StemCell Therapy

Aaron Hudson, PhDvice president and general manager of global marketing, SCIEX

Glaucoma is called the silent thief of sight because in its most common form, there are usually no symptoms until the disease has insidiously progressed to the point of irreparable optic nerve damage and irreversible sight loss.1,2 If left untreated, the initial loss of peripheral vision will continue to become tunnel vision, which will then shrink down until all sight is lost.

The thought of being blind sent me into a deep depression.3

Looking back, I could find out that there were many times, and a couple of auto accidents, in which I didnt see cars coming from the left or the right sideand that was a consequence of losing that peripheral vision. But you never know that when you dont know you have any disease.4

I find myself, since Im half-blind, constantly worrying about: what if I lost the vision in my right eye? Because that would change everything about my life. It would change my dreams, it would change my relationships, it would change everything.5

These quotes, all shared by glaucoma patients, dramatize how people who lose their vision also lose peace of mind. Even eye diseases that do not impair vision can be devastating.

After getting dry eyes, I became very frustrated and almost depressed for a while. Its hard to deal with.6

The most common form of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, is also the most mysterious. Although a strong hereditary component has been implicated, the underlying disease mechanisms remain largely a mystery.2

To unravel the mystery and to identify biomarkers for the diagnosis and stratification of patients for precision medicines, researchers in Finland and Singapore are working together to analyze the proteome of tears from individuals with eye disease. Specifically, the researchers are using advanced analytics techniques with liquid chromatography (LC) triple time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) and SWATH Acquisition to rapidly obtain complete data on tear samples from individual patients.

Tear fluid is especially useful because it is a more accessible and less complex body fluid than serum or plasma, and sampling is much less invasive. Using the SWATH Acquisition method enables the capture of a wealth of information from each sample in one go, meaning that researchers can go back to interrogate their data time and time again as more information emerges about the biology of the eye and tears. The advantage of the MS method is that it allows researchers to process samples from individual patients quickly, sensitively, and precisely, eliminating the need to pool samples.711 With MS, it is possible to analyze the proteomic profiles of individual patients, even in large clinical trials. Eventually, it may bring proteomic analysis to clinical practice. It has the precision needed to achieve precision/stratified therapy.7,11

In one clinical study, LC-MS and the TripleTOF system were used to evaluate the expression levels of proteins in tears between patients with glaucoma. People with glaucoma are prone to getting concomitant ocular surface disease, such as dry eye disease. During a year-long study of patients with glaucoma who were experiencing dry eye symptoms, the researchers were able to identify protein biomarkers that predicted which patients would benefit most from a switch of eye drop medication from one with preservatives to one without preservatives.7

Using SWATH Acquisition, the researchers discovered that the dry eye symptoms of patients with increased levels of proinflammatory proteins and decreased levels of protective proteins improved more after the medication switch than those of other patients. The study went on to define three subpopulations based on these and other biomarkers: a group that did not respond to the medication switch, a group that had moderate improvement in symptoms in response to the switch, and a group that benefitted the most from the medication switch.7

Another study using the TripleTOF system with SWATH Acquisition to examine the proteomic expression of tears has found proteins that could be used as biomarkers to stratify patients with dry eye disease, identifying those who would benefit most from treatment with flourometholone, as opposed to polyvinyl alcohol.8 Similarly, studies using SWATH Acquisition have revealed proteins that may be potential biomarkers for predicting progression to severe thyroid eye disease in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease,9 whereas other proteins have been discovered that may be indicative of aging and the effects of aging in eye tissues and functions.10

Tears are also being analyzed to understand a host of other eye diseases and infections, such as diabetic retinopathy, peripheral ulcerative keratitis, aniridia, ocular allergies, and trachoma.12 Research continues apace to better understand the physiology and pathophysiology of the eye and eye diseases, particularly over time, as many eye diseases occur more often with older age.

The increasingly common utilization of advanced analytical technologies such as MS to better interrogate biological samples from individual patients and healthy controls means that we are getting ever closer to the identification and use of biomarkers to predict and diagnose disease, as well as to monitor patient responses to therapeutic agents, marking progress in the field of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine, both in general and in terms of addressing eye disease. Precision medicine promises to revolutionize healthcare for many people, not only those with eye disease but also individuals with other diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

References1. University of Utah Health. Glaucoma: The Silent Thief of Sight.2. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. Glaucoma: The Silent Thief Begins to Tell Its Secrets. 01/12/14.3. Nttinen J, Jylh A, Aapola U, et al. Patient Stratification in Clinical Glaucoma Trials Using the Individual Tear Proteome. Sci. Rep. 2018; 8: Article 12038.4. Glaucoma Australia. My Glaucoma Story. Victorias Story.5. Glaucoma Research Foundation. Art Takahara: Learning about Glaucoma.6. Glaucoma Research Foundation. Personal Story: Hannah Eckstein.7. Cook N, Mullins A, Gautam R, et al. Evaluating Patient Experiences in Dry Eye Disease Through Social Media Listening Research. Ophthalmol. Ther. 2019; 8(3): 40720.8. Nttinen J, Jylh A, Aapola U, et al. Topical fluorometholone treatment and desiccating stress change inflammatory protein expression in tears. Ocul. Surf. 2018; 16: 8492.9. Chng CL, Seah LL, Yang M, et al. Tear Proteins Calcium Binding Protein A4 (S100A4) and Prolactin Induced Protein (PIP) are Potential Biomarkers for Thyroid Eye Disease. Sci. Rep. 2018; 8: Article 16936.10. Nttinen J, Jylh A, Aapola U, et al. AgeAssociated Changes in Human Tear Proteome. Clin. Proteomics 2019; 16: 11.11. Jylh A, Nttinen J, Aapola U, et al. Comparison of iTRAQ and SWATH in a Clinical Study with Multiple Time Points. Clin. Proteomics 2018; 15: 24.12. Hagan S, Martin E, Enrquez-de-Salamanca A. Tear Fluid Biomarkers in Ocular and Systemic Disease: Potential Use for Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine. EPMA J. 2016; 7: 15.

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SCIEX is a Danaher operating company.

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Surveying the Tear Proteome to Stratify Glaucoma Patients - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

RICHMOND, Va.(WRIC)Conexus needs your help this Fall to help give area children the gift of sight. The non-profit goes into schools to give children eye tests. 80% of what a child learns in school is through vision, and 1 in 4 school children have a vision problem significant enough to impact learning, and in Greater Richmond, that number is closer to 1 in 3. Studies indicate that children with uncorrected vision of less than 20/20 are 3 times more likely to fail a grade in school. Undetected and untreated vision problems impact incidences of juvenile delinquency, adult illiteracy, and unreached potential.

During the 2018-2019 school year, Conexus screened over 54,000 children across the Commonwealth and 16,959 were referred for additional exams; a rate of 31.2%. The national average is 25%. In Greater Richmond, 12,006 children were screened by Conexus with a referral rate of a staggering 39%.

Through the Conexus Gift of Light campaign, you can help the organization get into schools and help children. For a charitable gift of $10, Conexus can provide a child a VisioCheck screening; for a charitable gift of $50, Conexuscan provide an eye exam and glasses for a child; for a charitable gift of $150, Conexus can provide screening for anentire classroom; and for a larger charitable gift of $500, Conexus can provide an entire day of Mobile Vision Clinicservices. You can donate online here.

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Conexus needs help to give the gift of clear sight to kids across RVA and beyond - 8News

BALTIMORE, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Deadly. Blinding. Costly. Epidemic. These are the words used to describe diabetes, a devastating condition affecting more than 30 million Americans (about 9.4% of the population). Of those, nearly 30 percent (or 10 million people), have diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding disease that costs Americans more than $500 million every year.

The new Versant Health white paper, The health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy, outlines the toll both physically and financially that diabetic retinopathy can take on a person. Not only can the disease have a debilitating impact on vision, but medical costs associated with diabetic retinopathy are higher than with other diabetes-related conditions, including neuropathy and chronic kidney disease.

"Early intervention is critical when it comes to the successful treatment of diabetic retinopathy," says Mark Ruchman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Versant Health and contributor to the white paper "In its early stages, when treatment has the greatest likelihood of success, patients are typically asymptomatic. Thus, a regular eye exam is a critical component of any health and wellness program to reduce blindness from this disease."

Versant Health supports the overall health of its diabetic members in several ways, striving to reduce the risk for and/or severity of diabetic eye disease, including Diabetic Outreach, medical management, and detailed provider portal questionnaires. To learn more, download the health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy white paperfrom the Versant Health website.

About Versant HealthVersant Health is one of the nation's leading managed vision care companies serving more than 33 million members nationwide. Through our Davis Vision plans and Superior Vision plans, we help members enjoy the wonders of sight through healthy eyes and vision. Providing vision and eye health solutions that range from routine vision benefits to medical management, Versant Health has a unique visibility and scale across the total eye health value chain.As a result, members enjoy a seamless experience with access to one of the broadest provider networks in the industry and an exclusive frame collection.Commercial groups, individuals, third parties, and health plans that serve government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and Medicare are among our valued customers.

For more information visitversanthealth.com.

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Versant Health releases white paper: The health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy - Herald-Mail Media

For many of us, our eyesight is something we take for granted until we start getting older.

And then, suddenly we think, Oh, I might need glasses to read, and we accept thats part of the process. But theres more to it.

Eye health is something you can actually help controlas you get older, especially to reduce your risk ofAge-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) which can lead to low vision and blindness.

Anyone whos caring for a parent or grandparent would want the best for their eyesight too. So, we all need to know what we can do and there arepreventative measures that go beyond just wearing sunglasses to block UV rays.

Here are four facts about your eyes that can help protect your vision, and the vision of those you care for, for years to come.

You may already know that smoking can increase your risk of developing an eye condition. But did you know that high cholesterol and high blood pressure can too?

High cholesterol and high blood pressure can damage the blood vessel walls, increasing the likelihood of things like blood clots.

Take note also if you have an older person in your life who may need help getting on top of these things.

No, we dont mean just eating lots of carrots!

To help reduce the risk of developing an eye condition, Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) recommends that we adopt the following simple practices as a normal part of our diets:

Now, what about carrots? It turns out theyre not thenumber one food for eye health, despite what were told as kids.

MDFA notes that while carrots are a good source of vitamin A, which is important for general health, you should choose dark leafy greens as your main eye health vegetable.

For recipes that are tailored to improving your eye health, check out their free Eat For Your Eyes electronic cookbook on theirwebsite.

AMD is a chronic eye disease, which if left unchecked, may cause blindness. Its also the leading cause of blindness in Australia.

The macula is the part of your eye used for sharp, central vision. AMD causes the macula to deteriorate, and over time leads to blurred sight, and even black spots in your central vision.

