High Number of Infants With Untreated Eye and Vision Problems

...During the 2009 InfantSEE® Weeks, more than 1,000 comprehensive eye and vision assessments were conducted in eight states. Data from the assessments showed that one-in-six infants exhibited an overall cause for concern requiring follow-up care from an eye care professional. ...

Metabolic Screening Uncommon in Kids on Antipsychotics

..Most children on antipsychotic medication do not get recommended metabolic tests even though they have an increased risk of glucose and lipid abnormalities, an analysis of a Medicaid claims database showed. About 30% of these youngsters had glucose assessments and 13% had lipid evaluations, although they were twice as likely to have glucose or lipid abnormalities as a control group of children taking asthma medication...

The development of myopia among children with intermittent exotropia.

...In this population-based study of children with intermittent exotropia, myopia was calculated to occur in more than 90% of patients by 20 years of age. Observation versus surgical correction did not alter the refractive outcome...

Comments: I wonder what would have happened if optometric vision therapy was used to treat these patients? Since myopia development appears to be linked to retinal defocus, blur, accommodation and the heterophoria....it would be a great project to see what would happen if OVT treated these areas and its affects on myopia development. DM

Prevalence of and early-life influences on childhood strabismus: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study.

...Three hundred forty-three children had strabismus (of whom 20 [5.8%] had neurodevelopmental/neurologic disorders), giving a total weighted prevalence of 2.1% (95% confidence interval, 1.8%-2.4%). In multivariable analysis, the risk of isolated strabismus was reduced in children of nonwhite maternal ethnicity and was increased in those born after an assisted or cesarean delivery and in those who were of low birth weight and preterm (in particular, late preterm). An increased risk of neurodevelopmental strabismus was independently associated with maternal smoking into later pregnancy, maternal illnesses in pregnancy, and decreasing birth weight for gestational age and sex. Socioeconomic status was associated with isolated (inverse relationship) and neurodevelopmental (U-shaped relationship) strabismus.....

Visual function, ocular motility and ocular characteristics in patients with mitochondrial complex I deficiency.

...Visual impairment, ocular motility problems and OA are common in children and young adults with complex I deficiency and should prompt the paediatric ophthalmologist to consider mitochondrial disorders....

Unvaccinated Boys at Risk of Mumps-Linked Testicular Problem

A new study reports a significant increase in the number of young males with a mumps-related testicle condition called mumps orchitis, which causes one or both testicles to swell and can lead to fertility problems.

Comments: Vaccination can save lives, pain, and problems later in life. DM

ICO on Facebook

The Illinois College of Optometry has an official Facebook Fan Page. Click on the title above to become a Fan today!

Announcing Keynote Getman Memorial Speaker@ ICBO Conference

V.S. Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and Professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute. Ramachandran’s early work was on visual perception but he is best known for his experiments in behavioral neurology which, despite their apparent simplicity, have had a profound impact on the way we think about the brain.

Ramachandran has published over 180 papers in scientific journals. He is author of the acclaimed book “Phantoms in the Brain” NEWSWEEK magazine has named him a member of “The Century Club” – one of the “hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century.”

Traumatic Brain Injury Keynote Speaker at ICBO-NORA Joint Meeting

Jennifer Field was 17 when a car accident left her comatose and severely brain injured. Few expected her to survive. But she did. Fewer expected any kind of recovery. Now, she travels the country, performing a one-woman show, re-living her story so that others who’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries never lose hope.

Comments: Jennifer is one of the Keynote speakers at this year's International Congress of Behavioral Optometry and Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association join meeting this week in California. Hope to see you there! DM

A Gun Shot to the Head: Oculo-Visual & Perceptual Anomalies

This poster will be presented at the International Congress of Behavioral Optometry this April 2010.

