting to touch my hair. It's really inappropriate behavior, and people normally wouldn't dream of crossing those boundaries with a total stranger, but when you have a visible difference like albinism, it comes with the territory."

Of course, in a world where everyone has albinism, there would almost certainly be no stigma attached to it. Instead, albinism might be viewed as a feature that sets humanity apart and above the rest of nature, along with language and tool use.

Related: The top 10 stigmatized health disorders

"It would be interesting to think about how perception of race might change if everyone had albinism," Thompson said. "A friend of mine from India has the same type of albinism I do, and she and I look more alike than my brother and I, even though we come from two very different ethnic backgrounds.". All in all, she suggests that if everyone had albinism, that might really change what judgments we make about each other in terms of appearance.

Albinism might influence societies other ways. "When I'm talking with a group of people who all have albinism, we do things a little differently than when functioning in the regular world," Thompson said. "When we see someone you know, I introduce myself almost like I'm on the telephone 'Hey, Matt, it's Kelsey' because we know the other person doesn't see so well. And maybe we stand a little bit closer to each other because of our poor eyesight."

Such greetings and adjustments to people's personal bubble of space might become standard features of society in a world where everyone had albinism, Thompson said.

In addition, "there's a lot of nonverbal communication that people with low vision have to be taught, like making eye contact," Thompson said. "I have nystagmus, so my eyes shake a little bit, and I have trouble seeing a person's eyes, so I was taught how to make eye contact, and think about things like not staring non-stop. Those are the kinds of things I've learned to assimilate to the sighted world."

So, if albinism was the default, the norm of making eye contact might not be a norm anymore.

"This is a really unusual mental experiment," Thompson said. "It's challenging thinking about albinism as a norm, and how that would change how that would think about the world and about myself."

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @LiveScience and on Facebook.

Original post:
What if all humans on Earth had albinism? - Live Science

According to a new study from the journal Lancet, blindness, sight loss, and severe vision impairment are predicted to double by 2050. Vision problems are estimated to affect almost 900 million people worldwide in the next few decades, which is up from approximately 338 million today.

To come to this conclusion, researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) examined more than 500 studies showing trends in the prevalence of vision loss and blindness. After reviewing this data, Professor of Ophthalmology, Rupert Bourne, was able to make forecasts about vision loss over the next three decades.

This study found that currently, 43.3 million people are blind, 295.1 million people have major vision impairment, and 257.8 million are mildly visually impaired. While previous studies have shown that the prevalence of blindness among the over 50s has reduced by 28.5% globally over the past 30 years, population growth means these numbers will increase. An estimate by researchers states that with this population growth, the number of blind people may increase by 50.6%, and the number of people with major visual impairment is believed to almost double.

By using these models, the authors of this study predict a considerable rise in the number of people with severe visual impairment or sight loss in the next 30 years. They do, however, state that these numbers can be prevented if major steps are taken to address the problem.

Professor Bourne, co-ordinator of the Vision Loss Expert Group, spoke about the findings, It is encouraging that age-adjusted prevalence of blindness has reduced over the past three decades, yet due to population growth, progress is not keeping pace with needs. We face enormous challenges in avoiding vision impairment as the global population grows and ages. One of the issues we faced when compiling this data is that for many countries, including the UK, there is a lack of accurate information due to the fact the population has not been officially surveyed for eye disease and its consequences. High quality, current data on eye health and also hearing loss, is needed so the UK can plan future services in the most effective way, improve outcomes for those affected, and develop a more effective public health strategy in these crucial areas. Without this, the provision of services is a postcode lottery as we dont understand the unmet need.

With the rising numbers of vision impairment and blindness possible in the near future, it is imperative that people start taking the health of their eyes seriously. There are many reasons why vision could be affected as we age, including environmental factors, food choices, and even prolonged blue light exposure. By learning how to protect the eyes from future damage, it may make all the difference in keeping your eyesight healthy for a lifetime.

Continue reading here:
Blindness and Sight Loss Is Projected to Double by 2050 - Bel Marra Health

New Delhi:On World Sight Day, which is celebrated every year on the second Thursday of October month, a spectacles distribution programme for Government School children in Chittapur Taluk of Kalburagi district was organized by Samadhristi, Jaya Foundation, SightRyt and Essilor Vision Foundation.

Mr. Priyank Kharge, MLA, of Chittapur, inaugurated the program and opined that if we can provide required infrastructure to the Schools, only then will the future of the students be bright and this can automatically lead to a growth of the nation.

Mr. Kharge said that when K Ullas Kamath from Jaya Foundation showed interest to find a remedy for these students whose eyesight can be corrected simply by providing spectacles, he utilised the opportunity and got 26,000 students in his taluk tested; out of which 1426 children were suffering from eye sight problems and they have been distributed necessary prescribed spectacles.

He felt, it is not enough to rectify the problem of children eyesight problems, but also to change the thought process of parents. Children should be educated properly, and scientific approach should be developed among them, which will help for the future of this country. He requested parents not to demoralize the children with eyesight problems, instead find a permanent solution.

Mr. K Ullas Kamath of Jaya Foundation said that upto 30% of students suffer from eyesight problems and their parents never come across this information. He further said that the Foundation provides spectacles to those children at no cost to them.

The Director of Sightryt, Mr. Sidharth Pai and Mr. Shiva Kumar Janardhan, CEO of Sightryt Organisation expressed their thoughts to the same effect.

Milind Jadhav, Trustee, Essilor Vision Foundation, India, said, During this difficult times of pandemic, Good vision is key to helping children succeed in academics. A simple eye examination can identify eye-related issues, if found early enough, many of which can be treated with a pair of simple spectacles.

Read the original post:
On World Sight Day, around 1500 Government school children, identified with vision issues were given spectacles at no cost to them - India Education...

For individuals suffering from vision loss, low vision rehabilitation is the standard of care. Because of the spread of SARS-CoV-2, doctors of optometry must develop new techniques to provide low-vision rehabilitative services with safer protocols.

This is an unprecedented time in optometric and vision rehabilitation care for all providers and patients. I have been an optometrist practicing low vision rehabilitation for more than 15 years at The Chicago Lighthouse, where our comprehensive vision rehabilitation clinic serves more than 3500 patients each year.

While reviewing the guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and our optometric associations, I noticed that these recommendations do not accommodate people with visual disability. It is imperative that optometrists offering vision rehabilitation services consider additional accommodations for this large patient population during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and recovery. I share some recommendations here.

More from October 2020's issue: Protect patients eyes by encouraging a three-step ocular wellness regimen

Mental health effects

Age-related eye diseases are the leading cause of blindness and low vision in the United States.1 As such, most patients referred for vision rehabilitation fall into the population over age 65 years that the CDC currently advises to continue to stay home and avoid close contact with others whenever possible.2

ODs can continue to offer telehealth visits where possible but realize that some patients will need to be seen for both their vision health and mental health.

