Vision and You
Our vision continues to be our most treasured sense, and to live a life without it would be an unfortunate circumstance. Staying informed and up-to-date about the latest finding in the vision and eye care industry is the only way to keep your eye health on track. Eye examinations are an important part of health maintenance for everyone. Adults should have their eyes tested to check for early signs of disease, and eye exams for children are important in ensuring correct vision development. Read on to hear about the newest news and stories in the world of vision.
Recent Findings in Vision
The Lions Club and Vision Screenings
In many townships across America, volunteer groups shed light on the needs of the community's residents. For children, these preventative measure can mean the difference between succeeding in school or having trouble every day in class. Also, when discovering problems with vision, hearing problems could surface because of the hearing and vision connection.
According to Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, 1 in 20 preschool children and 1 in 4 school-age children have a particular eye problem that could lead to permanent vision loss if not treated. With the help of the Lions Club and their heavy involvement in vision related work, over 450 young school children recieved eye screenings. If it was deemed necessary, students were given referral information dealing with eye exams and glasses.
Wonderful volunteer groups such as the Lions Club often lend a helping hand to local nurses and schools in the name of good health. Lions Club volunteers have also been known for visiting schools and delivering hearing programs to examine children for the signs of hearing loss.
Stems Cells Restoring Vision
With the increased number of LASIK surgeries being performed, there has been a reduced amount of transplantable corneal tissue. The Ophthalmology deparment at UC discovered that transplanting human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells into mouse models that lack the protein lumican restored the clarity of unusual corneas. This miracle treatment attacks the shortage head on, and could be a soultion for vision and hearing someday..
Mesenchymal stem cells are "multi-potent" stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types. Children are usually the patients of procedures involving mesenchymal stem cells, as they respond much better than older patients. When dealing with vision, an affiliction that pesters the older population, attention needs to be placed on the speed and flexibility of the healing process. In laboratory tests, mice that lacked a certain gene that is in charge of forming a clear cornea were given the injections. The cells survived for more than three months with minimal or no rejection and morphed into corneal cells which restored the lost functions of vision.
The availability of human umbilical stem cells is nearly limitless and are easy to isolate and can be recovered quickly from storage when treating vision patients. These new discoveries in the world of hearing and vision are the first bricks in the path towards creating new and better treatments for mankind. Patients with vision loss due to corneal injury or mutations are looking to have an improved quality of life.
Free Infant Vision Screenings
When we think of an Ophthalmologist or a vision care specialist, a large eye chart and a bulky vision machine come to mind. We associate a trip to the eye doctor with different comparison tests and a bill. Neither of the aforemention facets of the visit are present when infants are involved. They don't use machines, and even better, do not charge a dime.
Vision and hearing screenings for infant are very important in starting their sensory development on the right path. It is impossible to put a price on their health, and luckily a few eye doctors feel the same way. About 7,600 vision doctors across the country participate in a program called InfantSEE, which offers free vision screenings to infants during their first year, at no cost. They use creatvie ways to observe visual traits such as using toys and light, instead of intimidating machinery. Potential problems are diagnosed and treated at an early stage, much to the surprise of parents.
About 10% of kids are at risk of an undiagnosed vision problem, and visual development is the most dramatic between six and 12 months. During these screenings, doctors can look for lazy eye, cataracts, or even cancer. All of the preventative care only takes about 45 minutes including the paperwork, so this is a great opportunity for parents to take even more precaution in the growth and development of their child. Hearing and vision cannot be replaced, but with the proper nurturing, it can be protected.
Artificial Muscles Can Save Blinking and Vision
Blinking is a critical part of our vision because it helps keep the eyes moist, protects the eyes against a myriad of incoming threats, and helps cleanse our eyes of allergens, such as dust and pollen, and other foreign objects. What happens to us if our ability to blink is hindered or even worse, disabled? Without the vital lubrication that blinking helps to provide, vision loss from ulcer formation is soon to follow.
The simple act of blinking is necessary to maintain healthy eyes and vision, yet thousands of people lose that ability each year due to nerve damage, strokes, or surgery. Now surgeons have shown that artificial muscles can restore the ability to blink, a development that could not only save a person's vision, it could change the way we view and manipulate damaged muscles elsewhere in the body.
A successful technique to combat this ailment has been to suture a small gold weight to the inside of the eyelid. It has been successful in more than 90% of cases, but the speed of blinking is slower than than the untreated eye. In a University of California Davis study, researchers used an eyelid sling device to create an eyelid blink when actuated by an artificial muscle. These successes may then allow the creation of a realistic and functional eyelid blink that mimics the normal blink. Vision and hearing looks to be the recipient of muscle transplants such as these.
Sponsored by PHSIMD.com © Copyright 2009 Physician Hearing Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved Sitemap