Maino D, Schlange D, Donati , Bakouris C, Nikoniuk M. A Gun Shot to the Head: Oculo-Visual & Perceptual Anomalies. Peer reviewed poster presented at the International Congress of Behavioral Optometry. Ontario, CA 04/2010

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from mild, moderate or severe trauma to the head. The use of firearms, motor vehicles and falls causing the most deaths from TBI with firearms being the leading cause of death among persons aged 20 to 74 years. The CDC estimates that 5.3 million Americans (2% of the US population) have suffered a TBI. More than 1.4 million people a year sustain a TBI with 50,000 of these individuals dying and 235,000 being hospitalized.

CASE REPORT: A 25 y/o H M with a history of a gunshot to the right side of the head presented with left side spasticity, hemianopsia, diplopia, problems tracking a moving object and reading difficulty. AO had completed a post TBI rehabilitation program (OT, PT, Speech/Lang), but still has PT 2X a week. His current medications include Phenytoin, Sertraline, Kepra and Baclofen. AO had no known allergies. He had a small amount of myopia and astigmatism. An exotropia with left hyper was noted at far/near. Other functional vision and vision information processing problems were noted as well. The fundus was remarkable for temporal ON pallor. His final diagnosis was exotropia, hypertropia, diplopia, suppression, oculomotor dysfunction, accommodative instability, dry eye, optic nerve pallor, left emianopsia, visual attention disorder nd multiple vision information processing anomalies. A multifocal prescription was given with both ground in and Fresnel prisms. Artificial tears and Omega-3s with appropriate hydration were suggested for the dry eye. In/out of office optometric vision therapy program was started. He showed many of the oculo-visual anomalies associated with Post Trauma Vision Syndrome. We have decreased his dry eye symptoms, eliminated his diplopia and significantly improved his oculomotor abilities. Because of this, his reading and quality of life has already improved. Unfortunately after several visits he decided not to continue therapy primarily because of transportation issues and possible non-acceptance of his limitations. All individuals with TBI should be assessed and treated by an optometrist who may be able to provide additional rehabilitative services beyond those routinely offered by the medical community.

Janet Sees 3D Movie

The mom (blogger, foundation president, wonderful person) who practically single handedly saved the vision of Illinois' children wrote a great review of the movie How to Train Your Dragon 3D. Janet Hughes writes on her blog:

Amazing. Incredible. Out-of-this-world!

Advocating for healthy eyes and good vision took a new turn… into 3D!

“How to Train Your Dragon” earns FIVE STARS from me. If you haven’t seen a 3D movie yet, THIS is one movie not to be missed!

Unfortunately, nine to eighteen million Americans will NOT enjoy a 3D movie due to undetected vision problems.

Amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (eye turns), and binocular vision disorders (such as CI or convergence insufficiency) will hinder the visual experience of a 3D movie.....

Comments: Read her full blog report and commentary. Just click the title above. DM

Statement on vision therapy outdated, flawed

...“This publication pretends to be a review of the literature, but instead is a straw man argument,” noted Leonard Press, O.D., chair of the AOA’s Pediatrics and Binocular Vision Committee and prominent member of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD). “The references at the end, for example, include outdated research literature, and are padded with 23 references to the Irlen lens concept. None of the positive studies on vision therapy from optometric literature is included.”...

Other prominent optometrists and educators also took issue with the “joint policy paper.”

“It should also be noted that every school and college of optometry teach courses in and provides clinical experiences for students in the area of vision therapy and that the procedures used in vision therapy have been codified within text books published by major publishers throughout the United States and the international community,” said Dominick M. Maino, O.D., M.Ed., professor of Pediatrics/Binocular Vision at the Illinois College of Optometry and editor of Optometry & Vision Development.

“Optometric vision therapy is a scientifically sound series of therapeutic procedures used successfully for a number of vision disorders from amblyopia to learning-related vision problems,” Dr. Maino said.....

llinois OD helps those with 3-D vision problems

From the AOA News:

March 24, 2010

Dominick Maino, O.D., M.Ed., with ABC WLS-TV Healthbeat Segment Producer Christina Tressel. Dr. Maino was featured on the program discussing undiagnosed vision problems discovered in the wake of recent 3-D movie releases.

