Floaters are harmless but ... a big distraction
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Showing posts with label Brown Eyes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brown Eyes. Show all posts
Monday, March 6, 2017
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Smartphones give young people old eyes
Smartphones give young people old eyes
A customer takes an eye vision test at Meganesuper Co.’s DOCK Shirokanedai store in Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
Photo: The Japan News/ANN
More and more people in their 20s and 30s are reporting vision trouble with symptoms similar to presbyopia, an eye condition involving difficulty focusing on nearby objects that naturally comes with age. Likely resulting from the proliferation of gadgets like smartphones, the symptoms are being dubbed "smartphone-induced presbyopia" - a modern ailment that underscores the need to refrain from excessive eye strain.
"Whenever I glance down at my watch or check a route map on the train, the letters are blurry and hard to read," said a 29-year-old man who works at a trading company in Tokyo. He said the symptoms mainly appear in the evening, adding that their duration increases toward the weekend.
On top of using a computer at work, he's completely absorbed in checking e-mails and gathering information on his smartphone when visiting clients. The man can't put his smartphone down, even after work.
Trouble focusing on nearby objects sounds like presbyopia. Are other young people out there suffering from similar symptoms?
Misaki Ishioka, director of the Misaki Eye Clinic in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, said there are "definitely" a growing number of them.
"It's not a medical term, but so-called smartphone-induced presbyopia is a result of excessive strain on the eyes," Ishioka said.
Until two or three years ago, the clinic had two or three patients a month in their 20s or 30s with issues resembling onset symptoms of presbyopia - like "difficulty seeing nearby objects" and "on some days being unable to see something in a spot that is visible on other days."
The condition is now showing up in 10-20 patients a month. Their vision is not exceptionally abnormal, but the ailment's characteristic feature is difficulty in smoothly adjusting focus.
When focusing on nearby objects, a muscle called the ciliary body changes the thickness of the crystalline lens. Presbyopia causes the crystalline lens to harden, and the ciliary body naturally deteriorates with age - causing trouble in adjusting visual focus. Symptoms start to show around the age of 40.
Smartphone-induced presbyopia is medically referred to as "adjustment tension." Adjusting visual focus becomes impossible because of muscles stiffening from constantly staring at nearby objects.
The symptoms are typically temporary and not true presbyopia, but in serious cases the troubled vision could become permanent.
"Similar symptoms occur with personal computer use, but it's more common with smartphones since you're staring at letters up-close on a small screen."
Eye-opening trend
Tokyo-based Gankyo Publishing Co., which publishes an eyeglasses industry journal, asked 10,000 people who wear glasses every day about their vision. Young people ranging from their late-teens to the age of 34 who complained of presbyopia symptoms surged from 0.5 per cent in 2012 to 6.7 per cent in 2013.
There's no definite link to smartphone-induced presbyopia, but the surge overlaps with the proliferation of smartphones - households owning smartphones shot up from the 40 per cent range to the 60 per cent range.
Chain retailers of eye glasses are also calling for the prevention of presbyopia.
Vision Megane Inc. in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, created a manual for employees this year that details stretching and diets that supposedly lead to the prevention of presbyopia. Some of the chain's branches are using the manual to give advice to visitors suffering from presbyopia-like symptoms.
Based in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Meganesuper Co. opened a new branch in Tokyo this year that offers a relaxation room to relieve eye strain.
"The integration of smartphones and computers into our daily lives has presented a new, modern disease," said Takatoshi Tano, a lecturer in the opthalmology department at the International University of Health and Welfare's Atami Hospital. " I hope that people will refrain from using such devices for extended periods of time and take an interest in eye care."
- wong chee tat :)
A customer takes an eye vision test at Meganesuper Co.’s DOCK Shirokanedai store in Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
Photo: The Japan News/ANN
More and more people in their 20s and 30s are reporting vision trouble with symptoms similar to presbyopia, an eye condition involving difficulty focusing on nearby objects that naturally comes with age. Likely resulting from the proliferation of gadgets like smartphones, the symptoms are being dubbed "smartphone-induced presbyopia" - a modern ailment that underscores the need to refrain from excessive eye strain.
"Whenever I glance down at my watch or check a route map on the train, the letters are blurry and hard to read," said a 29-year-old man who works at a trading company in Tokyo. He said the symptoms mainly appear in the evening, adding that their duration increases toward the weekend.
On top of using a computer at work, he's completely absorbed in checking e-mails and gathering information on his smartphone when visiting clients. The man can't put his smartphone down, even after work.
Trouble focusing on nearby objects sounds like presbyopia. Are other young people out there suffering from similar symptoms?
Misaki Ishioka, director of the Misaki Eye Clinic in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, said there are "definitely" a growing number of them.
"It's not a medical term, but so-called smartphone-induced presbyopia is a result of excessive strain on the eyes," Ishioka said.
Until two or three years ago, the clinic had two or three patients a month in their 20s or 30s with issues resembling onset symptoms of presbyopia - like "difficulty seeing nearby objects" and "on some days being unable to see something in a spot that is visible on other days."
The condition is now showing up in 10-20 patients a month. Their vision is not exceptionally abnormal, but the ailment's characteristic feature is difficulty in smoothly adjusting focus.
When focusing on nearby objects, a muscle called the ciliary body changes the thickness of the crystalline lens. Presbyopia causes the crystalline lens to harden, and the ciliary body naturally deteriorates with age - causing trouble in adjusting visual focus. Symptoms start to show around the age of 40.