This makes it hard to drive, read and recognise peoples faces. Its a scary thought for a lot of us, isnt it? And its particularly hard to watch a loved one going through it.

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4 facts you need to know about your eyes as you age. - Mamamia

Nicole Cicchetti said she felt instantly isolated when she covered her eyes with a black mask at Dining in the Dark. Of course I couldnt see, but my hearing was affected too: it was like the conversation at the table became muffled, explained Cicchetti, one of 180 guests at Vision Loss Alliance of New Jerseys annual fundraiser on Oct. 24.

Across The Meadow Wood ballroom, VLANJ participant and line dance instructor Harry Buddy Bradley coached Jill McNeil as she struggled to slice her chateaubriand. The next challenge was eating the small-cut pieces. She laughed when she brought an empty fork to her mouth. Ive done that three times! she said. Fourth try was a charm.

Held during Blindness Awareness Month, Dining in the Dark gave sighted guests a glimpse of what life is like for people who are blind or have significant vision loss. It also showcased the fulfilling lives people with vision loss enjoy.

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I never lost my vision; I lost my eyesight! said Joseph Ruffalo Jr., president of the New Jersey affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind. Ruffalo and the Morristown Medical Center Community Health Committee received VLANJs Founders Award, while VLANJ honored Senior Program Manager Linda Groszew for 15 years of service.

VLANJ is one of the states longest-serving nonprofits for adults with vision loss. Created in 1943 as a social club in Newark, it relocated to Denville in 1955 and operated as a summer camp for women. It evolved into the only comprehensive, nonresidential vision rehabilitation program for adults in New Jersey. VLANJ provides direct services in three counties to 225 adults, and another 1,000 participate in outreach programs.

I am inspired daily by the individuals who attend the programs that we offer. They refuse to let vision loss define who they are and what they can accomplish, VLANJ Executive Director Kris Marino said.

Longtime newspaperman and book author Mark DiIonno, who emceed the event, told guests how impressed he was by the camaraderie he witnessed at VLANJ. That sense of community is paramount to what this organization is all about, DiIonno said.

Vision Loss affects 1 out of 40 adults in New Jersey, and the numbers are expected to increase significantly as the population ages. The National Eye Institute projects the number of people with visual impairment or blindness in the U.S. will double to more than 8 million by 2050.

Dining in the Dark guests watched three videos of VLANJ participants describing how the nonprofit has impacted their lives. They also heard from VLANJ trustee Claudia Schreiber, who became blind more than a decade ago, when her two children were still in elementary school.

Devastated, she turned to VLANJ, and learned skills that helped her reclaim her independence.

This was the beginning of my journey back, Schreiber said. Slowly, slowly, I started to feel like the person I was before. A sculptor, Schreiber returned to her art, and has become a mentor and advocate for others with vision loss. I am happier today than I ever have been in my whole life! she said.

Dining in the Dark, which included a silent auction and a wine pull, raised more than $50,000 to provide services at the nonprofits center in Denville and at locations in Montclair in Essex County and Ridgewood in Bergen County.

The event was sponsored by: Aegis Capital Corp.; Williams Jones Wealth Management; Paramount Assets, LLC; Peapack Private; Carl Stahl Sava Industries, Inc.; Thatcher McGhees; Summit Lions Club; Mynt Properties, LLC Commercial Real Estate; The Church of the Saviour; Norman Dean Home for Services; Anthony Felicetta; and Florio Management. Joseph and Antoinette Cicchetti chaired the event, and members of the Chester Lioness Club volunteered.

ABOUT VISION LOSS ALLIANCE OF NEW JERSEY

Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey is a 501(c)(3) that provides practical training and emotional support to help those who have experienced profound vision loss regain self-esteem and self-reliance. Since its founding in 1943, Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey has used a holistic approach to empower those with profound vision loss to live engaged, productive and independent lives. Go to vlanj.org for more information.

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180 Guests at Dining in the Dark Glimpse Life with Low Vision - TAPinto.net

Potentially the most successful coach in the history of rugby union is hiding in plain sight. Maybe it is because she is a woman and gives relatively few interviews. More likely it is because people do not see her on the touchline or in the coaching box each week. Whichever it is, her visionary work will be staring everyone in the face in Saturdays World Cup final.

Should England win she will also be entitled to a unique place in rugby history. Only a handful of oval-ball legends Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen, Kieran Read have shared in two World Cup triumphs. No one, male or female, has ever achieved three. Step forward Englands unobtrusive secret weapon, Dr Sherylle Calder, now just 80 minutes away from an unprecedented global hat-trick.

Sixteen years ago, when many were dismissing the concept of a vision specialist as a gimmick, Calder was a valued member of Clive Woodwards backroom staff during Englands lengthy climb to 2003 success. In 2007, in the green and gold tracksuit of her native South Africa, she helped the Springboks conquer the world. And now here she is again, back in the red rose fold at the behest of Eddie Jones, who knows a winner when he sees one.

Have you ever wondered exactly why, say, Jonny May looks a more rounded, confident player; why Henry Slade is snaffling more interceptions, or noted the increasingly deft handling of Maro Itoje and Englands other big forwards? A significant part of the explanation can be traced back to the regular eye exercises Calder has conducted with Joness squad for almost three years.

In her previous role with the Springboks she turned the winger Bryan Habana into world rugbys greatest try poacher to the point where Habana was still going through last-minute reflex-sharpening work with her just seconds before the 2007 final against England kicked off. As a former South African hockey international, Calder is that rarest of mentors: someone who both understands the psyche of top athletes and can provide specific tools to help them improve on a daily basis.

Her EyeGym programmes have helped improve the performance of everyone from the golfer Ernie Els to the Mercedes F1 driver Valtteri Bottas but, having grown up in Bloemfontein, rugby has always been on her radar.

As a kid I used to watch South Africa in the early hours of the morning with my parents when they played the All Blacks. If youd told me then Id ever be involved in a World Cup I wouldnt have believed you, Calder says.

If youd told me Id be involved in three World Cups Id have said: Youre dreaming. If you told me Id win even two World Cups Id have said you were completely crazy.

Famously, Calder is on record as saying that spending too long on mobile devices, not least on match days, hinders athletic performance because it does not encourage peripheral vision, spatial awareness or increase eye movement. Her focus, instead, is on helping players to train their instincts and, as a result, make more effective decisions under pressure. Handling is only one aspect. Your eyes will show you, for example, which running line to take or where not to go. Timing of tackles, timing of runs, judgment of kicks and passes . . . people forget that for the past three years the players have been training that.

So when Itoje scoops a ball improbably off his toes or Tom Curry emerges almost overnight as a top-class lineout option, it is not quite the happy accident it might appear at first glance.

Habana, for one, felt Calders exercises made a massive difference to his game. He used to say to me: Thanks for making my eyes as fast as my feet. He felt that even though he was really quick that didnt mean his timing of runs and tackles would be correct. Timing comes from what you see. High balls? I believe all players should be able to take them. When commentators say: Thats a great catch, I think: Thats what he should be doing.

Calder is adamant her techniques can be applied to every walk of life and all ages. We do a lot of work with young kids. Parents started coming back to us saying: Our kids academic results have improved. If you can read information quickly, comprehend it immediately and then use it effectively . . . thats exactly what happens on a sports field as well. Its about picking up information early and then being able to execute it.

The proof of her worth will be even more glaring if England can replicate their 2003 triumph this weekend. Calder still has fond memories of that era, having been convinced for a long while that Martin Johnsons squad would rule the world.

They were definites to win, I always knew that. But they also did the right things, both as a management and as a player group. Thats what wins World Cups. I remember talking to Jonny Wilkinson on the field afterwards. Wow, fantastic I said. Well done. He replied: Thank you for what youve done for my game. For him, at that moment, to have the presence of mind to say that shows what a quality bunch they were. They were an amazing combination of people together.

Winning with the Boks in 2007 and subsequently at the Suntory club in Japan also cemented her professional respect for Jones. I see him as a rugby mastermind. Thats my experience of him. Hes great at what he does.

She also knows the Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus but any split national loyalties will disappear out of the window should the Webb Ellis Cup once again find its way into Englands and her own hands.

It would be marvellous. Words probably couldnt describe it but Im not a person who counts their chickens before theyre hatched. Im just blessed. I created the science, I love what I do and I know it makes a difference. Guardian

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The eyes have it: England vision coach Calder closing in on unique prize - The Irish Times

After an Ohio mom's daughters, who were born deaf, receivedcochlear implants, a device that provides those with moderate to profound hearing loss with a modified sense of sound, they were thriving. Shortly after the procedure, however, the then five- and two-year-old girls lost their father a pilot in theUnited States Air Force in a plane crash. Not long after that, both daughters failed a vision screening at their school.

Anna Chambers's daughters, Ava and Stella Rose, were diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder,Usher syndrome, the leading cause of combined deafness and blindness. With no cure, Ava, 14, and Stella Rose, 11, will ultimately be robbed of their sight.

With their diagnosis and the death of their father, Capt Jeff Haney, the "holidays had lost the sparkle, according to Anna.

The diagnosis was a curveball I was not expecting after the tragic loss of their father," Anna tells Yahoo Lifestyle, adding that the family had left Alaska where Haney was stationed, to move to Ohio, after his death.

"It was overwhelming for me as a mother, and I just knew I needed to start some new traditions for our new life," Anna says. "To bring back a little joy."

Ava and Stella Rose, sisters who have Usher syndrome, were born deaf. Now, their mother, Anna, is ensuring they have "visual memories" as their eyesight deteriorates. (Photo: Anna Chambers)

Growing up, her girls had always asked their mom to dress up with them on Halloween. Typically, without having the time to put together a costume for two young children and herself, she'd toss on a simple item, like a cowboy hat, to go trick-or-treating.

Anna tells Yahoo Lifestyle that dressing up was "always something I said 'no' to," but following her daughters diagnosis, she "wanted to start saying 'yes' more."

The sisters' eyesight has already begun to deteriorate, causing night blindness and other issues.

"After realizing their vision would slowly keep deteriorating, creating visual memories and new traditions for our new life became so important to me," Anna says. "This is where my idea of dressing up to surprise them for Halloween came to me."

Even though Ava and Stella Rose are entering eighth and sixth grade, respectively, and they may be a bit embarrassed by their mom putting together an epic costume, they still talk about what Anna will surprise them with during the months before Halloween.

This year, Anna dressed as Lady Gaga, with the help of her friendMegan Massingill Engelmann.

"I think Lady Gaga was the perfect choice this year. We all love her," Anna tells Yahoo Lifestyle. "My focus with them this year is to make sure they know that God made them perfectly. God makes no mistakes. I hope they will always be true to who they are, no matter what."