In addition to serving as a Professor of Pediatrics and Binocular Vision at the Illinois College of Optometry’s Illinois Eye Institute and as the editor of Optometry & Vision Development, Dominick Maino, O.D., M.Ed., is considered an expert on the subject of 3-D vision syndrome and its treatment.

Dr. Maino is also in private practice with Denice Rice-Kelly, O.D., and Cheryl Adams, O.D., at Northwest Optometric Associates in Harwood Heights, Ill.

The Chicago affiliate of ABC News recently interviewed Dr. Maino in wake of the wave of 3-D movies now hitting theaters.

Movies such as “Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “How to Train Your Dragon” have left many viewers experiencing headaches, nausea, dizziness, diplopia and eyestrain.

These could be signs of undiagnosed vision problems, according to Dr. Maino.

“Anywhere from 3 million to 9 million or more individuals will have binocular vision dysfunction that will stop them from enjoying 3-D movies,” said Dr. Maino. “Watching 3-D movies can unmask issues such as lazy eye or convergence insufficiency.”

Patients may present with asthenopia, in which they cannot specifically describe the problem but know that something is just not right.

Dr. Maino stressed that optometric vision therapy can help with these problems and that it’s quite effective even for adults.

“The goal is to improve eye coordination, focusing and eye movement to help with the appreciation of the 3-D experience,” he said. “We need to re-educate the brain to achieve single, clear, comfortable, two-eyed vision so that everyone can appreciate these new technologies.”

Dr. Maino points out that the human organism was not designed to act in a virtual 3-D environment. This can cause a cognitive dissonance in which what someone knows to be true (the image is at the distance of the movie screen) and sees to be true (the distance they actually perceive the image to be) are in conflict.

“After optometric vision therapy they can start trusting what they see,” said Dr. Maino.

The Illinois Eye Institute provides binocular vision services to thousands of patients each year.

Since the segment aired on ABC News, Dr. Maino said he has received e-mails from all over inquiring about optometric vision therapy. He has directed these patients to the Dr. Locators on the AOA and the College of Optometry in Vision Development Web sites (www.aoa.org and www.covd.org).

Dr. Maino suggests that optometrists who are not familiar with the techniques of diagnosing binocular vision disorders review the AOA Optometric Clinical Practice Guidelines on Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination (available at http://www.aoa.org/documents/CPG-2.pdf).

The procedures for screening for convergence insufficiency are available at http://www.aoa.org/documents/PLRG-CI-Card.pdf.

Dr. Maino has recently published two articles that may be helpful for other practitioners.

A Review of Optometry article on neuroplasticity speaks to working with adults who have binocular vision dysfunction (http://www.revoptom.com/continuing_education/tabviewtest/lessonid/106025/).

The second one, from Optometric Management, is on binocular vision dysfunction and is available at http://www.optometric.com/article.aspx?article=103756.

“We have an epidemic of undiagnosed and untreated binocular vision problems that optometrists should diagnose, treat or refer out for treatment.” said Dr. Maino.

Dr. Maino also notes the best way for a primary eye care practice to provide state-of-the-art care for those with binocular dysfunction is to hire someone who specializes in pediatrics and binocular vision problems, such as those who have completed a residency in this area.

He also suggests visiting his blog, http://mainosmemos.blogspot.com/, for the latest information on children’s vision.

Deregulation puts patients at risk for undetected eye diseases: optometrists

...The provincial government is putting patients at risk for serious health complications by deregulating optometry and allowing opticians to prescribe eyewear without testing for eye disease, the B.C. Association of Optometrists warned Thursday.

The association says one-seventh of people who visit optometrists for regular eye exams have asymptomatic eye disease -- a disease with no noticeable symptoms. The health problems can range from cataracts to retinal detachment and, in some rare cases, brain tumours, said Dr. Antoinette Dumalo, president of the B.C. Association of Optometrists....