Depression is strongly associated with functional vision loss.3 Social isolation is linked with poor mental health, and results of a recent poll show that 47 percent of people sheltering in place reported negative mental health effects from worry or stress related to the novel coronavirus.4

Strategies people may use to cope and relax such as TV watching, reading, and exercise can be challenging or even impossible for persons with vision impairment who do not yet have optical or assistive technology. The combination of being sight isolated and socially isolated may compound negative mental health effects.

Vision rehabilitation may have an antidepressant effect.5 Ensure that patients whose care has been delayed during the pandemic are not experiencing additional emotional and psychological consequences. Ask your patient if she feels anxious or depressed. If this is the case, you may want to, in advance of your examination, make a referral to a mental health professional currently offering telehealth services.

Related: Smart contact lens update

Telehealth

If it is unsafe to bring a patient with low vision into the office, consider a telehealth visit, which is covered by Medicare and by many third-party insurers during this COVID-19 pandemic.6 A prescription for a magnification device to be mailed to the patient can be based off the last known best corrected visual acuity. Training in use of the device may be done virtually if the patient has access to computer technology or on the telephone. This telehealth strategy may restore some interim reading ability while a patient stays at home until it is safe to visit the office.

Accommodations during office visits

As many low vision providers return to seeing patients in the office, ODs should think about the specific needs of these patients and how to safely meet them.

Following are suggestions in addition to general COVID-19 guidance from the American Optometric Association.7

Related: In vivo bulbar conjunctival structures study results in

Prepare patients for in-office changes

and screen for mental health effects

Contact patients before their examination and educate them on what changes to expect because of COVID-19 restrictions. Preparing them will help prevent surprise and unneeded anxiety during the appointment.

Patient registration and payment

Reserve first-of-the-day appointments for elderly and other patients at high risk of COVID-19.

If practices recently began using an online portal for patients to preregister and/or pay bills and copays, ensure that patients can use this technology and consider barriers to successful use. Determine whether this portal is compatible with common screen magnification and screen readers. Can the patient see his insurance cards and credit cards?

Ask if patients are familiar with accessibility software or know where to obtain it. Many patients are referred to ODs for vision rehabilitation to learn about these resources and do not have them before the examination.

For patients who cannot access online portals themselves, consider completing the registration and history over the phone.

Make concessions for accepting payments in person for patients who prefer to do so or who cannot access online payment.

Related: Improve medication adherence with technology

Patient entrance

Current public health recommendations suggest allowing only the patient into the officeno family members except for guardians of minors. In vision rehabilitation, however, ODs most often encourage a person or coach to accompany the patient because for many elderly patients with age-related cognitive changes, a second set of ears or a note taker to capture information given is helpful.

Many patients are newly referred and do not yet have mobility skills that make them comfortable to ambulate without a sighted guide. Furthermore, some eyecare practices are calling patients in from their cars to avoid waiting room congregation where possible. Many patients do not drive, so waiting in a car may not be possible, and weather conditions may prevent them from waiting outside.

Allow patients who cannot wait in a car into the waiting room, with chairs spaced an appropriate distance apart.7

Consider allowing one appropriately screened family member to accompany the patient to the appointment.7

For those who do not have someone to accompany them, determine whether a staff member will act as a sighted guide. This can be done in 1 of 3 ways. The guide can speak directions while maintaining social distancing. For cane users, the guide and the patient can hold opposite ends of a white cane between them. For persons needing further support, the guide and the patient should both wear a mask and gloves so the patient can hold onto the guide.

Related: Distinguish between wellness and medical eye exams

The examination

White coats that need laundering are now discouraged, as is dry-clean-only business attire. The white coat with its high contrast might have signaled to poorly-sighted patients that the doctor was in the room. Wearing a mask, gloves, and scrubs and/or street clothes, with no handshake7 but just an introduction from 6 ft (2 m) away leaves the patient with vision impairment at a disadvantage.

Low vision providers usually get physically close to our patients so they can take advantage of relative distance magnification and perhaps see some of our features. Physical closeness, however, is discouraged in this climate. Wearable video magnification devices, including electronic glasses, for visually impaired individuals require training to use successfully, may be difficult to disinfect, and may be cost prohibitive to have in each examination lane. Other options may be better.

As ODs take the patients histories at a distance, tell them it is for their safety.

Consider giving patients a photocard of the doctor that they may view from a closer distance.

Perhaps use a closed-circuit TV camera pointed at the OD across the room with a screen beside the patient so the patient can see the doctors features and gestures magnified.

ODs should consider wearing a facial shield in addition to a mask to allow them to be closer to the patient when needed, especially during trial frame refraction and device evaluation.

Wear gloves and have patients wear gloves when evaluating low vision devices. Disinfect all instruments after each use.7

Work to convey a calm and pleasantness with the voice, offering the reassurance vision-imapired patients so desperately need.

Provide written educational resources for patient reference at the end of the visit.

Grateful, anxiety-relieving hugs from patients are not uncommon. Unfortunately, physical contact is no longer considered safe. Still, try to earn the hugs and then kindly decline them, reinforcing the importance of social distancing.

Follow-up

Consider a phone follow-up to review the examination findings with a coach or family member if that person was not present at the examination.

Send a written thorough rehabilitation plan with patient goals.

As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, consider a more frequent follow-up interval to ensure goals were not overlooked in haste during a shortened examination.

Refer a patient for home-based occupational therapy as needed. The American Occupational Therapy Association lists recommendations for safe provision of home-based care, which is still allowed.8 Home care will allow vision-impaired patients to follow stay-at-home guidelines while receiving additional occupational therapy training.

Related: More research coming on drug delivery via contact lenses

Summary

Patients needing visual rehabilitation are looking to optometrists for their health and safety in living with low vision. Deferring care and providing care must be balanced.

In the era of COVID-19, optometry visits have visibly changed to maintain safety recommendations. ODs need to ensure that these changes for patients with visual challenges accommodate their particular needs.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Common eye disorders. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/ basics/ced/index.html. Accessed 9/18/20.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How to Protect Yourself & Others. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/what-you-can-do.html. Accessed 9/18/20.

3. Zhang X, McKeever Bullard K, Cotch MF, Wilson MR, Rovner BW, McGwin Jr G, Owsley C, Barker L, Crews JE Saaddine JB. Association between depression and functional vision loss in persons 20 years of age or older in the United States, NHANES 2005-2008. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013 May;131(5):573-581.

4. Panchal N, Kamal R, Orgera K, Cox C, Garfield R, Hamel L, Muana C, Chidambaram P. The implications of COVID-19 for mental health and substance use. Kaiser Family Foundation. Available at: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/. Accessed 9/18/20.

5. Horowitz A, Reinhardt JP, Boerner K. The effect of rehabilitation on depression among visually disabled older adults. Aging Ment Health. 2005 Nov;9(6):563-570.

6. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Is my test, item, or service covered? Available at: https://www.medicare. gov/coverage/telehealth. Accessed 9/18/20.