Anna, the founder ofSisters for Sight, hopes to raise awareness of her daughters' type of Usher syndrome (Type 1B) and has recently teamed up withSave Sight Now, a foundation dedicated to finding a cure or treatment for childhood blindness related to Usher syndrome Type 1B.

She also hopes that this tradition will always be a happy moment for her daughters.

"I hope that when they are grown, they will look back and it will be a really special memory for them," Anna says. "If they do lose their sight, I hope they will always keep a visual memory of this tradition."

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Mom dresses up as Lady Gaga to 'create visual memory' for her daughters losing their sight - Yahoo Food

Aniridia is a congenital disorder that causes severe eye problems, and also affects metabolism sometimes resulting in severe obesity. It is associated with mutation of a major developmental gene, called PAX6. People born with aniridia have no irises in their eyes, often are legally blind, and whatever eyesight they have continually worsens with age. The disease is uncommon, but disorders associated with genetic mutations can involve common eye problems, including cataracts and glaucoma.

To better understand and treat aniridia and other disorders involving the PAX6 gene, researchers and clinicians at the University of Virginia are combining clinical research, patient treatment and powerful basic science investigations.

They have organized for this weekend a major symposium focused on congenital eye disorders and the PAX6 gene, bringing together top researchers from the University and around the nation and Europe, along with patients living with aniridia and their families.

The organizers are Rob Grainger, W.L. Lyons Brown Professor of Biology, and Dr. Peter Netland, Vernah Scott Moyston Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology. Both are members of UVAs Brain Institute, and are research collaborators.

In his studies, Grainger uses frogs that are mutated to mimic aniridia and other eye disorders. Netland treats congenital eye disorders and conducts clinical research.

Here, the two colleagues explain for UVA Today readers their research and the goals of the 2019 John F. Anderson Symposium, Aniridia-PAX6 and Beyond

Q. Why did you organize this particular kind of symposium, connecting how eyes develop before birth and genetic diseases that can follow?

Grainger: Each of us works on different perspectives concerning eye formation. In my lab, we focus on how the eye is constructed during embryonic development; in Peter Netlands practice, on how to treat diseases that affect these processes.

These are complementary approaches two sides of the same coin. In one case we focus on the assembly of the eye, and in the other, what occurs when the eye is not constructed properly, leading to multiple serious consequences for the patient.

This interplay highlights the importance of looking at these two perspectives together, a collaboration in this case between the two of us (one in the School of Medicine and the other in the College of Arts & Sciences) each providing insights for the other.

Netland: The value of this kind of interaction has motivated us to bring together many of the worlds experts who pursue these two perspectives, including as well a third group: patients and their families who want to learn more about these diseases and treatments. There are few meetings held with this sort of three-way interaction in mind, and we anticipate that many fruitful insights and collaborations will emerge.

Q. Dr. Netland, why is aniridia an area of particular interest to you?

Netland: More than 20 years ago, I spent an extended period of time in the Middle East and India, where there are high rates of consanguinity and congenital eye disorders, which led to a book I produced about pediatric glaucomas, other scholarly contributions and development of my clinical skills. About 20 years ago, I cared for an infant with aniridia and the family of that patient. The potentially disabling issues for the patient, which involved all parts of the eye, and the compelling issues that the family were dealing with drew me toward this condition.

Another patient was very influential to me, because she was a patient advocate and mother of an affected child. I began to see increasingly larger numbers of patients with congenital eye disorders and aniridia, and I developed further clinical and academic interests in the topic.

Around 20 years ago, we started biannual meetings with the patient advocacy group Aniridia Foundation International, and developed connections with other patient support groups, which helped shape the direction of our efforts. With increasing contact with the patients and their families, I became deeply interested in trying to help these patients.

About 20 years ago, I cared for an infant with aniridia and the family of that patient. The potentially disabling issues for the patient, which involved all parts of the eye, and the compelling issues that the family were dealing with drew me toward this condition.

- Dr. Peter Netland

This is a disease that results from damage to the gene PAX6, already known to be perhaps the most fundamental gene involved in eye formation overall and consequently affecting the entire visual system. However, we knew much less about how to treat the many facets of this disorder; for example, cataract, glaucoma and corneal opacification (scarring), which are frequently acquired by patients. Some of these problems are common in the general population, and have broad significance. Many advances have been made in the past, but there is much more progress that is needed for the future.

Q. Why do you use frogs in your eye research, Professor Grainger?

Grainger: We have been examining eye development in frog embryos for over 20 years in my lab, initially because so much embryology, going back to the beginning of the 20th century, was done on these large, easy-to-obtain-and-raise embryos.

In the early days, we were learning how the different parts of the eye, notably the lens and retina, are formed by interactions between parts of the embryo to form a coordinated whole organ exactly the interactions that are disturbed when things go awry in aniridia patients.

Q. Six years ago the Grainger lab developed a gene-editing technique that allows you to mimic human lesions. How is this advancing eye research?

Grainger: While the utility of the frog system for understanding embryological processes is undisputed, during the decades that we have been doing research, the techniques allowing us to manipulate and understand gene function have blossomed, including genome projects and more recently gene editing the ability to inactivate genes of interest to learn how they function during normal development.

In 2013, we published our first paper using this new technology to inactivate genes critical for eye formation in frogs and to follow in precise detail how things go awry. This has allowed us to make important clarifications in how these genes contribute to development of the eye. Because the frog eye develops much as the human eye, these mutations help us look in detail in a way not feasible in human embryos; thereby allowing us to understand how these genetic errors lead to the problems that occur in human patients. Specifically, we have made mutations in frogs in the PAX6 gene that lead to frogs having aniridia, with features of the animals strikingly similar to those in human patients.

These are complementary approaches two sides of the same coin. In one case we focus on the assembly of the eye, and in the other, what occurs when the eye is not constructed properly, leading to multiple serious consequences for the patient.

- Robert Grainger

Q. What kind of clinical research and therapies are UVA conducting that connect with the basic research?

Netland: We have looked at many of the vision-threatening eye problems in our aniridia patients. We have also found that their mutation is linked with obesity, and have performed clinical trials to evaluate the causes of this. We have performed studies to better understand the mechanisms for some of their clinical problems, such as glaucoma.

We are excited about precision medicine trials identifying patients who can benefit from a specific gene-based therapy and we recently completed a two-year clinical trial evaluating targeted gene therapy. In parallel, similar problems are under study in the frog to complement and build on the work with human patients.

Q. What future do you see for patients with eye disease as this research moves forward?

Netland: We are working with patients with known mutations of a specific gene, so naturally we are excited about precision medicine approaches to these patients. We believe that genetic-based approaches will continue to increase understanding of these diseases and will provide the basis for rational therapy for affected patients, and more broadly for others in the general population who are suffering from the same clinical problems. We believe that new imaging techniques will produce new insights in this area.

Grainger: In the frog, our lab has developed a method for efficiently creating exact patient mutations, again amplifying the opportunities for an integrated approach to precision medicine. There are opportunities with in situ gene modification and other gene-based therapies for addressing problems and improving the quality of life of patients.

Read more from the original source:
Patients, Physicians and Researchers Gather to Probe Genetic Eye Disorders - University of Virginia

UK police are helping to make the roads safer by enforcing vision standards for driving.

Figures released to OT through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that since 2017 police have referred 801 drivers to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after they failed roadside eyesight checks.

In September last year, road safety charity Brake partnered with police forces in Thames Valley, Hampshire and West Midlands on a month-long campaign to raise awareness about vision and driving.

Drivers had their licence revoked if they could not pass the 20m number plate test.

Brake senior public affairs officer Samuel Nahk highlighted that good eyesight is fundamental to safe driving.

Any driver who gets behind the wheel with poor eyesight is not only putting themselves but all other road users in grave danger. That's why it's vital for drivers to get their eyes professionally checked at least every two years eyesight can deteriorate rapidly without someone noticing, Mr Nahk emphasised.

He shared that the current licensing system does not do enough to protect the public from drivers with poor eyesight.

It is of huge concern that there is no mandatory requirement on drivers to have an eye test throughout the course of their driving life, other than the 20m number plate test when taking the driving test. Only by introducing compulsory professional eye tests can we fully tackle the problem of poor driver vision on our roads, Mr Nahk said.

The DVLA has confirmed that 61,526 motorcycle and car drivers have had their licences revoked since 2012 as a result of poor vision, while 9941 bus and lorry drivers also lost their licences due to poor vision over the same period.

The rest is here:
Laying down the law - AOP

Here is why shooting glasses are so important.

Protective eyewear is one of the most important investments you can make if you're a regular at the shooting range. A good pair of glasses offer eye protection not just from spent shells or casings, but from things like unburned powder and small pieces of material that may ricochet off your target and back at you.

Safetyglasses are arguably as important as hearing protection for preserving two of your most important senses. But while people talk about ear protection all the time, eye protection is a secondary thought.

Which is why we're addressing this issue today. We're going to give you some suggestions on the bestshooting glasses out there and why you should be wearing them more often.

Both men and women who shoot guns need to take this simple advice: find a pair of shooting glasses that work for you, and never skip wearing them for as long as you're aiming down a barrel.

As we've already stated, shooting can be hazardous to the eyes. The biggest and most realistic thing I've encountered is spent casings. Every once in a great while, my Glock 19 handgun will throw a piece of hot brass back in my face. You don't want something like that to hit your eye. It could cause permanent damage and in some extreme cases, even blindness.

When you're shooting a target at close range, there is also the chance for pieces of your target or even unburned powder to get deflected back at you. Now, you should always be taking precautions to avoid this type of thing. But weird stuff happens sometimes, and a piece of debris can get launched back at you from far downrange. The more you shoot, the more likely something like this will happen to you.

The other reason why shooting safety glasses are so important is simply because of the off chance of a catastrophic failure. It's very rare, but if something happens and a round leaves the barrel sideways or there's an obstruction in the barrel, it could cause your firearm to literally blow up in your hands.

If your face is down peering through a scope or set of sights, that puts your eyes in immediate danger in a situation like this. Protective eyewear could literally save your vision.

There are many different things to consider for eye protection. First off, I've seen some people just wear a simple pair of sunglasses from off the rack at Walmart. While this will protect your eyes from the little things like spent brass or powder, you should really use a pair designed for shooting.

That's because most safety glasses are made with a polycarbonate material that helps prevent them from shattering. This goes back to what I said about preparing for a worst-case scenario. Many glasses will have a list of safety standards they meet in their promotional materials.

You might see the phrase "ANSI Z87.1 certified" tossed around in marketing for shooting glasses. It's not a marketing buzz term. This simply refers to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The Z87.1 just means it meets basic standards. It's not a bad idea to get a pair of shooting glasses that satisfies them.