Comments: This is the absolutely dumbest thing government has ever done! I know I am biased, but who could possibly think that not having a comprehensive eye health coupled with a refractive exam as being unnecessary? What bureaucrat thought this was a good idea? There is no screening that is appropriate for this. How many people will loose their eye sight...or even life because of this? All of us optometrists have saved lives....and sight because we do a comprehensive examination....this is a sad day for those living in BC. DM

New Test May Allow Screening For Fragile X Syndrome

....Quick Test May Overcome Barriers to Fragile X Screening

Fragile X syndrome, which causes intellectual disability and other abnormalities, affects about 1 in 4,000 males in the United States (Fragile X syndrome also occurs in females, but causes less severe impairment). Fragile X syndrome is caused by mutations of a gene called FMR1. The mutations are relatively common in the population-although estimates vary, 1 in 300 to 400 U.S. couples may be carriers of the abnormal genes....

Artist/Neurocientist Collaboration To Examine The Way We See Things

...By bringing together an artist and a neuroscientist, both disciplines seek to learn from each other principles of visual perception. In the process of the research, both artist and scientist are gaining new insights into what truly lies in the eye of the beholder....

San Diego measles outbreak highlights consequences of intentional undervaccination

...High vaccine exemption rates at charter and private schools in a San Diego community contributed to the largest measles outbreak in the area since 1991, study findings suggested.The outbreak ensued when an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy returned from Switzerland and unknowingly imported the disease. From Jan. 11 to Feb. 29, 2008, an additional 839 people were exposed and 11 additional measles cases were identified, all in unvaccinated children, the researchers reported. One measles-related hospitalization occurred in an infant too young to be vaccinated, and an additional 48 children too young to be vaccinated were quarantined....

Comments: Talk to your doctor. Get those kids vaccinated. We have not conquered disease. It is just waiting on the sidelines....waiting to hurt those you love. DM

A drug that extends life span prevents Alzheimer's deficits

.....If research results continue to be repeated and are turned into clinical trials, a drug already approved for some uses could be marshaled — sooner than we expect — to prevent Alzheimer's disease in humans and improve health to the end of life.

A few weeks after a report that rapamycin, a drug that extends lifespan in mice and that is currently used in transplant patients, curbed the effects of Alzheimer's disease in mice, a second group is announcing similar results in an entirely different mouse model of early Alzheimer's....

The second report, released April 1 by the journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science, , showed that administration of rapamycin improved learning and memory in a strain of mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's. The improvements in learning and memory were detected in a water maze activity test that is designed to measure learning and spatial memory. The improvements in learning and memory correlated with lower damage in brain tissue....

Comment: Read full article by clicking here. DM

3D Google Maps

Google Maps has a 3D view available. Go to Google Maps. Click on "street view". On the upper left hand side you will see a fella with a pair of glasses...click on this...

You will need red/green glasses to see this in 3D.

Usually the red lens is on the right side....flip the glasses...or take out the red lens and put it on the left....with the green one on the right to get the full affect!

My thanks for my optometric colleagues for bringing this to my attention. DM

How 3-D TV Works

....The 3-D thrill that swept movie theaters last year is now headed for your living room. In the wake of a new Blu-ray standard for high-definition 3-D, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung are all releasing home-theater setups that can display 3-D movies in full high-def glory. Using a combo of 3-D-capable Blu-ray players, TVs and, yes, glasses, the systems are able to deliver separate, full-screen, 1080p pictures to each eye. The technique they use creates a picture as vivid as in a movie theater without requiring a major overhaul of TV technology. And within a few years, a new cable television standard could even bring live events like the Super Bowl right to your TV in high-def 3-D.....

