empowereddoctor.com - ophthalmologylasik

Lasik Helps U.S. Retain Pilots, Astronauts

2008-10-27

The natural human aging process is in a constant war with the U.S. military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Aging has always degraded the vision of Air Force pilots, Navy divers and NASA astronauts - and this has made it difficult for the respective services to retain them. The government has always feared that eyeglasses and contact lenses could be broken or dislodged in the course of the service members' often grueling work, threatening life, limb and government property in the process. Even with the advent of Lasik surgery, the fear didn't subside.

Choosing Between Traditional and Custom Lasik

2008-10-14

Lasik eyesight-correction surgery, a phenomenal breakthrough when it was first approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 1995, has recently been trumped big-time by the innovation known as wavefront Lasik technology, which is some 25 times more precise than its older cousin. The consumer still has both choices available today - the traditional versus the new custom technique - but there is an enormous difference in technology.

Eye Diseases Are Rising Amongst the Elderly, But Few See Risk

2007-08-02

The American Academy of Opthalmology finds that most Americans are unaware of the risks presented by age-related eye diseases, according to a health survey of 1,200 Americans. The populations most at risk for age related retinal diseases such as cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration are unaware of the factors that make them susceptible.

High Sugar Diet May Effect Eyesight

2007-07-23

A diet high in sugar and starch may make the eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in the US. A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tracked dietary information from over 4,000 participants aged 55-80 or 8,0000 eyes which, as some participants developed AMD in one eye and not the other, is how they were tracked. The participants completed dietary surveys and had their eyes checked for AMD. The surveys listed over 90 foods, and asked how often they were eaten. The researchers were particularly interested in foods that had a high glycimic index, like sugar and white flour.

Air Force Allows Pilots With Lasik to Fly

2007-06-20

For the first time, the US Air Force is allowing aspiring pilots and aircrew members to fly even if they have had LASIK eye surgery. Since 2001, the Air Force has permitted applicants to try for spots as pilots or aircrew members if they have had a corrective eye surgery, known as PRK (photo refractive keratectomy). The Air Force had said it needed more time to evaluate LASIK, a newer procedure.

New Excimer Laser

2007-04-26

New Excimer Laser Breakthrough Excimer Laser technology is leading to unprecedented results in the field of eye correction.

healthwrap_video games

2007-02-09

New research out of the University of Rochester shows video games that contain high levels of action can actually improve your vision. People who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters on a standard eye chart.

Joe Theismann Superbowl

2007-02-02

When you settle down on Sunday to watch hours--and we mean hours of Superbowl coverage--.and you�re drinking your soft drinks and your beer, does an enlarged prostate force many of you into deciding whether to stay for the next play or missing it because you just gotta go? Former Superbowl quarterback Joe Theismann will tell you, you�re not alone.

Sutureless Cornea Transplant Surgery

2006-10-07

�I could barely see, like when I would get up in the morning everything was so foggy. The first thing that was in my mind was that, wow, maybe I�m going blind,� says Dyeane Dunn. Dyeane Dunn�s corneas were damaged. She would need a cornea transplant to replace the diseased tissue. Doctors were able to perform a sutureless cornea transplant�an innovative technique that replaces only the damaged cell layers. �This is a phenomenal procedure because it is only taking away what is bad, it is also not causing changes in the surface of the cornea so you don�t have to worry about dealing with lots of sutures later on in the eye, if patients don�t take care of them it can cause rejections later on in the eye, can cause infections, they cause astigmatism, irregularities, by putting in only what is needed it�s the best way to operate,� explains Dr. Michael Ehrenhaus of Long Island College Hospital.

Visual DX

2006-09-13

Bioterrorism is one of the country�s biggest post-9-11 concerns. How quickly doctors can detect an agent of bio-war will determine how many people will be affected. We�ve had a taste of how even very small releases of bio-terror agents can wreak havoc: the anthrax attacks after 9-11; the sarin nerve gas attacks in Japanese subways. The threat of bio-war is very real today. Doctors making the first diagnosis need to be armed to be able to make a quick diagnosis. Bio-weapons are diseases we simply don�t see. So, the key to protecting the public as the final line of defense is early diagnosis. That�s where an E.R.-based computer program called visual dx comes in. �Visual DX is really an incredibly powerful program that helps us in a number of ways but it was directed to us particularly to help us diagnose bioterrorism or potential bioterrorism cases,� says Dr. Lewis Kohl, Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Long Island College Hospital. �You can go in and put in a patient symptoms, you can describe what the rash looks like, what part of the body it is, how old the patient is.