7. American Optometric Association. COVID-19 latest updates. Available at: https://www.aoa.org/covid-19/covid-19-latest-updates?sso=y. Accessed 9/25/20.

8. American Occupational Therapy Association. Home health occupational therapydecision guide for COVID-19. Available at: https://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/Practice/ Health/COVID-19-Home-Health-Decision-Guide.pdf. Accessed 9/18/20.

Read the original post:
Vision rehabilitation care for low vision patients in the COVID-19 era - Optometry Times

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, precautions are being taken to safeguard Queen Elizabeth's health, as her age puts her at risk for severe illness should she contract COVID-19. But despite social distancing at Windsor Castle, the British monarch is continuing to work, and to take her duties seriously.

Yesterday, she joined her daughter-in-law, Sophie the Countess of Wessex, on a video call for a conversation to mark World Sight Day. Sophie is the Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, a cause close to her heart as her daughter Lady Louise has overcome a condition of the eyes known as strabismus.

"Her squint was quite profound when she was tiny and it takes time to correct it," Sophie shared in an interview several years ago. "You've got to make sure one eye doesn't become more dominant than the other but she's fine nowher eyesight is perfect."

Per Buckingham Palace, the pair of royal women spoke with leaders in the eye health fields, "about the powerful impact that good quality eye care can have on peoples livesenabling children to benefit from education; working adults to keep their jobs; and older people to participate in their families and communities."

The group also "discussed the challenges the sector has faced during recent months as a result of the global pandemic," and "shared their hopes for the future and the opportunities and innovations that will continue to improve eye care and strengthen eye health in the next decade."

News of the video call comes shortly after Buckingham Palace confirmed that Sophie is self-isolating following contact with someone who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.

Earlier today a spokesperson released the following statement:

She has not been in physical contact with her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth since she was in contact with said person.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Read more:
Queen Elizabeth and Sophie, the Coutess of Wessex Team Up for a Joint Video Call - TownandCountrymag.com

Marc Ferrara, CEO of Information Services, Jobson Medical Information, named recipient of the 2021 Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Award.

CHICAGO (PRWEB) October 14, 2020

Prevent Blindness, the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight, has chosen Marc Ferrara, CEO of Information Services, Jobson Medical Information, as the recipient of the 2021 Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Award. The award will be presented on Wed., May 26, 2021, at the Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Dinner at 583 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y., in conjunction with Vision Expo East. All proceeds from the event will go to support the sight-saving programs from Prevent Blindness.

The Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Award recognizes an individual or organization whose inspired outlook champions healthy vision and its importance for a healthy life.

Marc Ferrara has worked at Jobson Publishing for more than 30 years. In 1989, he was named editor-in-chief of 20/20 magazine and was later named publisher of the magazine. Later, he helped launch Sightstreet, one of the optical industry's initial ventures in web-related initiatives, and later managed VisionWeb, the industry's leading wholesale portal. Mr. Ferrara served as president of JHI's worldwide Optical Group since 2005, with wide-ranging responsibilities including 20/20, Frames Data, Vision Monday, Review of Optometry, Review of Ophthalmology, Jobson Research, Jobson Internet Solutions and Jobson's international business in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

At Prevent Blindness, Mr. Ferrara has served on various committees including as Chair of the 2017 Person of Vision Committee, honoring Marge Axelrad, senior vice president, editorial director at Vision Monday/Jobson Optical Group. He has also volunteered for numerous Prevent Blindness events, including the annual Swing Fore Sight golf outings.

Marc Ferrara has been a true leader and influencer in the optical and vision industry for decades, said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. We congratulate him on receiving the 2021 Person of Vision Award and look forward to seeing everyone back in New York in May!

Sponsorship opportunities are now available. The Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Committee is currently being formed.

For more information including Prevent Blindness Person of Vision Award committee membership, sponsorship opportunities, and reservations, please contact Sue Corbett at (312) 363-6014 or scorbett@preventblindness.org or visit https://preventblindness.org/events/person-of-vision-2021/.

About Prevent Blindness Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1-800-331-2020. Or, visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org or facebook.com/preventblindness.

Share article on social media or email:

See the original post here:
Prevent Blindness Names Marc Ferrara of Jobson Medical Information, as 2021 Person of Vision Award Recipient - PR Web

A lot of modern technologies are designed for the vast majority of people with more or less capable vision and motor skills. Smartphones, for example, presume everyone has agile and accurate fingers, not to mention good if not excellent eyesight. Even laptops with larger screens take for granted that not everyone sees the same way. To make its web-centric platform more inclusive, Google is pouring some attention on accessibility features for Chrome OS that specifically target those who arent able to see well.

A lot of attention has been given to colors in new design languages but the fact is that not everyone sees colors the same way. Some might not even be able to distinguish some colors because of contrast problems. To remedy that for one of the smallest parts of the desktop interface, Chrome OS now lets users change not only the size of the mouse cursor but even its color, making the icons easier to see and locate on the screen.

It isnt just icons that are hard to see, of course. Words are sometimes trickier to make out, even with something like text-to-speech or TTS technologies. Chrome OS is augmenting this accessibility feature by highlighting the selected text that will get spoken, making the words visually pop out. This additional aid can help those with low vision but can even help some with learning disabilities, whether they have good eyesight or not.

And for those that are barely able to see at all, Google has improved its ChromeVox Chrome OS screen reader to speak in the language that a web page is set to. It also boasts that Chrome is the first browser that creates PDFs with headings, links, and tables that can help screen readers better analyze the text and speak it out for users.

These features are rolling out in the latest Chrome OS version and if you feel lost in all of it, Google has also launched a new Accessibility Hub for Chromebooks as your guide. These may seem like small changes that wont exactly benefit the vast majority of users but, sooner or later, well all come to a point when well need all the help we can get even to just use a computer or a phone.

Go here to read the rest:
Chrome OS 86 aims to make computing more accessible to visually impaired - SlashGear

On my 21st birthday, as I was attempting to renew my drivers license, I found out that I was going blind.

After botching the eye exam, I went to an optometrist for what I presumed would be a typical prescription for glasses. As it turned out, my eyes were on their way to being about as useless as my expired license.

To make a long explanation short, I was diagnosed with a degenerative cornea disorder called keratoconus, which warped my vision. After further tests, I was told that there was no way of knowing how fast my eyesight would deteriorate or how bad it would get only that it would get worse.

It was one hell of a birthday gift.

My vision in my left eye plummeted fast while the right eased into blurriness more gradually. At first, that just meant a bit of difficulty reading without my new glasses. However, within a year, it would become dangerous for me to drive at night.

I was working as a pizza delivery driver at the time, so it seemed increasingly likely that I would eventually harm myself or others while hauling someones extra-large meat-lovers supreme.

The main issue for me was always color and light distortion. Because of the bulge in my cornea, every single light source was refracted into a dozen or so separate light points, and each of these light points was surrounded by a washed-out halo.