Smartphone-induced presbyopia is medically referred to as "adjustment tension." Adjusting visual focus becomes impossible because of muscles stiffening from constantly staring at nearby objects.
The symptoms are typically temporary and not true presbyopia, but in serious cases the troubled vision could become permanent.
"Similar symptoms occur with personal computer use, but it's more common with smartphones since you're staring at letters up-close on a small screen."
Eye-opening trend
Tokyo-based Gankyo Publishing Co., which publishes an eyeglasses industry journal, asked 10,000 people who wear glasses every day about their vision. Young people ranging from their late-teens to the age of 34 who complained of presbyopia symptoms surged from 0.5 per cent in 2012 to 6.7 per cent in 2013.
There's no definite link to smartphone-induced presbyopia, but the surge overlaps with the proliferation of smartphones - households owning smartphones shot up from the 40 per cent range to the 60 per cent range.
Chain retailers of eye glasses are also calling for the prevention of presbyopia.
Vision Megane Inc. in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, created a manual for employees this year that details stretching and diets that supposedly lead to the prevention of presbyopia. Some of the chain's branches are using the manual to give advice to visitors suffering from presbyopia-like symptoms.
Based in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Meganesuper Co. opened a new branch in Tokyo this year that offers a relaxation room to relieve eye strain.
"The integration of smartphones and computers into our daily lives has presented a new, modern disease," said Takatoshi Tano, a lecturer in the opthalmology department at the International University of Health and Welfare's Atami Hospital. " I hope that people will refrain from using such devices for extended periods of time and take an interest in eye care."
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, September 5, 2014
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
New diabetic retinopathy treatment more effective: experts
New diabetic retinopathy treatment more effective: experts
By Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 06 November 2012 2133 hrs
SINGAPORE: The new anti-VEGF treatment option for diabetic retinopathy patients has been hailed by experts as being more effective than traditional laser treatments.
Diabetic retinopathy, a condition of the eyes affecting diabetics that causes swelling and blurred vision, plague an approximate 100,000 Singaporeans say experts.
"Anti-VEGF therapy is a new therapy which effectively reduces the swelling in the eye," said Professor Wong Tien Yin, Executive Director at the Singapore Eye Research Institute. "It works by suppressing growth factors that causes the blood vessels to leak and the retina to swell."
Diabetic retinopathy patients traditionally undergo laser treatment to treat their symptoms.
However Professor Wong noted that visual improvement after laser treatments was not common and that many continued to lose vision after treatment, adding that the laser option was "good but not completely satisfactory".
"The new anti-VEGF therapy essentially helps improve vision in patients... and therefore patients have a better quality of life," he said.
However, anti-VEGF treatments can cost up to S$42,000, compared to laser treatments which cost between S$500 and S$1,600.
Patients undergoing anti-VEGF undergo seven intro-ocular injections into the eye in the first year of treatment, followed by four injections in the second year and three in the third year. The each injection costs between S$1,200 and S$3,000.
Despite that, more than a thousand patients in Singapore have undergone anti-VEGF treatment since hospitals started offering it last September.
Professor Wong also noted that screening for diabetic retinopathy could be further streamlined to ensure better detection.
"In many countries, including Singapore, family general practitioners conduct screening for diabetic retinopathy," he said. "Despite their medical background and training, their evaluation may be limited due to busy clinic schedules".
Instead, non-physicians or eye research technicians should also be used to detect diabetic retinopathy said Professor Wong, citing a local study conducted in 2009 that showed trained eye research technicians outperforming family general practitioners in detecting diabetic retinopathy.
- CNA/jc
- wong chee tat :)
By Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 06 November 2012 2133 hrs
SINGAPORE: The new anti-VEGF treatment option for diabetic retinopathy patients has been hailed by experts as being more effective than traditional laser treatments.
Diabetic retinopathy, a condition of the eyes affecting diabetics that causes swelling and blurred vision, plague an approximate 100,000 Singaporeans say experts.
"Anti-VEGF therapy is a new therapy which effectively reduces the swelling in the eye," said Professor Wong Tien Yin, Executive Director at the Singapore Eye Research Institute. "It works by suppressing growth factors that causes the blood vessels to leak and the retina to swell."
Diabetic retinopathy patients traditionally undergo laser treatment to treat their symptoms.
However Professor Wong noted that visual improvement after laser treatments was not common and that many continued to lose vision after treatment, adding that the laser option was "good but not completely satisfactory".
"The new anti-VEGF therapy essentially helps improve vision in patients... and therefore patients have a better quality of life," he said.
However, anti-VEGF treatments can cost up to S$42,000, compared to laser treatments which cost between S$500 and S$1,600.
Patients undergoing anti-VEGF undergo seven intro-ocular injections into the eye in the first year of treatment, followed by four injections in the second year and three in the third year. The each injection costs between S$1,200 and S$3,000.
Despite that, more than a thousand patients in Singapore have undergone anti-VEGF treatment since hospitals started offering it last September.
Professor Wong also noted that screening for diabetic retinopathy could be further streamlined to ensure better detection.
"In many countries, including Singapore, family general practitioners conduct screening for diabetic retinopathy," he said. "Despite their medical background and training, their evaluation may be limited due to busy clinic schedules".
Instead, non-physicians or eye research technicians should also be used to detect diabetic retinopathy said Professor Wong, citing a local study conducted in 2009 that showed trained eye research technicians outperforming family general practitioners in detecting diabetic retinopathy.
- CNA/jc
- wong chee tat :)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
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