Vitamins & Antioxidants Decrease Cataracts?

Vitamins and antioxidants may help decrease your risk of cataract as researchers have found that it may be possible that there is an association between your risk of cataracts and your intake and levels of of certain vitamins and antioxidants.

Researchers reporting their results in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition attempted to clarify some of the inconsistent reports regarding the association between blood antioxidants or vitamins and risk of age-related cataract by performing a Meta analysis of 13 different studies.

They found the lower the level of vitamin E, α-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, the greater the risk of age-related cataract in Asian populations but not in Western populations, whereas β-Carotene, lycopene, and β-cryptoxanthin had no significant association with risk of cataract. While these results look somewhat interesting, the question remains whether increasing intake through dietary supplements actually have any role in decreasing the risk of cataract formation.

If you or someone you know has a question about cataracts, cataract surgery, lens implants or driving please feel free to call Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center at 219-464-8223, or visit Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center or facebook.com/nwindianaeyeandlaser.

Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center offices are located at 522 Marquette Street, Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 and 1001 South Edgewood Drive, Knox, Indiana 46354. 

Use Decorative Halloween Contact Lenses with Caution

Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center advises patients to use decorative cosmetic contact lenses for Halloween with caution as the Food and Drug Administration, regulates all contact lenses as medical devices that require a prescription and proper fitting by an eye-care professional. Even someone with perfect vision would still require an eye exam and a prescription in order to wear any kind of contacts, including decorative cosmetic lenses for Halloween.

Beware Buying Halloween Decorative Contact Lenses

Some websites advertise decorative contacts as if they were fashion accessories or toys with fanciful, playful packaging in order to attract teens and young adults, especially girls. The problem is not that people use decorative, non corrective contact lenses, but that they buy the devices without a prescription through unlicensed vendors on the Internet or at flea markets and specialty shops.

Eye Health Problems with Halloween Decorative Contact Lenses

The eye health problems one can experience with cosmetic decorative contact lenses purchased over-the-counter contact lenses create a huge risk including corneal abrasions, “pink eye” conjunctivitis and even more serious types of corneal infection such as infectious keratitis with a corneal ulcer that can result in profound vision loss.

The safe and effective use of contact lenses-whether decorative or not-requires proper fitting and education about their care to prevent the potential for serious eye  problems from becoming a reality. If you or a friend would like to learn more about contact lenses of any type including decorative cosmetic contacts please call Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center at 219-464-8223, or visit Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center or facebook.com/nwindianaeyeandlaser to schedule an appointment.

Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center offices are located at 522 Marquette Street, Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 and 1001 South Edgewood Drive, Knox, Indiana 46354. 

Diabetic Macular Edema Treatment Injections

Diabetic Macular Edema is a common cause of vision loss in diabetics suffering from the effects of diabetic retinopathy. We are fortunate to have a number of treatment options including injections of Vascular Endothelial Growth Inhibitor (VEGF) drugs such as Lucentis® & Eyelea® that are helpful to treat and reverse the effects of Diabetic Macular Edema.

Researchers reporting in the British Journal of Ophthalmology shared helpful information about the importance of the VEGF inhibitor injection frequency and duration in the treatment of diabetic macular edema. The study confirmed that patients need to be patient as their ophthalmologists plan and schedule their examinations, testing and visits as sometime the best results can only be achieved multiple injections over some period of time. In general good long term results are achieved by about 4 months of injection treatment, but 20% of patients with persistent Diabetic Macular Edema at 12 months achieved a dry macula with considerable restoration of vision with sustained treatment through 24 months suggesting that persistent Diabetic Macular Edema at 4-12 months should not be used as a stopping criterion for treatment.

If you or someone you know has a question about diabetic retinopathy including diabetic macular edema with Lucentis® or Eyelea® injections please feel free to call Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center at 219-464-8223, or visit Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center or facebook.com/nwindianaeyeandlaser to schedule an appointment.

Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center offices are located at 522 Marquette Street, Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 and 1001 South Edgewood Drive, Knox, Indiana 46354. 

LASIK Story: Plumbing & Motorcycles

I had LASIK done 2 months ago and I am so pleased with the results. I wore monovision contacts for years with success and was a little hesitant HAVING MONOVISION lasik done.  I am a plumber by day and ride motorcycles on the weekends so I needed my vision to be great for all of the different things I do.  Dr. Buck assured me that I would be a wonderful candidate for the procedure and could get me scheduled as soon as a couple of weeks.  So I made the appointments and took the plunge.  I was very confident in the care that i was given and it is so nice to be treated like your family every time you walk in the door.  I would tell anyone to have lasik done.  Don’t wait as long as I did!