So imagine what it was like to drive at night around Christmas time with zillions of multicolored lights everywhere. And, as I was living in rainy Washington State, the rain on my windshield further distorted the lights, making matters even worse.

By the time I eventually got rid of my car at the age of 24, driving had become like moving through a formless melting plasma of light and color. There were times when I literally had no idea what was in front of me, and I only made it where I was going by pure luck.

The sole solution to my condition involved getting a cornea transplant for the worse of the two eyes an expensive procedure that was far beyond my means. Over a decade would pass before I would finally have medical insurance to cover it (thanks Obama truly).

By that time, my vision was terrible, I had a dramatic lazy eye, and I often wore an eye patch over the other. Just call me Nick Fury. People did.

My surgery was relatively fast and entirely painless, though I did wake up near the end to watch them stitch my new cornea into place.

I was told that I could remove my bandages the next day, but when I did, I found that I was so sensitive to light that I could barely open my eyes. So for 3 days, I restlessly paced my apartment in almost total darkness, listening to one audiobook after another.

Once the pain and sensitivity subsided and I could open the eye well enough to take a proper look around, I immediately noticed that the sea of color and light that had obscured my vision for nearly a decade was gone. I still had a ways to go before everything was completely corrected, but this was a tear-jerkingly positive start.

Over the coming months my vision steadily grew sharper, and after a few progress checkups, I was given the OK to resume normal activities (more or less).

While the day to day differences were immediately noticeable, it wasnt until I traveled to Spain a few months later that the profundity of the change really hit me.

I was at the Prado in Madrid attending a special exhibition of Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. The first room of the exhibit was mostly rough sketches, so I wasnt initially struck by anything unusual. Then I walked into the next hall.

While I had seen many of the Picassos hanging there before, my immediate realization was that I had, in fact, never really seen them. The Forced Embrace, The Frugal Meal, Woman from Majorca, The Serenade, and so on never before had I looked at a painting and seen so much.

The clarity, the depth of field, the colors all in their intended places, rather than washed together in a chaotic mess. Was this what everyone else had been seeing all along?

I moved through the remainder of the exhibition in a daze. Everyone else seemed to be experiencing emotions ranging from mild boredom to tepid interest, but from moment to moment, I wasnt sure if Id burst out laughing or crying.

Outside, behind the museum it was pure autumn multicolored leaves cast in soft light and once again I was struck with the sense that I was seeing it for the very first time.

Did you know that the crown of a tree consists of hundreds of separate leaves? I didnt. Or at least Id forgotten that it was possible to see them as anything more than one large smudge.

We take too many things for granted our eyesight, the clarity of a painting, the leaves of a tree forgetting how fragile it all really is. There are times when we can regain what weve lost, but those are a precious few. The best we can hope for is to make do in our reality with our best.

Ive learned to not only appreciate what I have while I have it but to celebrate it to the fullest.

That means enjoying all the paintings and sunsets I can get my eyes on.

Nick Hilden is a travel, fitness, arts, and fiction writer whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Mens Health, Thrillist, Vice, and more. You can follow his travels and connect with him via Instagram or Twitter.

Read the original here:
How Losing and Regaining My Eyesight Changed How I See the World - Greatist

The first indication that autism can accompany blindness more often than expected came in a 1956 study of 60 children with retinopathy of prematurity, a condition in which the light-capturing tissue at the back of the eye does not develop properly. Five of these children turned out to be autistic a dramatic result at a time when fewer than 1 in 1,000 children had an autism diagnosis, and high even in light of todays prevalence of about 1 to 2 percent in most countries.

Since then, studies in multiple countries have documented a double-digit prevalence of autism among blind children: 12 percent in Turkey, 17 percent in Sweden and 50 percent of the students whom Jure examined at the school for the blind Gigena attended in Argentina.

These studies are small, each involving only a few dozen to a few hundred people. But a much larger study published this year also links autism and a lack of sight. Researchers in Scotland approached the question from the opposite direction: They combed through national census data on 5.3 million people to show that blindness is about three times as common in autistic children as in their typical peers, and it occurs in autistic adults at 1.5 times the typical frequency.

None of the studies explain the statistics. Do autism and blindness stem from the same biological roots? Some research suggests that autism is closely tied to specific causes of blindness for instance, optic nerve hypoplasia (Gigenas condition), retinopathy of prematurity and anophthalmia (in which one or both eyes fail to develop). The causes of these vision problems may also contribute to autism, experts say.

Lilita wasnt reaching [milestones]. She wasnt making friends, and she didnt communicate well. Lilian Funes

Another possibility is that blindness contributes to autism traits, particularly when a child is born blind, because vision is thought to be critical to the early development of social skills. Young children learn that other people have distinct points of view and emotions by seeing how others react to the world around them. They also learn about social cause and effect through visual relationships, such as when a toddler grabs a toy and pulls it to himself while saying, Mine.

What you have here is something absolutely pivotal for human development, says Peter Hobson, emeritus professor of developmental psychopathology at University College London in the United Kingdom. Children with acquired blindness can still tap this knowledge after they have lost their sight, Hobson says. But those who are born blind may have trouble gaining it in the first place.

This theory is borne out by research showing an association between congenital blindness and autism. For example, 18 of 25 students with congenital blindness at Gigenas school met the criteria for autism in Jures 2016 study, compared with only 1 of 13 with partial or acquired blindness. A similar pattern emerged when he analyzed pooled data from 12 published studies of blindness and autism. The presence of total congenital blindness was the main factor by far that produced autism, he says. Blindness acquired after the first year of life and partial vision were associated with autism less frequently.

In a 1997 study of British schools for the blind, Hobson and his colleagues found that 9 of 24 congenitally blind children without obvious neurological impairments met the criteria for autism; many others had autism traits. Those findings jibe with Jures clinical experience: Within families, children who are completely blind tend to be autistic, whereas their seeing or partially sighted siblings, even identical twins, are not, he says. Im completely convinced that blindness itself conveys a huge possibility of autism.

Researchers who work with blind children have also noticed similarities between their behavior and that of autistic children. In her 1977 book, Insights From the Blind, child psychoanalyst Selma Fraiberg described a girl named Kathie who had been blind since birth. Although bright and socially engaged, Kathie did not engage in imaginative play. And she tended to confuse the pronouns I and you, as well as other terms, such as here and there, come and go, and this and that. Such linguistic reversals, especially of pronouns, are common in young children with autism. Other autism-like behaviors often seen in blind children include repetitive movements, such as rocking back and forth; resistance to change; and echolalia, or repeating another persons words. Fraiberg termed such behaviors blindisms.

Some experts, including Michael Brambring, an emeritus psychologist at Bielefeld University in Germany, have argued that autism traits in blind children are just manifestations of blindness, not autism. What look like the same behaviors may sometimes stem from different prompts. As an example, one mother describes in an essay how her blind daughter would rock back and forth in a way that looked like an autism-like repetitive behavior until she realized her daughter was listening for squeaks in the floorboards. The girl had a different sensory world than a sighted person, and she was just exploring that.