In regards to lens color, you'll be inundated with a ton of choices. I find clear lenses work best for most scenarios. Many people stick to clear just for indoor ranges, and tinted when they shoot outside. I suggest trying several pairs to see what you like best.

The lens color can actually enhance your shooting if you know what to look for. Have you ever watched an Olympic shooting event on TV? You probably noticed the shooters change their lenses depending on the lighting conditions.

For instance, if it's sunny and clear out, you'll see them wearing darker lenses that look like sunglasses. But if there are clouds in the sky, you might see them in blue, bronze or yellow-colored lenses.

There's a tactical advantage here, especially for clay shooters.

The contrast created by the colored lens, especially the yellow option, helps them more easily pick up their target. Some of the best ballistic shooting glasses on the market today offer interchangeable lenses to help adapt to the conditions.

You should also consider a comfortable fit, especially if you're going to be wearing them for extended periods of time. Look at things like the nose pads and flexibility. If they leave a mark on your nose, they probably aren't ideal. Users of eyeglasses are already aware of how important a comfortable nosepiece can be.

Some styles will protect better than others. A flat, aviator style of glasses isn't going to offer better protection than a wraparound style.

Other features to consider are how scratch-resistant a pair is, and whether or not they are covered by any warranty. You want to get your money's worth, right? Oh, and don't forget about anti-fog properties. Nothing is more annoying than having to constantly wipe the lenses because your warm breath or thick humidity keeps fogging them up.

I used to wear prescription eyeglasses when I was younger. These days I wear a pair of yellow-tinted glasses to protect my eyes from computer eye strain while I'm working. So, I'm aware of the problems a pair of glasses can cause when it comes to simple things like using binoculars or rangefinders.

I'm sure many of you will agree with me when I say that sunglasses or shooting glasses designed to fit over prescription eyeglasses are a real pain to use. Annoyingly, I've never found a pair I liked. The choice was always between hassling with annoying gimmicks that never seemed to work properly, or sacrificing my vision while shooting.

But fortunately, some companies have recognized this and are now offering specialty prescription eyeglasses that allow you to keep your vision and protect your eyes from danger at the same time.

If you're lucky, your ophthalmologist may be able to order a pair of these for you. Otherwise there are companies like Tactical RX or Revision Outdoors that you can order a pair from. They are more expensive than a standard pair of safety glasses, but at least you won't have to fool with adapters or fit-over styles anymore. It's probably worth the investment in the end.

We checked out some of the offerings of the top brands out there and here are a few with great impact resistance we can recommend that will help protect your eyes at the shooting range.

The good news about most of these glasses is that they are very reasonably priced.

These Wiley X Saber Advanced glasses are one of the top offerings on Cabela's. They carry high ratings from users on the site for their comfort and adaptability. The Wiley X meetsANSIZ87.1 and OSHA standards and feature foam on the nosepiece for a more comfortable fit. They also come with a variety of lens options including grey/rust, grey/clear and grey/rust/vermillion options to truly get your money's worth. Some reviewers say they get double use as UV protection as sun/driving glasses off the shooting range!

Sometimes simplicity is best. These Beretta glasses are available with clear, orange or yellow polycarbonatelenses. The frame is plastic, meaning these are extremely light weight. This is a wrap-around style which should fit most faces comfortably. We especially like the price. At just $20, this is a great option to protect your sight on a budget.

These Cabela's branded glasses are also priced at only $20. But these are a little more stylish if you want to use them off the range to keep harmful UV rays out of your face. They're ANSI-rated and include a rubberized nosepiece. That will help keep them on your face for a long day at the range. As a bonus, you get a pair of foam earplugs with these in case you haven't bought hearing protection yet.

You know what they say, you get what you pay for. Oakley is a very popular brand of high-quality eye protection that you can trust to keep your eyes safe. These M Frame Alpha impact resistant glasses come with an anti-fog coating and the ability to swap out lenses via a "Trap Door" exchange system. The only downside to them is the price. These glasses cost $156.

For more outdoor content fromTravis Smola, be sure to follow him onTwitterand check out hisGeocachingandOutdoors with Travis Youtube channels.

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Shooting Glasses: Why You Need Them, and the Best to Choose From - Wide Open Spaces

Last year a drunk pigeon won New Zealand Bird of the Year. It's time for our nation's staunchest bird of prey to take out the title, writesVICKI ANDERSON.

On the back country roads of NorthCanterbury, the sun dapples pleasantly through a lush green canopy of trees.Elbow out the window, travelling at a steady 100kmh,suddenly around a gentle blind corner you're confronted with life and death.

Staunchly hunched over acarcass, extracting the dead creature's organs with brutal and determined precision, the swamp harrier aka theharrier hawkor khu doesn't flinch when it spots the vehicle bearing down.

Scott Bowman

Oscar is a little blind owl ''who who who'' visits Christchurch schools and rest homes to teach people about wildlife.

Defiantly the hawk raises its angular head like a thug in an alleyway with a "what are you looking at?" vibe, a rabbit liver or heart dangling from its sharp beak.

READ MORE:*Bird of the Year campaigns to ruffle feathers*Oscar the blind owl winning hearts*Bird is the word - meet the everyday Kiwis saving feathered lives

These birds have "killer vision" so focused on their prey they often don't see cars until it's often too late.

But this time, with an exaggerated pause to gulp down the bloody morsel, the bird slowly and effortlessly unfurls its huge wings and saunters off into the sky with a wild elegance.

You cannot help but stare in awe as it returns to cruisinghigh above paddockand farmland.

The near miss story causes Scotty Bowman of Oxford Bird Rescue, a non-profit organisation dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation,to bury his face with both hands in genuine horror.

"Vehicle strikes are the biggest threat to harrier hawks in New Zealand," he says solemnly.

Beside him, wife and fellow "bird rehabber"Traceynodsin agreement.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF

This harrier hawk is in rehab at Oxford Bird Rescue. Hawks often blink one eye at a time.

Every year during autumn, winter and early spring the Bowmans end up nursing many harriers back to health from vehicle-inflicted injuries.

New Zealanders value our wildlife, as evidenced by the continued public interest in the winner of the Bird of the Year competition.

The couple are among a growing number volunteering their time to care for injured wildlife.They run their bird rehab centre alongside regular jobs.

Bowman is also the campaign managerfor the harrier hawk in this year's Bird of the Year competition.Harrier (Khu) | Bird of the Year 2019

"On Facebook the campaign managershave been giving each other a bit of stick," he says. "Come on... adrunk pigeon won last year."

Why do our birds need our help to survive?

Clumsy kerer become drunk on fermented berries and crash into things trying to find their nests while our cheeky and photogenic kea get lead poisoning after nibbling just one roof too many.

Forget the cuddly image you've been sold ofpenguins via the sweet dance moves of Happy Feet.Unlike swans, which form monogamous bonds,penguins are the shaggers of the bird world.

Notoriously promiscuous, penguins have sex up to 50 times a day and are essentially riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. They are typically rescued after being bitten by peckish sharks, barracuda or becoming entangled in set nets.

The Bowmans specialise in caring for raptors - harrier hawks and little owls.

WReNNZ Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand is a society dedicated to bird rehabilitation. It has been operating for more than 25 years and is open to anyone interested in New Zealand wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release.

Khuare the largest of the 16 species of harrier. Mori believed them to be a messenger from the gods.

Boasting extremely sharp vision, they can spot the slightest movement from vast distances.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF

Scotty Bowman, of Oxford Bird Rescue, is the campaign manager for the Harrier Hawk in the New Zealand Bird of the Year 2019. He is rehabilitating this bird after it flew into a front-end loader.

An opportunistic bird, they prefer to hunt live prey such as rabbits, hares, waterfowl, smaller birds, the occasional pkeko, rats and mice.

Scotty Bowman's life as a bird rehabber began in 2012when he hit a harrier hawk driving home from work.

After many phone calls, he found a bird rehabber who took it in and followed itsprogress until it was healed and returned to the wild.

"I got hooked in that way."

Early on,he found himself in some interesting situations.

"There was a hawk on the side of the road injured. I went to pick it up and it got a talon embedded in my hand," he says. "Itried to get it out but I couldn't.

"Eventually I drove home with one hand withthe bird on the passenger seat with the talon still in my other hand and when I got home I called out to Tracey to give me some help to free it."

He turns his hand over to reveal a small white scar.

Other people wear gloves to handle birds of prey but Bowman just reaches around themand deftly swoops them up, secures them and cradles them like an angry baby in his arms.

Fiercely blinking one eye at a time, a tawny-coloured bird stares stoically from its spot under Bowman's wing.

"That bird came from the Department of Conservation in Greymouth. He head-butted a front-end loader. They put him up on a bank and he sat there for two days and they realised something was wrong. I was in Queenstown and drove all the way through to Haast to go and get him."

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF

Bowman checks a Harrier Hawk that was injured after headbutting a front-end loader.

On average only onein 10 birds can be saved and successfully released into the wild.

"It's not the best in terms of figures," he says.

"They eat carrion all year around, but they much prefer fresh and to hunt. They only resort to carrion or roadkill during the colder months when other food becomes more scarce. Roadkill is their last choice basically. If they're eating that you're looking at a starving bird."

This year he has been on a campaign in the Oxford area to help change these statistics.

"Wherever safe to do so, we encourage people to stop and move carrion to the verge to provide a safe meal for these stunning raptors and save a life. It has been incredibly successful and we have had far less birds than usualbeing hit locally."

Natives, their conservation status is "not threatened". If anything some joke these savvy hunting birds are more likely to add to endangered lists, but they play an important part in our environment by both hunting pest species and cleaning up dead animals on farmland.

Each spring the hawks' mating dance is "incredibly dramatic".

Theaerial courtship is often called "sky dancing" and involves plunging u-shaped dives around each other and distinctive loud calls.

The bloke bird apparently offers a loud "kee-a", and maybe even a whistle,to which the female, if keen, responds with a "kee-o".

Ground nesters, they prefer to build nests in swamps and wetlands to lessen access by predators but will also nest in long grass and crop paddocks.

Keenly intelligent, these birds shrewdly selectand strategically placestones warmed by the sun to ensure the nest is kept warm while the motherhunts dinner.

"These birds are just so incredibly clever," says Bowman.

When he talks about hawks, he becomes increasingly animated.Just don't mention falconry. He is not a fan.

"No, don't get me started on that," he says, turning the palms of his hands up apologetically. "I'll get cross... it's not about the birds with them."

As we talk, the hawk which hit the front-end loader is unusually still. Its bright yellow eyes blink as it observes us. its tail feathers are incredibly beautiful up close.

"Most people don't get a chance to see them. They fly away so fast when you see them, it's really hard to get photos of them as anyone who has tried knows.Their eyesight is so fantastic they see you a mile away and move away, that's why it's so hard to get close to them,"Bowman says.

