Kids who wear contact lenses rather than glasses enjoy better vision-related quality of life.  A new study published in Optometry and Vision Science reports that in the children who participated in the three year study fared better regarding their feelings about appearance and participation in athletics if they wore contacts.  In particular, children over age 10 experience the greatest improvement in quality of life.

According to Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D, Ph.D., Ohio State University College of Optometry and leader of the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE) Study, “The growing body of research in children’s vision correction continues to demonstrate that contact lenses provide significant benefits to children beyond simply correcting their vision. This study showed considerable improvement for contact lens wearing children 10 years or older in areas of appearance, participation in activities, and satisfaction with vision correction, and it remained or improved over three years.”

Though it is often assumed that glasses are easier to handle than delicate contact lenses, children were happier to work with the contacts than pairs of glasses.  The availability of daily disposable lenses seems to have made the process less troublesome for kids.  It removes the worry over the loss and breakage of eyeglasses.

Researchers “advise parents and eye care practitioners to look beyond the visual benefits” when deciding how to best correct vision problems in children.

This study received partial funding from Johnson and Johnson.

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com

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Sunglasses are more than just a fashion statement – they help to protect you from eye developing eye diseases including cataracts, macular degeneration, and cancers of the eye and eyelid. Wear wrap-around sunglasses with 100% UVA and UVB protection whenever you’re outside in the sun. The fairer your skin, the older you are, and the lighter your eyes, the higher your long-term risk of sun damage.

Exposure to the sun can cause or exaggerate dark circles under your eyes. Even in darker skinned people, time in the sunlight, especially during the summer months, can cause a higher-than-normal level of skin pigmentation (melanin) under the eyes. People get suntans because exposure to the sun increases the natural pigmentation of the skin and draws that pigmentation to the surface. The same principle applies to the skin under the eyes. You can find more information on how to treat and prevent dark circles here: http://www.naturaleyecare.com/pub-darkeyes.asp

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Scientists through the US Department of Energy are testing artificial retinas that they hope can restore partial sight to people who’ve lost their vision to the most common causes of blindness. The implants are intended to restore enough sight to those who suffer from such eye diseases age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa to allow them to recognize objects and navigate through their environment. For more information visit: http://www.naturaleyecare.com/study.asp?s_num=249.

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Scientists at MIT and other research organizations are testing chip technologies that could help bring eyesight to individuals with conditions like age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

Microchips place onto or inside the eyeball are assisted by a pair of electronic glasses the patient wears. Results vary, but many subjects report significant improvement in orientation and mobility. MIT hopes to have a device within two years so that they can get FDA approval from for use on chronic patients.

See information on macular degeneration, nutrition and health.

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The restoration process starts with an image captured by a small camera attached to a pair of glasses. After streaming through a video processor, the data is then transferred back through the glasses to a tiny electrode “sheet” implanted on the retina. These electrodes use electrical impulses to communicate visual information to undamaged retinal tissue (just as healthy rods and cones would have done). The result is some degree of sight.

Currently the devices have only 60 electrodes, compared to more than 2 million in HD televisions, so images are still rough. Researchers from Second Sight will follow project participants for the next three years to track progress. They hope to develop versions with 200 and 1000 electrodes in the future.

Editor’s Notes: Certain nutrients have been researched as helping to preserve vision for those with Retinitis Pigmentosa. For more information, go to http://www.naturaleyecare.com/diseases.asp?d_num=12

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MIT engineers have designed a retinal implant for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness.

The retinal prosthesis would help restore some vision by electrically stimulating the nerve cells that normally carry visual input from the retina to the brain.

The chip would not restore normal vision but could help blind people more easily navigate a room or walk down a sidewalk. “Anything that could help them see a little better and let them identify objects and move around a room would be an enormous help,” says Shawn Kelly, a researcher in MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics and member of the Boston Retinal Implant Project.

Patients who received the implant would wear a pair of glasses with a camera that sends images to a microchip attached to the eyeball. The glasses also contain a coil that wirelessly transmits power to receiving coils surrounding the eyeball. When the microchip receives visual information, it activates electrodes that stimulate nerve cells in the areas of the retina corresponding to the features of the visual scene. The electrodes directly activate optical nerves that carry signals to the brain, bypassing the damaged layers of retina.