New Lenses for Myopia Control

Scientists from the Vision Cooperative Research Centre (Vision CRC) in Australia today announced that myopia, or short-sightedness, can be controlled with new technology. This ground breaking discovery was based on research conducted by Vision CRC partners - the University of Houston College of Optometry and the Brien Holden Vision Institute, located at the University of New South Wales.

Myopia affects over 1.6 billion people globally, with two thirds of those affected living in the Asia region. If unchecked, the number is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2020.

There are 128 million people affected in the United States, which equates to 42% of the population.

Successful basic research on the nature and cause of myopia has led to the discovery that the peripheral retinal image plays a major part in stimulating eye growth and myopia. Large scale clinical trials testing both spectacles and contact lenses designed to control the position of the peripheral image and involving over 500 children in China and Australia, have produced promising results.

With myopia, instead of a distant image being focused on the retina, as it needs to be for clear vision, it is focused in front of the retina. Myopia often occurs when children commence school (ages six to seven), and if left undetected the condition progresses and can adversely impact the child's education and social development.

Professor Brien Holden, CEO of the Vision CRC, explained further, "For hundreds of years focusing defects of the eye have been corrected by simply moving the visual image backwards and forwards with spectacle lenses. Professor Earl Smith from the University of Houston College of Optometry, has demonstrated that if we move the central image onto the retina but leave the peripheral image behind the retina, the peripheral image can drive the eye to elongate, causing myopia to increase."

"The beauty of this new technology is that it addresses this problem by bringing the peripheral image forward, onto or even in front of the retina, and at the same time independently positioning the central image on the retina giving clear vision.

"The commercialisation of this technology is a most important outcome for the CRC program because of the potential vision and eye health benefits," Professor Holden said.

Professor Holden announced that the breakthrough technology has been licensed to Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV) and developed into the first spectacle lens of its kind through a joint project with CZV lens designers. This new spectacle lens will be launched under the ZEISS brand name throughout Asia from April of this year.

The Vision CRC has also licensed its myopia control technology to CIBA VISION for contact lens applications.

Professor Holden added, "Myopia can be a serious eye condition. High myopia significantly increases the risk of cataract, glaucoma, and retinal detachment, all potentially blinding conditions and the public health risk is significant."

Dr Padmaja Sankaridurg, Head of the Myopia Program at Vision CRC, emphasised the nature of the new technology's appeal. "Our unique lens designs act to curve or shift the peripheral image forward, thereby removing the stimulus to axial elongation and myopia progression," she said. "We are continuing testing in Chinese and Australian children and young adults. So far, the trials have found that the first spectacle lens prototypes based on this new technology slow the rate of progress of myopia by 30% in children six to 12 years of age, where the child has a history of parental myopia," she said.

Professor Smith, from the University of Houston, commented, "Evidence shows that the number of individuals with myopia will dramatically escalate with increasing urbanisation and less outdoor activity".

"As urbanisation has increased in China, the prevalence and average amount of myopia has also increased. Recent evidence indicates that similar trends are occurring in the US and Australia. This ongoing epidemic of vision loss is associated with spiralling health and social costs, especially in many developing countries where over 80% of children have no correcting spectacles or contact lenses," he said.

"This new technology is not just for children either. Over 25% of myopes in the Western world are adult-onset myopes, which often begins at University. We believe that this technology has potential benefits for all myopes," Professor Smith said.

Comments: Did not see any research on PubMed about this....does anyone know about research support? DM

Screens And Eyestrain

...The launch of Apple Inc.'s iPad is fueling an ocular debate: What type of e-reader is easiest on the eyes: the gray-scale screens that simulate ink on a printed page or the back-lit color screens used by computers and the iPad...

A Systematic Review of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Ocular Signs in Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma

....Prospective, consecutive studies confirm that IOH in infants—particularly bilateral, extensive, and multilayered—are highly specific for AHT. Optic nerve sheath hemorrhages are significantly more common in AHT than in other conditions, in autopsy studies. Traumatic retinoschisis and perimacular folds are present in a minority of AHT, but rarely seen in other conditions. ....