"He's quite unusual because he's so calm. He is probably still recovering from concussion. This bird is not stressed. If they are stressed they open their beaks and leave them open."

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF

Scotty Bowman with a harrier hawk that was injured after headbutting a frontend loader. Bowman is the campaign manager for the harrier hawk in the New Zealand Bird of the Year 2019.

He doesn't give the birds names because it "pays not to get too attached".

"Now and again a bird comes along that you can't help but name, like Hollywood the owl last year Tracey looks after the owlsbut we try not to as a rule."

Bowman gently weighs the stunned bird, which still has a dangling piece of meat in its beak,and then carries it to an outdoor aviary.

"He was very thin when he got here. I had to hand feed him for two days until I finally got him eating. He wasn't happy."

When rescued, the bird also had a "funny stance". Further X-rays showed one leg had an old break which had already fused.

The bird naturally stands with one leg forward like a footwear model.

"There is no nerve damage and he can still use his leg. I just need to build up his muscles."

As hawks age they lighten in colour, changingfrom a richchocolate brown as a juvenile to a mix of white and light tan.

Their eye colour also changes, starting out dark and turningyellow.

HARASSED HAWKS

While the native bush falcon is today considered a threatened species, retreating as forests have been cleared, the harrier hawk is more widespread than ever. According to conservation experts, the khuis "doing OK". This is quite impressive considering their haters.

Depending on what theyfarm, farmers adore and deplore hawksin equal measure.

Its fair to say many landowners have a complicated relationship with them.

Harrier hawks were once treated as vermin and suspected of stealing baby lambs but were given partial protection status in 1986.

However, landowners were still permitted to kill birds threatening their domestic birds and animals specifically "cattle, sheep, horses, mules, asses, dogs, cats, pigs or goats".

Butif a hawk is stalking your alpaca or your pet guinea pig, you can't shoot them without a special permit from DOC.

There are many other curious technicalities in the law when dealing with the hawks,Bowman says.

"Fish and Game decided to target harrier hawks a few years ago, 2014, and now they've almost got no protection. I think the Department of Conservation supported the law change because they cull them over areaswhere the black-billed gulls are. It makes it easier for them to run their culling programmes."

It is illegal to take any feathers from a hawk killed on the road.The fine for killing harrier hawks other than in accordance with the law is $5000 or $10,000 for a body corporate.

The Bowmans appreciate DoC's workbut also negotiatetheir own difficulties withsome of the regulations.

In 2016 they rescued a blind, tiny German owlfound beside a chicken coop by a young child. His mother called the Bowmans to help save his life and Oscar has lived with them ever since.

It is believed Oscar's blindness is a result offlying into the wire fence.

The disabled bird has since become an online hit and won hearts around Canterbury as fans follow his deeds on the Oxford Bird Rescue Facebook page.

Now an advocacy bird, he regularly visits schools, rest homes and other groups to raise awareness.

"We don't technically have a permit for Oscar. If they wanted to, technically DOC could say he needs to be culled," Bowman says.

"If he can't be returned to the wild he should be culled, that's typically what the rules say. It's always black and white for government departments. If Oscar could see we could release him back into the wild but we can't do that as he wouldn't survive. Why does he need to be killed? He's a beautiful bird. Life has a lot of grey areas and sometimes the rules don't fit that."

WILDERNESS REHAB

Seven hawks in various stages of rehabilitation are dangling on the aviary netting as far away from us as they can get, giant wings flapping frantically.

Their beaks are open slightly. We don't want to stress them out so we retreat to until their beaks close again.

Bowmanpoints out onebird. "He is just about ready to be returned to the wild. He was in a bad way when he came in here and now he's nearly fully healed. That's the best part of it, releasing them back where they came from. We always try to return them to the spot they were found."

Across the sprawling paddocks, magpies call to one another.

"That family of magpies has been living in those trees for decades," Bowman pointinto the distance. "They co-exist with these hawks but there was one hawk I rehabilitated and released. He left and then turned up one day about a year later. Everything was going well but then he ate one of the magpies' babies and they forced him out. He shouldn't have done that."

Two years ago the couple were caring for so many birds in their home shelter that it began to take a toll on their health.

A Massey University survey in 2017 looked at compassion fatigue exhaustion from prolonged exposure to the stresses of caring for sick and vulnerable wildlife among New Zealand wildlife rehabilitators.

It found most were able to keep a healthy balance, despite the pressures of the role, but this wasn't the case for the Bowmans.

"Because we are doing this around our 9-5 jobs and it is in our home, we took on too much, but now we have scaled it back to primarily concentrating on raptors to make it more manageable so we can keep going.Bird rescue is a lot of work and a big commitment but it is all worth it when you watch that effort result in a wild bird flying free."

Koshy Yohannan

Fran, aka Miss December in the 2017 Wingspan Calendar, is an adult female harrier hawk.

See the article here:
Khu vision: Why this harrier hawk is New Zealand's swaggiest bird - Stuff.co.nz

A man testifying in the trial of two brothers, one of them a Toronto police officer, accused of brutally beating a black teen nearly three years ago, described peering through his window that night and seeing two people repeatedly punching someone against a wall.

James Silverthorn told the court he awoke in the early hours of Dec. 28, 2016, to the sound of screams so loud he believed they were inside his Whitby, Ont., home, and after realizing they came from outside, rushed to see what was happening through the shutters of his bathroom window.

"I could see that one individual was being beaten by two other people," between his home and the neighbouring one, Silverthorn said Tuesday. "It was continuous, it was very hard."

Shortly afterward, a black male began pounding on Silverthorn's front door, yelling for someone to call 911, he testified. Silverthorn's wife had already made the call and he quickly went back upstairs to speak to the dispatcher, he said.

The banging at the door stopped, and at some point, Silverthorn looked through his front window and saw someone on the ground of his driveway next to his wife's SUV, he told the court.

One of the two people he had seen doling out punches earlier stood nearby, holding what looked like a broomstick or pipe and using it to "stab down" and prevent the person on the ground from getting up, he said. The other person from earlier was at the end of the driveway talking on a cellphone, he said.

Silverthorn, a district chief with Toronto Fire Services, was in the witness box inthe trial of Michael Theriault, a Toronto police constable, and his brother Christian Theriault, who are jointly charged with aggravated assault in the beating of Dafonte Miller in the early hours of Dec. 28, 2016.

Michael Theriault, who was off duty at the time, and his brother are also separately charged with obstruction of justice in connection with how they portrayed the incident to investigators. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors allege the brothers saw Miller, then 19, walking in the area with friends, chased him, assaulted him, then continued that assault after he briefly escaped them.

Court heard the pair told police they caught Miller breaking into their car. The young man was arrested that night but the charges were later dropped.

In a brief opening statement on Tuesday, Crown attorney Peter Scrutton said the brothers could also be found guilty of aggravated assault for carrying out an unlawful arrest or using excessive force during that arrest.

A police officer called to investigate the incident testified that she first saw Miller face down on the ground with a white man restraining him, but was able to see him more clearly after the teen was pulled up.

"There was a quantity of blood coming from his left eye.It appeared to me to be a significant injury," Durham Regional Police Service Const. Jennifer Bowler told an Oshawa, Ont., court.

"It made me a little queasy," she said.

Bowler said she was dispatched to the outside of a home after three calls were made to 911 one by Miller, one by a resident, and one by a man reporting that he had caught someone breaking into cars.

She was tasked with photographing the area and anything that seemed relevant, including any injuries, the officer said.

Bowler said she took photos of Miller and of Christian Theriault's hand, which had a cut, but that no other injuries were reported or visible. She told the brothers to get in touch if injuries appeared in the next few days but to her knowledge, they did not, she testified.

Under cross-examination, the officer said it was possible the brothers would have been in shock immediately after the incident, and would have seen a doctor rather than police if any injuries emerged later.

Among the other things Bowler saw and photographed at the scene were blood spots and droplets, a pair of black gloves, a metal pole, two cellphones and some change, she told the court.

The constable eventually went to take photographs of a truck at a nearby home after another man, this one in his 50s, said it was "entered as part of the incident," she testified. Bowler took photos that showed the inside console of the truck was left open.

When she returned to the original scene, she noticed blood on the hood of a car in the driveway, and assumed the "tissue" came from Miller's eye, she said.

After collecting items at the site, Bowler took them to a police station for processing, and noticed that some of them appeared to have blood on them, including the metal pole, she said.

The pole, roughly a metre long, was shown in court Tuesday.

Lawyers for Miller have previously alleged race was a factor in the incident, and that the Theriault brothers kicked their client and hit him in the face with a metal pipe.

Miller's left eye was knocked out of its socket and split into four, his lawyers have said. He also suffered a broken nose, broken orbital bone, bruised ribs, reduced vision in his right eye and a fractured wrist, they said.

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Witness testifies he saw 2 men punching someone 'very hard' in Dafonte Miller beating trial - CBC.ca

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

Photo: Edgar Degas/The Phillips Collection

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

Degas had a gift for conveying the truth - even when he was making it all up

PARIS - Fake news and truth, the terms we hear so much about lately, are supposed to be mutually exclusive. Truth is obdurate and aloof. Fake is fake: It's a sham. Simpering and obscene, it demeans everyone it touches.

We want - we need - the distinction to be clear-cut, since so much rides on it. But in the realm of art (isn't it always so?) things are more complicated.

Take Edgar Degas, whose work is now the subject of a sprawling, stupendous show, "Degas at the Opra," at the Muse d'Orsay. (It will travel in modified form to the National Gallery of Art next year.)

Degas is supposed to have been on the side of truth. But truth in art and truth in public life are very different things. And we get Degas badly wrong if we mistake him for a documentarian.

The standard Degas narrative is that he dispensed with the stale repertoire of religious, mythological and historical subjects and turned his gaze instead to contemporary life: the city's racetrack, cafe concerts, milliners' shops, brothels and ballet classes. Everyone knows, too, that Degas helped form the Impressionist group - and what was Impressionism about if not showing the world as it is?

That story is fine as far as it goes. But neat stories - especially those involving sunlight and poppy fields - don't really adhere to Degas. He was an indoor creature, slightly vampiric, ferociously independent. ("If I were the government," he once said, "I would have a special brigade of gendarmes to keep an eye on artists who paint landscapes from nature. Oh, I don't mean to kill anyone; just a little dose of birdshot now and then as a warning." And you want to call this guy an Impressionist?)

In the century since Degas's death, the idea that he embraced Impressionist-style spontaneity and natural light has been hard to shake. So has the notion that he was an intrepid realist haunting the hidden corners of Paris. But when we look at Degas through the lens of the one subject that dominated his oeuvre - the Paris Opra - both notions finally fall apart.