This sort of misperception is widespread, says Pawan Sinha, a vision and autism expert and computational neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2005, Sinha founded an organization, staffed by surgeons, to restore sight in people with treatable causes of blindness in rural India. He says that many of the blind children he sees are shy at first, though sociable with familiar people. They also have some behaviors reminiscent of autism, such as echolalia. Having met with literally thousands of blind children, blind adults, I simply dont see the signs of high incidences of autism in that population, Sinha says. But he plans to look more closely by surveying autism characteristics in at least 1,000 blind adolescents in India.

Hobson and Jure maintain that autism traits should be seen as signs of autism even if they result from blindness. If you define the syndrome based on the behavior, [then] if you have the behavior, you have to call it autism too, Jure says. Whats more, automatically labeling autism-like behaviors blindisms could lead some clinicians to miss autism in blind children, he adds.

Continue reading here:
Eyeing the connection between autism and vision - Spectrum

Image Source : INSTAGRAM/BIGGUYSTRI

Waste from the food chain could hold the clue to treating eye infections worldwide

A new laboratory model that can be used to test treatments for preventing and curing eye infections caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses while also reducing the number of animals used in medical research has been developed by researchers, including from India, at the University of Sheffield in the UK. The breakthrough, which will be used to develop novel alternatives to antibiotics to reduce the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, has been made by engineers and scientists working together at the University of Sheffields Collaboratorium for Antimicrobial Resistance and Biofilms (SCARAB).

In some developing countries, eye infections pose a significant threat resulting in vision impairment or even blindness. Currently, around 285 million people globally are visually impaired and seven million people lose their eyesight each year. Over 90 percent of people affected are from developing countries, according to a press release from the university.

In approximately 80 per cent of these people, the loss of eyesight can be easily avoided with bespoke healthcare solutions that fit with the unique socio-economic conditions prevalent in developing countries.

Using the ex vivo porcine eye model - the eyes of pigs which are deemed as waste by the food industry - researchers can mimic infection in human eyes.

The cornea is the transparent portion in the front of the eye that allows us to see.

Using the ex vivo porcine models researchers were able to study ulcer formation and the development of opacity which leads to the loss of vision in humans.

The new model, which is being developed by PhD researcher Katarzyna Okurowska, gives a better prediction of how effective the newly developed treatments are likely to be in humans.

Such data is currently obtained from expensive and highly-regulated animal research, which must precede any human clinical trials before the treatment can be made available to patients.

The availability of the model will immediately help to reduce and refine the use of animals in medical research, and may one day help to completely replace the use of animals in this kind of study.

The added advantage of the ex vivo porcine eye model is that it uses waste from the food chain.

As the eyes are a waste product, no animals are specifically bred for the study, helping to reduce the numbers of animals needed to conduct research.

Project lead, Professor Peter Monk from the University of Sheffields Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, said: Eye infections are a major cause of vision loss worldwide.

Loss of vision leads to a reduction in the quality of life and impairs the economic productivity of the individual and the nation.

There is a need for effective and affordable treatments that can prevent its occurrence, and so we established this model to enable the treatments that we and others are developing to reach the clinic rapidly.

Dr Esther Karunakaran, Co-Director of SCARAB from the University of Sheffields Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said: The model has been developed as part of a larger multidisciplinary project funded by the Medical Research Council Global Challenge Research Fund (MRC-GCRF), to develop a novel treatment to prevent eye infections in the developing world.

"We are also working with the LV Prasad Eye Institute in India," she said.

Fight against Coronavirus: Full coverage

Read more from the original source:
Waste from the food chain could hold the clue to treating eye infections worldwide - India TV News

Space travel cause motor skill and impaired vision

A comparatively permanent change in the capability to perform a skill as an outcome of practice or experience is called motor learning. Showing in the performance is an act of executing a motor skill. Therefore a motor skill is a learned ability to cause a predetermined movement outcome with maximum assurance. The goal of motor skill is to optimize the ability to perform the skill at the rate of success, precision, and to reduce the energy consumption required for performance. Continuous practice of a specific motor skill will answer in greatly improved performance, but not all movements are motor skills. Motor skills are something most of us do without even thinking about them. According to Glencoe McGraw-Hill Education motor skills are related to fitness is liveliness, sense of balancing, bringing together, authority, response time, and speed. These six components include standing, walking, going up and downstairs, running, swimming, and other activities that use the large muscles of the arms, legs, and torso.

Normally, vision impairment means eye diseases such as macular degeneration, cataract and glaucoma create eye disorders which are caused because of eye injuries or birth defects. Whereas the person who travels space station will suffer from vision impairment problems. Therefore if the persons eyesight which is not been corrected to a normal level is said as impaired vision. This vision impairment may be because of loss of visual acuity which means the eye does not see objects as clearly as usual.

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human space flight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. The word cosmonaut is originally derived from Russian space travellers more over the word cosmonaut mean a sailor of the universe which is derived from the Greek word kosmos meaning universe and nautes meaning sailor. Therefore Cosmonaut Brain acquired some kind of new motor skill, like riding a bike,

A study published examined that the researcher who returned from a lengthy mission of seven months in international space station discover that the brain of eight male Russian researchers have the minor changes in the cosmonauts brain that suggested the men were more dexterous but had slightly weaker visions. The researcher used a type of MRI Magnetic resonance imaging which is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body where a 3D image of the cosmonauts brains is produced. The scan showed an increased amount of tissue in the cerebellum the part of the brain responsible for balance, coordination, and posture. But the scans also showed that the people living in space could wind up with trouble seeing up-close. Both of those changes could potentially be long-lasting. Thus, researchers expected to see temporary changes in the cosmonauts brains, but they were surprised to discover that the proved motor skills were still there several months after they would return to earth. Anyway, nothing on the earth is being comparative; it is possible when they go to their next mission that they can adapt more quickly. Thus it is proved that there will be a brain shift in space, which potentially resulting in blurred vision. Cosmonauts on the International Space Station typically exercise more than two hours a day to combat this process. They can also feel disoriented or motion sick while their body adjusts to a weightless environment. One important difference between life in space and on earth is that our blood and bodily fluids normally move against the downward tug of gravity, whereas in space, astronauts bodily fluids shift upwards.

Read more from the original source:
A new study on cosmonauts brains with space traveler will lead to new motor skills with slightly we ... - Stanford Arts Review

Latest updates on Corneal Implants market, a comprehensive study enumerating the latest price trends and pivotal drivers rendering a positive impact on the industry landscape. Further, the report is inclusive of the competitive terrain of this vertical in addition to the market share analysis and the contribution of the prominent contenders toward the overall industry.