The research team, led by John Wyatt, MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science, recently reported a new prototype that they hope to start testing in blind patients within the next three years, after some safety refinements are made. Once human trials begin and blind patients can offer feedback on what they’re seeing, the researchers will learn much more about how to configure the algorithm implemented by the chip to produce useful vision.

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
See more information on the latest research on nutrition and vision.

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An Ottawa company is developing computerized glasses to help those with severe visual impairments maximize the vision they have left. 

The glasses, which look like an oversize pair of sunglasses, have a high-resolution camera on the outside and tiny LCD screens on the inside that project images to the wearer’s eyes.  The glasses will also zoom in on and replay what has been seen with the press of a button.

The company, eSight Corp., received a $500,000 grant from the Ontario government to develop its evSpex product, and hopes to start commercial production next year.

Before the image is projected, it’s custom-processed by a tiny computer.  “So that when it’s presented to a person who has diseased eyes … it’s presented to the pieces of their vision that are most functional,” said eSight Corp. company president Rob Hilkes.

Because the device continually records a loop of video, the user can save the last 10 seconds of what they saw at the press of a button so they can look again at something that went by too quickly.  The video can be viewed later on a DVD player or computer.   Users can also zoom in on certain things in their field of view

The product is expected to be able to help people with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa.  In the future, the company hopes to market the technology to people with normal vision as wearable binoculars, night vision goggles or video gaming devices.

SOURCE:  High-tech glasses help the nearly blind see, CBC News, Sept. 11, 2009, http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/09/11/ottawa-esight-glasses-technology-company-blind.html

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Fascinating work being done at Dr. William Seiple at Lighthouse International in New York City. This device uses a patch that sits on the tongue, and vibrates in different ways depending on what the camera mounted on the glasses picks up. With training, one can “teach” the brain to pick up visual images based on the vibration being received.

This device can an even be used by people who have been blind from birth.

For quick video on yahoo, go to http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/15259030

For more information on natural ways to help preserve vision, go to www.naturaleyecare.com

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New technology may replace eye drops currently used by people suffering from glaucoma and dry-eye.

Studies have found that a majority of glaucoma patients regularly skip their eye drops, putting themselves at risk for blindness, and that even when drops are used regularly, only a small percentage of the medication tends to be absorbed into the eye.

In an article published in the July issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, scientists announced that they have developed a contact lens that delivers medication to the eye at a constant rate for over 4 weeks. The lenses should not affect the wearer’s vision.

The special lenses were created by dissolving a biodegradable polymer called PLGA in an organic solvent, to which medication was added. After the solvent evaporated, researchers coated the polymer film/medication mix with a hydrogel called pHEMA — the same material used to make regular contact lenses. Researchers believe they can vary the molecular weight of the polymer to change the rate of drug release as needed.

To date the researchers have only tested the diffusion properties of the lens in a lab dish, but expect to be able to test the lenses in humans within a year.

SOURCE: A Drug-Eluting Contact Lens, Ciolino, et al, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2009;50:3346-3352.)

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A dry eye study, shows that a group using GLA showed a significant improvement in the specific symptom of “dryness” at 3 and 6 months (p <0.01) as well as significant improvement in overall lens comfort at 6 months (p<0.01). Tear meniscus height was increased in the GLA group at 6 months relative to baseline (p<0.01), although all other objective signs were unchanged

GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) is an omega-6 unsaturated fatty acid made in the human body from linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid found in vegetable oils and egg yolks. GLA has anti-inflammatory properties and can also be found in oils derived from black currant seeds and the evening primrose plant.

Several small trials testing GLA and linoleic (LA) oil in dry eye syndrome with an inflammatory component report reduced ocular surface inflammation and symptom improvement.

Related Studies:
1. Barabino, M et al. Systemic linoleic and gamma-linolenic acid therapy in dry eye syndrome with an inflammatory component. Cornea 22:97–101, 2003.
2. Aragona P, et al. Systemic omega-6 essential fatty acid treatment and PGE1 tear content in Sjogren’s syndrome patients. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 46:4474–9, 2005
3. Kokke KH, et al. Oral omega-6 essential fatty acid treatment in contact lens associated dry eye. Contact Lens Anterior Eye 31:141-6, 2008.
4. Macri A, et al. Effect of linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid on tear production, tear clearance and on the ocular surface after photorefractive keratectomy. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 241: 561-6, 2003.

For more information on dry eyes and natural ways this eye condition can be helped, go to Natural Eye Care
Eye Conditions section and click on Dry Eyes.

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