Unlike other subjects, which Degas treated only sporadically, the Opra was a continuous subject for about four decades. As you move from one image to the next in this show (which was organized by Degas biographer Henri Loyrette, with the assistance of Leila Jarbouai and Marine Kisiel of the Muse d'Orsay and Kimberly Jones of the National Gallery), you could be fooled into imagining that Degas was giving you a brisk tour of the Opra building:

Here is the stage ... There is the orchestra ... Here are the dancers ... Here is where they rehearse ... And here is where the gentlemen subscribers in top hats come to procure sexual favors.

Surely not from those sweet ballerinas in tutus?

The "little rats"? Yes, yes. From them.

Degas, however, was no tour guide. Nor was he a journalist. For him, it all went far, far deeper. Everything he did had an underlying aesthetic rationale. And everything was invented.

That's right: Degas was a fabulist. His art was a studio product. ("No art is less spontaneous than mine," he said.) It did not come from standing about in the fields like a damn cow. It came from hard work and imagination, and always drew from the Old Masters, toward whom Degas's reverence was palpable.

Even the settings of the Opra works were mostly invented: The first Paris opera house Degas came to know was on the rue Le Peletier. Already scheduled for demolition by the time he started attending, it was destroyed by fire in 1873. The fire kick-started the stalled construction of the new opera house, the opulent Palais Garnier (the famous setting for "The Phantom of the Opera"), which finally opened in 1875.

But Degas much preferred the old building, so he proceeded as if the Palais Garnier simply didn't exist: The identifiable settings of almost all his depictions of the Opra are in the destroyed building on the rue Le Peletier.

So much for truth-telling.

Casting off false notions about Degas frees us to perceive the Opra's significance to him. Certainly he was attracted to the music. (Degas was an aficionado, with sophisticated tastes. He loved 18th-century composers - Bach, Rameau and especially Gluck - and rejected the cult of Wagner then sweeping Europe.)

But the deeper reason the Opra seduced him as an artist stands in plain sight: It was a place of make-believe, of spectacle, of artifice. For Degas, according to Loyrette, it was "a closed universe," "a microcosm of infinite possibilities, allowing all kinds of experimentation."

Degas reveled in this. In his Opra pictures, he played with points of view and contrasts of light and dark; with movement and gesture; with cropping and composition; and with format, medium and scale.

The Opra's appeal must also have been psychological. Anyone who goes to the theater gets it immediately. Stage, backstage, curtains, scenery, audience: The atmosphere is infectious. You feel the thrill of voyeurism, the possibility of adopting alternative personas, the tart, vinegary taste of so much brazen artifice. (One thinks of Matisse describing the hotel rooms in Nice that he transformed into stage sets, decked out with Oriental fabrics and adorned with local models posing as odalisques: "Everything was fake, absurd, amazing, delicious.")

In his great essay "The Painter of Modern Life," Charles Baudelaire argued that beauty is composed of two equal parts. One part hinges on eternal values; the other is "relative, circumstantial" and plugged into the contingent present. Degas - perhaps even more convincingly than his friend douard Manet - met the challenge of how to express such beauty pictorially.

He united suggestions of an impersonal, Arcadian dream with an intense, streaming, present-tense intimacy. The intimacy burns cleanly, drawing its fuel from Romanticist color and movement and its oxygen from modern disjuncture. The Arcadian side of his work, meanwhile, draws on the timeless spell of ancient Greece (via Degas' hero, the neoclassicist J.-A.-D. Ingres).

Only the Opra gave Degas the license to bring all this together.

The first of his Opra-inspired works was an 1867 depiction of a well-known dancer, Eugnie Fiocre, on the set of a ballet, "La Source." For many years, the picture confused art historians, because it looks like a landscape - a mountain scene in the Caucasus, no less, replete with a horse drinking from a stream. All that gives it away as a stage set for a ballet is a pair of pink ballet slippers visible between the horse's front legs.

Over the next few years, Degas painted many astute portraits of singers and musicians. He made a breakthrough in 1870 with "The Orchestra at the Opera," a portrait commissioned by the bassoonist Dsir Dihau. It shows Dihau in his natural habitat - the orchestra pit at the Opra, surrounded by fellow musicians.

Degas returned repeatedly to this composition - the dark pit in the lower half, the colorful stage above. It looks spontaneous, but the tableau was entirely artificial. The bassoonist, for starters, would not have occupied a place in the orchestra's front row. Nor did the musicians sit at right angles to the stage.

So many incredible images unfurl like a Chinese scroll painting from these early breakthroughs. The most famous, of course, are the dancers. Degas depicted them stretching at the bar, retying their slippers or perched atop a grand piano while stretching and scratching their backs. Here again, though, he freely invented features of the rooms they occupy and concocted details of their activities. When he asked a friend, Albert Hecht, for a pass permitting him to see the weekly dance examinations, he sheepishly admitted: "I have done so many of these dance examinations without having seen them that I am a little ashamed of it."

Next door to the Opra was a brothel. Degas did not ignore the sad, seamy fact of their connection. Yet again, though, his vision was filtered through someone else's imaginings. Inspired by best-selling novellas by a friend, the librettist Ludovic Halvy (who collaborated with Bizet on "Carmen"), Degas depicted men propositioning the young dancers. Most were desperately poor, working-class girls. Those who trafficked in sex were often pimped by their own mothers. In a series of monotypes, Degas even takes us inside the brothel and - uncharacteristically - lets his revulsion show.

As he aged and his eyesight slowly deteriorated, Degas maintained his devotion to themes he had been inspired by at the Opra. Retreating from his earlier fascination with people as unique psychological entities immersed in social space, he turned instead to a more private vision. His late dancers (clumps of overlapping girls resembling many-limbed, many-headed monsters, weirdly endowed with their own interiority) amount to a kind of long and death-haunted monologue - obsessive, ravished and, in the annals of art, unprecedented.

- - -

"Degas at the Opera"

Through Jan. 19 at the Muse d'Orsay, Paris. musee-orsay.fr.

Original post:
Degas had a gift for conveying the truth - even when he was making it all up - Alton Telegraph

A family members visual fitness to drive can become an elephant in the room within individual households. On a national level, the issue has traditionally fallen within a political blind spot.

But a sign that this may be set to change came with the Road Safety Statement 2019, which saw the launch of a government research programme and literature review to assess the impact of vision on road safety.

The reality is that a lot of drivers do not consider their vision or are poor judges of the quality of their vision

At present, the only visual check for drivers in the UK is an individuals ability to read a licence plate from a distance of 20m.

Dr Julie-Anne Little

The AOP has campaigned for drivers to undergo regular vision checks as part of licensing requirements.

Its Dont swerve at sight test campaign received 159 broadcast hits and reached 111 million listeners in 2017.

AOP Councillor, Dr Julie-Anne Little, told OT that it is heartening that the Government has listened to conversations occurring within the profession.

Optometrists know how important good vision is for driving, she shared.

We see people who we may have concerns about in practice and know that tragic situations do occur. Anything that we can do to prevent needless accidents is important, Dr Little highlighted.

The latest figures from the Department of Transport reveal that there were three fatal accidents in 2018 where uncorrected, defective eyesight was recorded as a contributory factor.

Anything that we can do to prevent needless accidents is important

The reality is that a lot of drivers do not consider their vision or are poor judges of the quality of their vision. If vision gradually declines over a number of years then it is a very difficult call for any individual to make, Dr Little said.

The inadequacies of the UK system were brought home to Dr Little when she led work by the European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO) comparing vision standards for driving across different European nations.

It really made me realise how the UK is out of step. Hanging on to the number plate test is unusual when compared to other countries, Dr Little said.

She highlighted that the Governments commitment to undertaking further research in vision and driving is also valuable.

At the moment visual acuity is the core standard when it comes to vision and driving, but Dr Little shared that there are other factors at play.

We recognise that visual acuity is a fairly blunt tool when it comes to trying to measure how someones vision is for driving, Dr Little observed.

If we can modernise the test, and if any research can shed light on what the most critical components for driving are, that would be so valuable, she added.

Twilight vision, visual fields and colour vision are among different aspects of sight that are assessed in other European nations.

The enhanced focus on vision and driving is also welcome in the context of an ageing population, where conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration will become more common.

We are going to have more and more people with those conditions in the next 20 years and these ocular conditions will affect visual performance, Dr Little said.

Dr Little believes that optometrists can play a key role in assessing vision for driving.

We are easily accessible on the High Street and we can see people on any day of the week. We have the appropriate skills, training and equipment to effectively measure and correct visual acuity and also to measure visual fields and other aspects of vision, she shared.

She emphasised the importance of conveying a positive message to patients so that they see their optometrist as someone who is helping them to meet the standard for driving.

We have to get past that barrier of people being worried that If I go to the optometrist, I will be found out. It is about encouraging people to come in to a practice. In the vast majority of cases, we are able to correct vision so that patients can drive safely, she said.

ECOO president Dr Cindy Tromans highlighted that the issue of vision and driving is one that is important for optical professionals across Europe.

ECOO represents optometrist and optician associations in 24 countries across Europe.

We listen to our members and over the years many members have flagged that driving and vision is a really important topic in their country, she shared.

When vision isnt at a good standard, not only is the driver putting themselves at risk of harm but they are also putting other people at risk, she said.

ECOO is calling for clarity on the visual standards for driving as well as the way that those standards are measured.

Dr Cindy Tromans

Reading a number plate if it is dark, raining or a dirty plate is not an accurate assessment of visual acuity, she emphasised.

Many countries, including the UK, have failed to fully implement a directive that aimed to improve consistency in the vision standards for driving across Europe.

Dr Tromans puts forward Ireland and Switzerland as examples of countries that have implemented adequate standards.

They do very thorough and comprehensive eye tests before issuing statements that the patient is fit to drive, she said.

At the moment the directive states that only a competent medical authority should assess vision for driving, which has been interpreted narrowly to exclude optometrists in some countries.

The way vision is assessed really needs to be strengthened by using a standardised method

Optometrists are one of the few professions that actually measure vision and provide corrective appliances to enhance vision. We are ideally placed to ensure that patients have the correct standard of vision for driving, Dr Tromans said.

Like Dr Little, Dr Tromans welcomes the UK Governments consideration of a vision check as part of licence renewal for those aged 70 and above.

At the moment it is just a self-declaration on your health and vision but you dont need to have an eye test. That would absolutely be a start and a step in the right direction, she emphasised.

Image credit: Helen Musselwhite

Visit link:
Eyes on the road - AOP

News Release

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

NIH-funded study finds therapy for convergence insufficiency is no better at improving reading than placebo.