Increasing demand for minimally invasive eye surgical procedures globally has positively influenced corneal implants industry growth during forecast years. Conventional treatment options for corneal diseases have proven to be risky due to complexity involved. To cater to this problem, researchers have developed innovative techniques that involves placing of donor tissue from second layer of cornea. Newly introduced techniques of corneal implants strengthened and flattened the cornea thereby, improving eye sight of the patients suffering from keratoconus. As recently manufactured artificial corneal implants are utilized in these minimally invasive procedures, the corneal implants industry will offer numerous growth opportunities.

Growing elderly population base in developed economies is one of the major factors driving industry growth as majority of them suffer from eye disorders. According to National Eye Institute, around 2.1 million elderly Americans have age-related macular degeneration. In countries such as the U.S. and Germany, geriatric population suffering from diabetes has high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy. This scenario proves beneficial for corneal implants market growth as it substantially augments demand of corneal implants. However, shortage of human donor material will affect the industry growth to some extent in coming years.

Request Sample Copy of this Report @ https://www.theresearchprocess.com/request-sample/5997

Corneal Implants Market will exceed USD 500 million by 2025; as per a new research report.

Request Sample Copy of this Report @ https://www.theresearchprocess.com/request-sample/5997

Penetrating keratoplasty segment accounted for 47% in 2018. Demand for penetrating keratoplasty is projected to grow gradually in the near future. This procedure is completed in one or two hours and performed on outpatient basis. Thus, patients are able to resume to daily activities in few hours. As recovery time is less its demand is expected to grow over forecast period. Also, plastic shield utilized in these procedures protects eye and enhances healing process that further propels its demand.

Keratoconus segment is projected to have more than 6% growth during analysis timeframe. This condition is predicted to damage cornea and affect vision. Mostly, the patients suffering from keratoconus disease experience distortion of vision causing obstruction in performing daily tasks. This raises the demand for corneal transplant procedures thereby, positively impacting the segmental growth in forthcoming years.

Artificial corneal implants segment witnessed around 10% CAGR throughout the analysis period. Recently developed artificial corneal implants are considered as a substitute for patients that cannot tolerate human donor cornea. According to Cornea Research Foundation of America, around 10 million people suffer from corneal blindness globally out of which only 100,000 corneal implant procedures get access to human donor tissue. Thus, crisis of human donor tissue has boosted the demand for artificial corneal implants, thereby escalating the segment growth.

Eye clinics segment was valued over USD 49 million in 2018 and is projected to have significant growth throughout the analysis timeframe. Eye clinics have expertise that help in diagnosing the eye disease. However, some of these clinics are not self-sufficient to perform surgeries and non-invasive transplant procedures due to budget constraints. Physicians and eye specialists working at eye clinics refer patients to hospitals that are well-equipped and perform surgical procedures.

Major Highlights from Table of contents are listed below for quick lookup into Corneal Implants Market report

Chapter 1. Competitive Landscape

Chapter 2. Company Profiles

Chapter 3. Methodology & Scope

Chapter 4. Executive Summary

Chapter 5. Corneal Implants industryInsights

Request Customization on This Report @ https://www.theresearchprocess.com/request-for-customization/5997

See the original post:
Corneal Implants Market Detailed Analysis of Current Industry Figures with Forecasts Growth By 2025 - The Research Process

The Eyesight Test Equipment Marketanalysis summary is a thorough study of the current trends leading to this vertical trend in various regions. Research summarizes important details related to market share, market size, applications, statistics and sales. In addition, this study emphasizes thorough competition analysis on market prospects, especially growth strategies that market experts claim.

The latest report is prepared keeping in mind the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected various market segments regionally and globally. The report includes a comprehensive market study based on the post-COVID-19 market scenario for the market. The report not only describes the current and future effects of the pandemic on the global market, but also highlights the more effective products and services which have been developed by the industry participants and thus form the basis of the competitive landscape of the market.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Competitive Analysis:

Request Sample Copy of this Report @ https://www.aeresearch.net/request-sample/302167

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the major market players in the market along with their business overview, expansion plans, and strategies. The main players examined in the report are:

The global Eyesight Test Equipment market has been segmented on the basis of technology, product type, application, distribution channel, end-user, and industry vertical, along with the geography, delivering valuable insights.

Type Coverage in the Market are:Portable andStationary

Market Segment by Applications, covers:Children,Adults andThe older

Global Eyesight Test Equipment Market: Regional Segments

The chapter on regional segmentation details the regional aspects of the global Eyesight Test Equipment market. This chapter explains the regulatory framework that is likely to impact the overall market. It highlights the political scenario in the market and the anticipates its influence on the global Eyesight Test Equipment market.

Major factors covered in the report:

Report Overview:It includes six chapters, viz. research scope, major manufacturers covered, market segments by type, Eyesight Test Equipment market segments by application, study objectives, and years considered.

Global Growth Trends:There are three chapters included in this section, i.e. industry trends, the growth rate of key producers, and production analysis.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Share by Manufacturer:Here, production, revenue, and price analysis by the manufacturer are included along with other chapters such as expansion plans and merger and acquisition, products offered by key manufacturers, and areas served and headquarters distribution.

Market Size by Type:It includes analysis of price, production value market share, and production market share by type.

Market Size by Application:This section includes Eyesight Test Equipment market consumption analysis by application.

Profiles of Manufacturers:Here, leading players of the global Eyesight Test Equipment market are studied based on sales area, key products, gross margin, revenue, price, and production.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Value Chain and Sales Channel Analysis:It includes customer, distributor, Eyesight Test Equipment market value chain, and sales channel analysis.

Market Forecast Production Side: In this part of the report, the authors have focused on production and production value forecast, key producers forecast, and production and production value forecast by type.

The analysis objectives of the report are:

Request Customization on This Report @ https://www.aeresearch.net/request-for-customization/302167

Here is the original post:
Eyesight Test Equipment Market Analysis And Demand With Forecast Overview To 20 - News by aeresearch

The good work done on a daily basis by The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ is celebrated throughout the Pacific.

But what is less well-known is the cutting-edge financial and operational strategies in place within the organisation, facilitated by a chartered accountant with the knowledge and expertise needed to ensure the charity's ongoing success.

Visionary work to restore eyesight

Aregistered charity that carries on the work of famous Kiwi eye surgeon Professor Fred Hollows and his vision to end avoidable blindness, The Foundation's chairman Craig Fisher FCA, says their mission remains vital.

"Tragically four out of five people who are blind in the developing world don't need to be, and this can be addressed often with cataract surgery and if there is access to trained doctors and nurses,"he says. "The New Zealand Foundation exists to address this issue in the Pacific."

SUPPLIED

Jessie Napong, (pictured middle) is a patient of the Fred Hollows outreach clinic, Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Business strategies vital to governance

Fisher, a Chartered Accountant, was asked to join the governance team of The Foundation nine years ago - at a time when they had "less experienced in-house accounting capacity."

"While some good hard working well-meaning people had been employed, they were not of the level of an experienced chartered accountant.

"The appeal of me joining was my knowledge of financial and other systems," Fisher says.

