Do You Have Dry Eye Syndrome?

If your eyes burn and sting, if you have a foreign body sensation (like grit), if your eyes are sensitive to light, or if your vision is intermittently blurred, you could have dry eye syndrome.

To diagnosis dry eye, your ophthalmologist will examine your eyes with a slit lamp using a special stain. He or she may also use a filter paper test called a "Schirmer test".

Dry eyes are common in the elderly. Dry eyes can result either from a decrease in tear production or from a change in the amount of fluid in tears, which makes the tears excessively salty. Women are affected more often than men. Dry eyes get worse when the air humidity is low, for example, in winter, and in the summer, with air conditioning.

Dry eyes can be caused by some medications, such as antidepressants, antihistamines, decongestants, acne medication, beta blockers (which are used for rapid pulse and high blood pressure) and diuretics, Chemotherapy and radiation can also cause dry eye and so can certain diseases like arthritis, high or low thyroid and acne rosacea. Dry eye often develops in patients who have had Lasik surgery or cosmetic lid surgery.

The treatment for dry eye syndrome depends on the severity. For mild dry eye, your doctor will recommend an artificial tear, such as Refresh or Tears Naturalle, for you to use several times a day.

For moderate dry eye, when you must use drops more than four times a day, you should switch to preservative free tears (eg. Refresh PF), and use them every few hours. You should also add a lubricating ointment or gel (eg. Genteal gel) at night. A humidifier in your bedroom at night is essential, especially in the winter.

For severe dry eye, your doctor may suggest a mild anti-inflammatory drop, such as FML or Acular. Punctal occlusion (silicon inserts placed in the tear drain) can also be considered.

NB: Patients with dry eyes should not have Lasik or cosmetic lid surgery, or wear soft contact lenses.

Parents Beware: That Laser Pointer Could Blind Your Chid

Laser pointers are not toys! The number of eye injuries in children from lasers is rising because too many parents are unaware that a hand-held laser pointer can cause a laser burn injury to their child’s macula if the child looks directly into the beam, especially if it is a high-power laser bought over the internet.
This burn can cause legal blindness and the inability to read or recognize faces.

Laser pointers cannot be sold in the US unless their energy output is 5 milliwatts or lower, but lasers purchased abroad can have energy outputs of up to 1,000 milliwatts. These lasers are extremely dangerous to eyes, and it is illegal to own them. Pointing any laser at an aircraft is a serious federal crime that is punishable by fines and in some cases imprisonment.


Always follow these rules:

• Do not buy a laser pointer that emits more than 5 milliwatts
• Never shine a laser pointer at a human eye
• Do not buy a laser pointer for your child, or allow them to play with your pointer

Migraine and Their Consequences

A MIGRAINE HEADACHE is an intense, throbbing or boring pain in one part of the head that is usually accompanied by nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light, sound or smell, and fatigue. Migraines usually last between four and seventy two hours.

About one third of migraine patients have so-called CLASSIC MIGRAINE, where their headache is preceded by an AURA, i.e. some type of sensory warning symptom, such as flickering or flashing lights similar to static on a television, often taking the shape of zig-zag lines in an arc like the crown of the Statue of Liberty ("fortification scotoma"), blind spots, or numbness or tingling in an arm or a leg.

    

Auras always come on GRADUALLY over five to fifteen minutes, last between five minutes to an hour, and then fade away SLOWLY.

    

Roughly one percent of patients have ACEPHALGIC OR SILENT MIGRAINES, i. e. they experience auras but they do not have any headache.

   

Recent studies have shown that people who suffer from CLASSIC MIGRAINE, i.e. migraine with an aura, are at increased risk for heart attacks and strokes. These people should reduce their risk by exercising, eating a healthy diet (low in saturated fats and refined sugars, and high in fruits and vegetables), maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. Women who have classic migraine should not take contraceptive pills or supplemental estrogen or progesterone.