Results from a clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) show that while vision therapy can successfully treat convergence insufficiency (CI) in children, it fails to improve their reading test scores. Investigators from the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial Attention and Reading Trial (CITT-ART) published the results online today in Optometry and Vision Science. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

CI is a common childhood vision disorder in which the eyes are unable to work together when looking at nearby objects, and the condition can make tasks like reading difficult. Eye care providers who treat CI have assumed that successful vergence/accommodative therapy, often called vision therapy, would lead to better reading fluency and comprehension.

While in-office vision therapy can improve visual function for children with CI, this trial indicates that clinicians should not suggest that it will lead to increased reading performance, said lead study author Mitchell Scheiman, O.D., Ph.D., Salus University, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

When reading or performing other close work, the eyes must turn inward to converge. For children with CI, the eyes have difficulty converging accurately, which can lead to blur or double vision, causing symptoms like discomfort and difficulty maintaining concentration when reading. Results from the earlier Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (CITT), published in Ophthalmology in 2008, showed office-based vision therapy to be the most effective treatment for improving convergence and ameliorating symptoms, and that treatment effects were long-lasting. This new clinical trial, CITT-ART, was designed to determine whether treating symptomatic CI would improve reading skills.

The study enrolled 310 children with symptomatic CI, ages 9 to 14 years, and randomly assigned them to two groups. About two-thirds (206) received in-office vision therapy for 16 weeks, and the remainder (104) received in-office placebo therapy for 16 weeks. The in-office vision therapy was designed to improve accommodation (focusing) and vergence (eye teaming, meaning the ability of the eyes to work together), while the placebo therapy procedures were designed to have no effect on CI.

The childrens reading performance and clinical signs of CI were measured when the study began and again after completing 16 weeks of therapy. Reading comprehension was assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- Version 3 (WIAT-III). Additional assessments included word reading and pseudoword decoding (sounding out fake words), as well as oral and silent reading fluency. Clinical signs included measures of how well the eyes work together to converge on near objects. Symptoms were measured using the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey.

While all children showed improved reading comprehension on the WIAT after 16 weeks, there was statistically no difference between average reading improvement for the CI treatment group (3.68 points) and placebo group (3.80 points). Nor was in-office vision therapy better than the placebo therapy on other standardized reading tests. Meanwhile, 75-80% of children in the vision therapy group had shown significant improvement and fell into the normal range for clinical signs, compared with approximately 30% in the placebo group. These results are similar to the original CITT study. However, the latest findings show no significant difference in symptoms, with 62% of children in the vision therapy group versus 58% of children in the placebo therapy group reporting significant symptom improvement. These findings suggest that clinical measures, rather than self-reported symptoms, are critical for assessing CI severity and improvement in children.

The study was supported by National Eye Institute grant U10-EY022599. More information about the clinical trial (NCT 02207517) can be found at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02207517.

For more information about convergence insufficiency, visit: https://nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/convergence-insufficiency.

NEI leads the federal governments research on the visual system and eye diseases. NEI supports basic and clinical science programs to develop sight-saving treatments and address special needs of people with vision loss. For more information, visit https://www.nei.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

Scheiman M, Cotter S, Kulp M, Mitchell L, Jones-Jordan L, Gallaway M, Borsting E, Hertle R, Chase C, Schulman E, Tamkins S, Hopkins K, Coulter S, Lorenzana I, Arnold E, Sinnott L, and Denton C. A Randomized Clinical Trial of Treatment for Symptomatic Convergence Insufficiency in Children (CITT-ART). Oct 22, 2019. Optometry and Vision Science.

Scheiman M, Cotter S, Kulp M, Mitchell L, Jones-Jordan L, Gallaway M, Borsting E, Hertle R, Chase C, Schulman E, Tamkins S, Hopkins K, Coulter S, Lorenzana I, Roberts T, Arnold E, Sinnott L, and Denton C. Treatment of Symptomatic Convergence Insufficiency in Children enrolled in the CITT-ART Randomized Clinical Trial. Oct 22, 2019. Optometry and Vision Science.

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Continue reading here:
Treatment for common vision disorder does not improve children's reading skills - National Institutes of Health

When benign or malignant tumours grow, they can cause the pressure inside the skull to increase. This can cause brain damage and it can be life-threatening. Symptoms of brain tumours depend on the location and size of the tumour. Some tumours cause direct damage by invading brain tissue and some tumours cause pressure on the surrounding brain. Headaches are a common symptom of a brain tumour, as well as vomiting, blurred vision, confusion, seizures, weakness of a limb or part of the face and a change in mental function. But other symptoms of the condition may be detected in a person's eyes.

Evidence suggests that eye health isnt something one pays close enough attention to as a quarter say they dont have a check every two years.

However, having the eyes tested does not just check for changes in vision but can help prevent sight loss through early detection of conditions and even spot other health concerns such as brain tumours or problems with circulation, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Brain tumour symptoms can include changes to vision, such as blurred or double vision, abnormal eye movements, restricted field of view or other symptoms.

Dr Nigel Best, Specsavers clinical spokesperson said: Many people dont realise that a sight test can check for more than just your vision and that it can pick up other health concerns, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and brain tumours.

In fact, only 61 per cent of people are aware that an optician can detect some types of brain tumours.

That is why ensuring you have regular eye checks - at least once every two years or more often if recommended by your optician - is so important.

The changes in vision from a brain tumour can be due to the optic disc at the back of the eye becoming swollen as a result of increased pressure in the skull.

The optic disc is the point on the retina where the optic nerve enters the eye from the brain.

The brain tumour charity said: As the tumour grows, or there is a build-up of fluid in the brain, it can squeeze normal healthy brain tissue including the main cranial nerves within the brain.

The eyes can reveal a lot about a persons health so its really important to have regular eye tests at least once every two years.

If you suspect you may have any of these symptoms its important to speak to either your optometrist or your GP.

Originally posted here:
Brain tumour symptoms: The signs in the eyes that could signal the deadly condition - Express

By TOM CASKA

The beauty of the fall here in the Upper Delaware Valley is undeniable, and we will have only a short time left to absorb the pallet of colors that surrounds us. As a student of art, I was always impressed by the paintings of Claude Monet. One of my favorites reminds me of the fall: Garden Path at Giverny, painted in 1902. Monet used his impressionist style to create a scene much reminiscent of how the sunlight spills through the trees of our hills. Early mornings are my favorite when the steam is coming off the lakes, as the rising sun lights up the trees and landscape across the still water. Many a morning the water is still, reflecting like a mirror the hues of the leaves on the trees. The reflection is a mere impression of reds, orange, yellow and green, only a mild wind will disrupt the image on the water. If you can squint your eyes you can see what Monet might have seen.

Recovering from a recent injury had me going to Catskill Regional Hospital for treatment in their hyperbaric chamber. The staff there is fantastic and made the experience much easier. The chamber is what divers use to help to recover from the bends. During treatment you are breathing 100% oxygen under pressure, your vitals are taken before and after treatment, which normally lasts about two hours on a daily basis. The beds are comfortable, and during the treatment you can nap, watch TV, or select a favorite movie DVD to watch. I enjoyed watching the traffic flow out the window, wondering where all those cars were going on Route 17. Time passes quickly; the change of seasons became evident as the weeks rolled on.

There are not many side effects to this treatment; as the pressure is raised and lowered in the chamber, you will get the same feeling of pressure on your ears much like taking off or landing on an airplane. I experienced something that is not the same for everyone. My eyesight did a switch, normally I need glasses to read but have no problem with distance. Over time, I could read with no problem but my distance sight changed so everything was slightly out of focus, it was like looking with the soft lens of a camera. The fall colors were amazing, and although my sight has returned to normal, many a morning I would stop driving long enough to enjoy the view, especially the fall colors in their entire splendor.

In 1902, Claude Monet was 62; his eyes were showing the first signs of cataracts, which affected his interpretation of color. His paintings at this time would have had a more reddish tone, which is a condition of the vision of cataract victims. Monet eventually had surgery, after which he was able to see certain ultraviolet light that can be seen in his work thereafter. He also went back and repainted some of his older paintings with more of a bluer hue than before.

I can never claim that I will know what Monet really saw through his eyes, but his paintings are there for all of us to enjoy. What I can say is that for a brief time this year I was looking through the lens of an impressionist. In the meantime, if I want to see through the eyes of Monet all I need to do is just squint my eyes and enjoy the view.

See the original post:
Through the eyes of Monet - The River Reporter

Were not doing enough to protect our sight here are the dos and donts

Bad news for would-be zombies. This week the College of Optometrists is highlighting the dangers of wearing unprescribed novelty contact lenses the kind that change your eye colour or make you look like a member of the undead.

The problem is that lenses bought online or in fancy dress shops wont fit your eye shape and could cause bruises or scratches that can get infected. Every year we see a rise in serious problems, with people buying them from an illegal source and then not wearing them sensibly, says Daniel Hardiman-McCartney, one of the colleges clinical advisers.

Its not only at Halloween. We dont look after our eyes as well as we should particularly given that polls consistently show that we prize our sight

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Eye health guide: what to look out for, from your diet to makeup - The Times

By Katelyn Earhart

sac-ranger@alamo.edu

The student advocacy center is hosting a free Health and Wellness Event from 9 to 1 p.m. Nov. 2.

File

This event will have free vision screenings provided by The University of the Incarnate Word School of Optometry, with some families able to qualify for free glasses, lenses or eye exams.

Children who participate in this screening will receive a free book.

Essilor, an international optics company, reported Poor vision not only affects a childs eyesight. It can also affect his/her health, school progress, and societal integration. In fact, 80% of what children learn is acquired though visual processing.

The student advocacy center is trying to combat these types of disadvantages by hosting this event.

Along with the vision screening, there will be flu shots available, STD/HIV screenings, dental and financial advising, and health screenings for blood pressure and glucose.

During this time, the Magic Closet will be opening its doors to both the students and their families to receive free clothing and assistance.

For more information, email Robyn Stassen at restassen@alamo.edu or call 210-486-1262.

Go here to see the original:
Free vision screening, flu shots and health advice offered in Advocacy Center - The Ranger

If youre tired of struggling with poor eyesight, specifically someone who wants to improve their vision, reverse glaucoma, cataract, near-sightedness and wants to stop using glasses, then here is good news.

I have discovered a natural herbal remedy that has helped over 642 Nigerian men, women and children restore eyesight, improve vision and cure severe eye problems within few weeks without using drugs, or eye drops.

You see, I was once in your shoes, I used to battle severe eye problems that made me had blurred vision, dry itchy eyes.

But my eye doctor told me I could only live with it, so my optometrist kept on recommending contact lens (or spectacles) so I could manage it to improve my vision.

But, as time went by the contact lens became ineffective, caused several eye irritations and also negatively affected my self esteem.