Chartered accountants are well trained and experienced in financial systems, and are able to provide input that ensures appropriate strategies are put in place to significantly assist the organisations they work with.

Transforming for a digital era

Fisher says that a large part of his role as chairman has been to progressively improve the professionalism, effectiveness and impact of the organisation.

To this end, he identified the need for an experiencedchartered accountant to help bring the organisation into the digital age, and up-to-speed with the changing regulatory environment, which demanded much more accountability from the not-for-profit sector.

Enter Sharon Orr. A Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in senior finance roles in the commercial sector. Whilst she had not worked for a not-for-profit before coming on board as finance andoperations director in early 2017, she quickly made her mark at The Foundation by incorporating many of the protocols and disciplines adopted in a commercial environment.

She says "I realised early on that while many charities focussed on minimising administration costs, it often came at the expense of under-resourcing their finance teams who were charged with ensuring the charity met the vast array of compliance, regulatory and statutory reporting requirements. In the case of The Foundation, these spanned multiple countries with complex and often confusing taxation systems."

One of the more challenging achievements was meeting the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance requirements as the standards dictated that the thousands of credit card details processed by The Foundation, had to meet the strict processing standards and privacy requirements.

"Charities such as The Foundation, who operate across multiple countries also have the added complexity of managing their foreign currency exposure especially when dealing in volatile currencies. Often significant grant funding is received from overseas institutional donors in foreign currencies and the finance team is tasked with managing the foreign currency risk."

SUPPLIED

Sharon Orr CA is the acting chief executive of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ, she is also a Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in senior finance roles.

Instilling confidence in donation allocation

One of Orr's systemic changes was putting in placesystems that provided for integrated reporting of financial and non-financial information.

"Key considerations for all donors are the ability to see where their donations have been spent, the impact that the charity has made in meeting its vision and that the utilisation of donor funding is maximised. Charities must also have appropriate forecasting systems to manage cash flows and ensure that future revenues will be sufficient to meet forecasted expenditure on programme activity."

Chartered accountants offer a big picture approach

With Orr's appointment, the operational and financial arms of the organisation were brought together, allowing for a "big picture" approach that would take in the entire organisation.

"I found travelling to our managed clinics, in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, gave me a real sense of the issues and challenges faced by our in-country finance teams. It armed me with the information I needed to be able to support and guide them to success with issues such as achieving a smooth audit process, strengthening internal controls and implementing cloud based digital platforms," says Orr.

Andrew Bell, former CEO for The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ, says that he wasn't aware that chartered accountants could work across both sides of an organisation so effectively; and that Orr's depth of knowledge allowed her to tackle multiple issues facing the charity.

"There have been significant changes to the Charities Act, which meant we had to undertake the same level of reporting as a company. Alongside this, there has been a rise in cybercrime, particularly targeting charities; and we needed to use our digital accounting software more efficiently."

SUPPLIED

The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ operate across multiple countries also have the added complexity of managing their foreign currency exposure.

Improving security through tech changes

Bell says Orr led from the front; maximising the efficiency of the accounting system (Xero), ensuring the organisation's digital components were ironclad and safe from external threats; helping train and mentor more junior staff (giving them more responsibility and freeing up her time), and shoring accounting and privacy issues ahead of regulatory changes.

"This is the level of trust the board has in her abilities," he says. "As a chartered accountant, she's part of a breed of finance professionalsshe's active, up front, and everyone knows who she is."

Fisher agrees"She has helped our organisation to be more resilient and sustainable, which are two key drivers for me in my governance. "[Very quickly] she became a key member of our senior leadership team and her thoughtful methodological accountant's approach is greatly appreciated by others here."

To see how a CA can make a difference to your business, or to find one in your area visit http://www.cadifferencemakers.com.

See the rest here:
What does restoring a person's sight and an accountant have in common? - Stuff.co.nz

Alice Lukacs tells of her trips to the eye doctor.Getty Images

At first glance, a trip to McDonalds comes to mind. But no, its all about my eye journal which I started writing eight years ago in 2012, detailing the progression of my AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration).

It all started, of all places, in the Opera House in Budapest, Hungary. I was enjoying a performance of the opera Carmen, sung in the original French with surtitles in Hungarian (my native language) projected onto the top of the stage. To my surprise, those letters started performing a strange dance, jumping up and down. I could not read a thing.

Back home in Montreal I rushed to make an appointment with my ophthalmologist Dr. Barry Kattleman. After thorough testing, he said the two dreaded words: macular degeneration and promptly referred me to Dr. Julius Gomolin, a retina specialist working at the Jewish General Hospital.

Now this diagnosis brought many unpleasant memories to mind. Years ago, my mother had macular degeneration. In those days, no help was available. Mother, though legally blind, never completely lost her eyesight. But her vision slowly deteriorated, her handwriting became illegible, her chair moving ever closer to the TV set to watch her favourite program All My Children. But I am lucky. In the last decade or so, new medicines injected into the eye have made a big difference in the treatment of macular degeneration.

So here I was at the Jewish General Hospital in the presence of Dr. Gomolin. A tall, good-looking man who somehow immediately wins your confidence, he explained the results of tests taken, admonishing me not to interrupt him, as I had already done, but to let me finish.

And finish he did, explaining that yes, I had macular degeneration of the wet kind, that he proposes giving me injections monthly in both eyes with the aim of stemming the progress of the disease. There was no guarantee, there could be side effects. I agreed to start as soon as possible.

My research showed me that, indeed, there were two kinds of macular degeneration, dry and wet. Earlier stages are considered the dry form. In the more advanced wet form, abnormal blood vessels can bleed and leak fluids in the retina, affecting central vision. I started with the wet form right away.

So eight years ago I started injection treatments, first in both eyes, later only in one, as the other eye no longer needed them.

Once a month, I would sign in at the Ophthalmology Department. Next, technician Jamie would examine my eyesight, then administer drops that would dilate and disinfect. Soon after, I would be called for scans of the eyes. Then, the worst part began. All of us patients were sitting in a row in the waiting area, like birds on a twig, our eyes blurring from the drops. There was little talk. Most of us were seniors, some with walkers, others with someone accompanying them, all of us anxiously waiting for our name to be called.

Finally, my turn came. Dr. Gomolin checked the scans, briefed me on the situation. More drops in the eyes to numb and clean, an eyelid holder inserted so I wont blink, the prick of the injection needle in the eyeball and the ordeal was over. Having made the next appointment, I would go down to the main floor and out the door, eyes blurred, staggering to a taxi to take me home.

When people ask me, horrified, what it is like to have an eye injection, I tell them there is nothing to it. Of course, your vision is blurred for hours afterwards. And, for this experience to be bearable, you have to have someone like Dr. Gomolin performing the procedure.

On a recent visit, Dr. Gomolins news surprised me. I think I will stop the injections he announced.

So my Big Macular Adventure has a happy ending. I think Ill go to McDonalds to celebrate.

Alice Lukacs writes the Life in the 90s column

Visit link:
Senior Living: Time to celebrate after years of eye injections - County Weekly News

Space blindnessthe loss of vision experienced in zero gravity (or microgravity) environmentsisnt just a dramatic plot point for Netflixs Mars odyssey, Away; space blindness (or rather impairment) is an actual documented phenomenon experienced by astronauts.

In fact, almost two-thirds of astronauts report problems with eyesight after months at the International Space Station. One astronaut reported that his impairment worsened so much that he couldn't read the words on a landing checklist.

Between 2015-2016, American astronaut Scott Kelly spent a year at the International Space Station. (His experience acts as the basis for Netflixs Away.) During that year, parts of Kellys retinas actually thickened. He also experienced swelling to the blood supply to the back of his eye. (Kellys strong vision was one of the reasons he was first selected as an astronaut.)

Former NASA Human Research Program Chief Scientist Mark Shelhamer noted in an interview with Air and Space that, for some, impairment has even lingered after returning from space and usually requires an astronaut being there for roughly six months. Stays in space longer than six months (and, for a hypothetical trip to Mars, longer than a year) present a lot of unknowns when it comes to vision impairment. Some research even now suggests that to prevent vision problems, astronauts may require artificial gravity.

NASAGetty Images

So Mishas being ordered to stay in his crew cabins to help restore his eyesight may not be an unlikely command on an extended space flight.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Reasons for vision impairment arent known for certain, though researchers have several theories. One theory suggests that because zero gravity causes fluids in the body to rise (think of astronauts bloated-looking faces in space), all the extra fluid in the skull might create pressure on the back of the eye.

Testing the theory, researchers found oxidative stress caused by microgravity (or weak gravity) might be doing damage to blood vessels in the eye. If they can find a way to counter oxidative stress, perhaps they can protect astronauts vision.

In the universe of Netflixs Away, it doesnt seem like the problem was ever solved. The countermeasure instead was simply artificial gravity. But as it might take months for vision to return, locking a visually-impaired astronaut in his room doesnt seem like the best strategy for a 3-year-long mission to Mars.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Read more:
Netflix 'Away' Space Blindness - Is It Real? - menshealth.com

Sept. 15, 2020 05:30 UTC

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

GenSight Biologics (Paris:SIGHT) (Euronext: SIGHT, ISIN: FR0013183985, PEA-PME eligible), a biopharma company focused on discovering and developing innovative gene therapies for retinal neurodegenerative diseases and central nervous system disorders, today announced that it has submitted the Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for its lead product LUMEVOQ to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), seeking approval for the treatment of patients with vision loss due to Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) caused by mutation in the ND4 mitochondrial gene.

This first regulatory submission for GenSight is a major milestone in our progression from a pure research organization to one with commercial capabilities. It validates a technology platform that has the potential to address the high unmet medical needs of patients suffering from a range of rare diseases. I would like to thank all GenSight employees and partners whose motivation, focus and effort made this submission possible, said Bernard Gilly, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GenSight Biologics.

LHON is a rare, mitochondrial genetic disease, mainly affecting young males. The ND4 mutation results in the worst visual outcomes, with most patients becoming legally blind. There continues to be a high unmet medical need for the 800-1200 new LHON patients in Europe and the U.S. each year, particularly those who are struck blind in their prime working years.

Lenadogene nolparvovec (tradename: LUMEVOQ) is a recombinant adeno-associated viral vector, serotype 2 (rAAV2/2), containing a cDNA encoding the human wild-type mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 4 protein (ND4), which has been specifically developed for the treatment of LHON associated with mutation in the ND4 gene. It received orphan drug designation status for the treatment of LHON from the EMA in 2011 and from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2013.

GenSight submitted the MAA based on the benefit-risk balance established by results from a Phase-I/IIa study (CLIN-01), two pivotal Phase-III efficacy studies (CLIN-03A: RESCUE, and CLIN-03B: REVERSE) and the long-term follow up study of RESCUE and REVERSE (CLIN 06 - readout at Year 3 post injection). To demonstrate the efficacy of LUMEVOQ in the context of a contralateral effect, the Company used a statistics-based indirect comparison methodology to assess the visual outcomes in LUMEVOQ-treated patients (from LUMEVOQ efficacy studies) against those in untreated patients from Natural History studies and GenSights REALITY Natural History Registry.

GenSight expects to submit the Biologics License Application (BLA) for LUMEVOQ to the FDA in H2 2021. First-in-human data from GenSights second clinical stage program, GS030, are expected to be available in H2 2021.

About GenSight Biologics GenSight Biologics S.A. is a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on discovering and developing innovative gene therapies for retinal neurodegenerative diseases and central nervous system disorders. GenSight Biologics pipeline leverages two core technology platforms, the Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence (MTS) and optogenetics to help preserve or restore vision in patients suffering from blinding retinal diseases. GenSight Biologics lead product candidate, LUMEVOQ (GS010; lenadogene nolparvovec), is in Phase III trials in Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disease that leads to irreversible blindness in teens and young adults. Using its gene therapy-based approach, GenSight Biologics product candidates are designed to be administered in a single treatment to the eye by intravitreal injection to offer patients a sustainable functional visual recovery.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200914005857/en/

More:
GenSight Biologics Submits EU Marketing Authorisation Application for LUMEVOQ Gene Therapy to Treat Vision Loss Due to Leber Hereditary Optic...

A research team at Severance Hospital said Thursday that the hospital has begun to treat ocular cancer patients by introducing the Ru-106 eye plaque brachytherapy, which can preserve patients eyesight.

Ru-106 eye plaque brachytherapy removes tumors with irradiation by attaching a plate with ruthenium isotope that emits radiation to the patients' eyeball. The metal plate is removed within seven days after surgery, the hospital said.

The existing surgical methods had to remove the eyeball and replace it with a prosthetic eye. However, the Ru-106 eye plaque brachytherapy preserves the eye and keeps a certain level of vision. According to the research team led by Professors Kim Min and Cho Yeon-a, patients can return to their daily lives relatively quickly as the treatment only takes about a week.

Brachytherapy, a type of internal radiation therapy, is most effective in treating uveal melanoma. Uvea is a layer sandwiched between sclera and retina. It got the name uvea from its black grape-like appearance. Uveal melanoma, a malignant tumor in the uvea, had to be treated by removing the eyeball or external beam radiation.

"Patients with retinoblastoma, which is commonly developed in children, can also be treated with the Ru-106 to preserve eyesight with limited effect," said Professor Kim Min of the Department of Ophthalmology at Severance Hospital. Professor Kim completed his training for one year at Wills Eye Hospital, one of the world's leading eye cancer institutions, and treated about 10,000 patients with eye tumors.

Professor Cho of the Department of Radiology Oncology recently published a paper on the effectiveness of brachytherapy for eye tumors and the possibility of conserving the eye.

Read more here:
Severance uses radiotherapy to treat ocular cancer while saving eyesight - Korea Biomedical Review