3 years later, my eye condition had worsened after several eye exams, I was diagnosed with glaucoma in the right eye.

Again, several solutions like eye drops, pills and surgery was recommended.

Eye surgery which was the best long term treatment was really expensive, and even comes with its own side effects after several months or years.

So, I decided to start using eye drops just so I could manage to see because at this point, I was literally going blind.

You see, the problem with eye drops is that most of them came with serious side effects, so one has to continue changing them until you see the most suitable one.

Sadly, within few months I used over 5 eye drops.

While for over the counter eye drugs, they take almost forever to work and give you perfect eye so you keep on spending and spending on the drugs for several years.

So, I decided to start searching for an alternative solution, something herbal that comes with no side effects and will naturally reverse glaucoma, cataracts, near-sightedness, and other severe eye problems.

But the entire situation changed when I came in contact with an old time friend, Uwem, he used to work in a particular eye clinic in Abuja .

We have been friends since our NYSC days for over 7years till date. Although, it has been a long time we spoke because he relocated to Canada to continue his profession.

We started talking as usual, and he asked me about my eye condition, if it has improved for better.

I explained how I was already tired of looking for solution to the eye problem, and how I have spent lots of money on drugs, supplements, eye drops and glasses, desperately looking for solution but without any improvement, insteadI was almost getting blind instead!

He explained that most people wearing eye glasses suffer from myopia (nearsightedness), glaucoma and cataract.

He later explained that there ispermanent cure for most of the eye problems, and natural remedy that helps treat and reverse glaucoma, cataract, myopia and other severe eye problems.

Most of these cases he has handled in the eye specialist clinic he works with in canada, and his patients improved their eyesight, and they never had to wear glasses or go for expensive eye surgery again.

But sadly, the solution is very rare to find because its imported, specially for Eye clinics in the USA, UK, Canada and some developing African countries as well.

That was when he introduced me to aspecial herbal teathat have been in existence for several years, that help cures severe eye problems, reverse cataract, glaucoma and myopia.

At first, I was shocked and surprised. But he told me the exact plant extracts contained inside the herbal tea, and how they improves overall eyesight health and restores vision.

I quickly pleaded with him to help me send a complete supply of the herbal tea. The next morning, I quickly sent the money to him.

After about a week, the complete supply of the herbal tea was delivered to me.

Immediately, I started it using it as prescribed (serving size of 1 tea bag in morning, and 1 tea bag in the evening).

To my surprise, in less than 2 weeks of using it, it was almost like a miracle cure to my eyesight problem and it helped improve my vision.

My eyes became crystal clear, my vision was never blurry again, and I started to feel that my glaucoma was gone.

To ensure it was really effective,I had to give the same herbal tea to about 2 of my colleagues in a different branch office, and some of my relatives using spectacles just to confirm if it could help them improve their eye health and cure eye problems.

Within 30 days or less of using it, all of them came back to testify that this herbal tea helped them improve their eyesight and cure eye problems like cataracts, glaucoma, near-sightedness, hyperopia, and blurry vision, and they didnt have to continue wearing glasses anymore.

To ensure that this solution really works, I went to my eye doctor, just to be completely sure be about it.

After several eye exams, he confirmed that my eye was much better than before, and that the herbal tea also contained some ingredients that are very rare to find, but are highly effective in improving eyesight naturally.

Without wasting time, let me introduce you to the Herbal Remedy that Has Helped me and over 2,742 Nigerian men and women Improve Eyesight, vision and PROVEN to cure Severe Eye Problems

Eye Restore Tea

Eye Restore Teais a herbal remedy formulated to treat and permanently cure all kinds of eye problems such as glaucoma, myopia, hyperopia, cataracts and lot more

It helps restore your eyesight, promotes eye health and improves vision.

Eye Restore Tea is made up of finely blended plant herbal extractssuch as bilberry extract, chrysanthemum, chinese wolfberry, cassia seed and green tea.

A pack of eye restore tea contains 20 tea bags, which you use daily, morning and evening.

The best part is that the Eye Restore tea is purely herbal, comes without any side effect and curative for the treatment of most eye problems. And within few days of taking this herbal tea, you can start seeing improvement in your vision and eye health.

Eye Restore Tea has the highest standard of approval by International FDA bodies. Its produced in the best, biggest and professional tea manufacturing factory withcertificate of GMP Good Manufacturing Practice, HACCP, Food Production License, QS etc.

So you can be sure that, Eye Restore Tea is Safe, 100% Herbal and Healthy, No Side Effects.

Do you want to dump your glasses, and also put an end to using expensive eye drugs that takes almost forever to work?

Then pay attention to this.

Eye Restore Teais made of herbal extracts, that after several years of research, scientist prove that these herbs help eliminate any form of eye problems, gives a crystal clear eye, improves eye sight and vision naturally.

One of the herbal extracts inside Eye Restore Tea, known asChrysanthemumhave been used for thousands of years by the chinese totreat the eyes, blurring, spots in front of the eyes, diminished vision and dizziness.

According to Chinese traditional medicine, Chrysanthemum is said to be effective at improving eyesight and treating illness associated with the eyes like blurred vision, glaucoma and dizziness.

Another herbs that Eye Restore Tea contains isWolf berry (also known as Goji berries).Wolf berry have been known to improve eyesight and Chinese doctors have for thousands of years studied them for many medicinal treatments.

Wolfberries contains beta carotene (known as the retina food), Vitamin C, and also rich in vitamins B1, B6 and E and other minerals.

Apart from that,wolfberries have high levels of zeaxanthin, lutein, polysaccharides and polyphenolics, which have been shown to improve vision, including the prevention of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

But whats so special about wolfberries makes manyChinese doctors boast that it greatly improve eyesight?

Wolfberries are used as tonic for the kidney and liver functions. Problems with eyesight, particularly blurred vision, may be due to an imblance in the liver and kidney which is why wolfberries are used as an effective cure.

And once you combine it with other powerful herb extracts like chrysanthemum flower, it helps improve vision and cure disorders such ascataracts, glaucoma, retinopathy as well as macular degeneration.

But thats not all, another powerful ingredients blended inside the Eye Restore Tea areBilberry and Cassia seed.

Bilberry is rich in antioxidant compounds known as anthocyanins. Bilberry is known to improve the health of the eyes, improve night vision and protect against eye conditions like age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma.

Believe me, these are very rare,highly effective herbsthat will help treat and cure any type of eye problem such as Near-sightedness (Myopia) , Far-sightedness (Hyperopia), Glaucoma, Cataract, Eye Strain, Macular Degeneration, Astigmatism, Presbyopia (Old-Age Sight), Diabetic Retinopathy etc.

Heres how this special herbal tea works

When you order for the Eye Restore Tea, each pack contains 20 tea bags. Put 1 tea bag in the cup, add boiled water, you can add honey or lemon (depending on your taste). Drink the tea in the morning when you wake up, and in the night before bed.

Within 3 weeks or less, I can guarantee that it will cure whatever eyesight problem you are experiecing at the moment. It will improve and perfect your eyesight, you will be able to read better anytime of the day. It will help you see comfortably without your glasses.

THATS how powerful it is.

Right now, my eyes are crystal clear, no more blurry vision, I see clearly without my eye glasses, glaucoma has gone, and no more cataracts.

And after this worked for me, Ive gone to share this amazing eye restore secret with almost everyone (family, friends and collegues) that I know that uses spectacles, or have severe eye problems for many years.

And once they started using Eye Restore Tea, they experienced similar results, their joy knew no bounds and they were able to dump their glasses, save money on expensive drugs and eye drops.

While it has also helped them to have a much improved vision, eyesight and totally natural cure to glaucoma, cataracts, myopia, hyperopia, eyestrain and other eye problems.

And to Prove It, Here Are What People Who Have Used theEye Restore Tea Are Saying About it, and How TheyveSeen Great Results Using it

For over 3 years of having glaucoma in my right eye, Ive been eye drops that my eye doctors prescribed. After using it for a long time, I noticed that the eye was becoming useless, and I only had my left eye for all purpose.Until I came accross Eye restore tea, I decided to use it instead. Within few weeks, I began to see better. I went to the Eye center, and after the examination doctor say that my eye has improved and the IOP has dropped.Thanks so much for this wonderful solution that saved my eyes

James Gwarimpa, Abuja=================

I suffered from Glaucoma for about 2 years now, and I had to use eye drops to control it. But the eye drops have serious side effects that made me uncomfortable so I had to keep changing them and used 5 types of eye drop.Luckily, a friend introduced me to Eye restore tea, so I decided to give it a trial. My vision now have improved up to the extent that I no longer need spectacles or any eye drop again.

Mrs. Tolulope Ketu, Lagos===============

Immediately after my cataract sugery, I used to have a foggy or cloudy vision and colors are not vivid as they were. I got corrective sight vision lens, and after many months I still get this blurry vision sometimes which is frustrating.

My wife helped me order for the Eye Restore tea, and I decided to use it, within 6weeks, my eyesight is clear and has corrected itself with time. Ive gone on to recommend this for my elder brother with similar eye problems. Thanks so much for this miracle tea

Mr. Victor Onitsha, Anambra

============After seeing an opthalmologist for an eye exam, it was revealed an eye pressure of 25 in both eyes, and my right eyes looked suspicious for glaucoma. I continued using eye drops.

I stumbled upon your eye restore tea product, and decided to go for it. Within few weeks of using the tea, am seeing obvious changes, and finally stopped using eye drops. i will keep you updated on my progress, really appreciate this!

Olawale warri, Delta

Truth is, I could load more and more testimonials from these people who have used the Eye Restore tea but it will only be saying the same thing this product works like crazy!

As you have seen, these people were once like you suffering from similar eye conditions that were a threat to their vision, but they took action got the Eye Restore tea and cured severe eye problems.

As we speak lots of people are raving about this natural miracle eye treatment solution. I wonder what happens when people begin to post experiences and testimonials on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.)

Customers will continue telling friends, and the news keeps on spreading like wildfire.

By word of mouth, theres so much huge demand, supplies are going off the shelf fast even my colleagues and inner circle friends picked up 143 packs of the Eye Restore Herbal tea.

So, there are just 257 packs remaining.

The miracle eye treatment solution is spreading like wildfire and demand is so heavy much of the stocks are running out fast.

Right now, thousand of people are on this website and stocks are extremely limited.

We have no idea when the next stocks will arrive, so get your supplies now while you can.

The best part is, you can get it at an affordable discount price when you place order right away.

I cannot assure you will get it at the same discount price if you procrastinate.

SO WHATS IT COST?

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How 63-year-old Benin grandpa discovered herbal remedy that improves eyesight, treats glaucoma and cataracts without surgery or eyedrops (Sponsored) -...