| Miscellaneous |
Question: Which foods help maintain healthy eyes?
Answer:
The dark, leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli provide the most nutrients which helps decrease the tendency toward macular degeneration. Carrots give the retina the vitamin A it needs. The AREDS (Age Related Eye Disease Study) found that vitamin pills (mostly the antioxidants A, C, and E) help with macular degeneration but probably do not supply all the micronutrients and minerals that these vegetables do.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 17, 2007
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Question: What are some causes of eye pain? My eye also feels droopy.
Answer:
Does the pain feel like it is coming from inside the eye (usually an ache or sharp, quick pain), or outside the eye (usually accompanied by irritation and a foreign body sensation)? Pain in the eye with normal pressure would most likely be from the middle of the eye, the uvea. Anything irritating (inflammation, pressure, or muscle spasm) can cause pain. There is much that still needs to be discovered about the causes of pain in the eye. A feeling of droopiness could easily go with more of a headache from vessel over-dilation or -contraction. Remember, pain derived from the vessels under the brain feels like it is coming from just behind, or even in, the eyeball itself.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 17, 2007
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Question: Is smoking or obesity associated with glaucoma?
Answer:
Smoking is linked to other diseases like macular degeneration, but not yet to glaucoma. There is data from Europe that links obesity and glaucoma, and I have seen IOPs decrease when patients lose weight.
Dr. Michael James Pro
May 2, 2007
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Question: Is pigmentary glaucoma common?
Answer:
It is a rare glaucoma, one of the types of open angle glaucoma that is hereditary. So in people in whom I find it, I ask about their parents, siblings, and children.
Dr. Michael James Pro
March 7, 2007
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Question: How is early glaucoma defined?
Answer:
Early glaucoma is defined differently by different specialists. I think of early glaucoma as that which is discovered before definite changes are seen on perimetry [in the visual field test]. This is most easily picked up by noticing an early, slight change in the optic nerve or retinal nerve fiber layer. Previous photos, drawings, HRTs, GDXs, or OCTs are usually needed to be sure change has occurred.
Dr. Rick Wilson
December 6, 2006
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Question: My low blood pressure is a factor in my optic nerve damage. How can I raise my blood pressure?
Answer:
That is a difficult issue. Some glaucoma specialists prescribe a glass of V8 juice at bedtime in hopes that the salt load will raise the blood pressure. Others work with a cardiologist or internist to provide medications to raise blood pressure.
Dr. Rick Wilson
December 6, 2006
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Question: Can high blood pressure affect eye pressure?
Answer:
There was a study some years ago out of Johns Hopkins that showed eye pressure to rise slowly in response to elevated systemic pressure after a lag of about 2 years. Having high blood pressure for years hardens the vessel walls and makes them less responsive to blood pressure changes, which could be a risk to the optic nerves.
Dr. Rick Wilson
December 6, 2006
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Question: Can VEGF Trap, a new protein that binds to or "traps" vascular endothelial growth factor and blocks its activity, have any effect on ICE syndrome?
Answer:
I don't see why it would since a different kind of endothelium is involved. However, stranger things have happened.
Dr. Rick Wilson
November 1, 2006
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Question: Is there a program that will display visual field test results on a personal computer?
Answer:
Yes, that is possible with some visual field machines. The Octopus has that program, and I am fairly sure the Humphrey does as well.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 18, 2006
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Question: How do plugs for dry eyes work?
Answer:
Your eye makes tears all the time which are drained off by the lacrimal duct in the lids. Many people, especially older women, have dry eyes because they do not make enough of the watery part of tears. Putting plugs in the lacrimal ducts keeps the small amount of tears that they do make from draining out right away, and thus makes them more comfortable.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 18, 2006
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Question: Are patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PSXF) more prone to developing dry-eye syndrome if they are treated with beta blockers?
Answer:
The prevalence of pseudoexfoliation increases rapidly with age, as does the prevelance of dry eyes. Beta blockers can make dry eyes worse for people of all age groups.
Dr. Rick Wilson
September 6, 2006
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Question: Do ICE (iridocorneal endothelial syndrome) cells stop growing in middle age (50's)?
Answer:
Usually ICE cells become less and less aggressive with age. However, I had a patient who never had ICE before age 60 and then got a very aggressive glaucoma. I also have had two women whose menopause reactivated the aggressiveness of the disease.
Dr. Rick Wilson
August 16, 2006
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Question: What is orthokeratology, and does it affect glaucoma?
Answer:
Usually not. It is an optometric practice aimed at giving you better vision without glasses or contact lenses. You wear contact lenses while you sleep to change the shape of the cornea.
Dr. Rick Wilson
August 16, 2006
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Question: Can the speed of the eye's blood flow be measured?
Answer:
The color Doppler is one machine that can look at the speed of blood flow in the vessels behind the eye. Its resolution does not distinguish among the different short posterior ciliary arteries, the ones that we are most concerned about in glaucoma. The machine summarizes the flow of all the short posterior ciliary arteries on the nasal and lateral sides of the optic nerve, showing it as one vessel. If the measured blood velocity is slow, it shows a predisposition to glaucoma, and to vein or retina occlusions. Such machines are usually only available in large ophthalmology departments, especially those with research facilities.
Dr. Rick Wilson
June 21, 2006
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Question: Is someone with lupus or scleroderma more likely to develop glaucoma?
Answer:
Slightly more likely, according to one study that came out of Bascom-Palmer.
Dr. Rick Wilson
June 21, 2006
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Question: Can repeated soccer "headers" cause glaucoma?
Answer:
If the ball causes eye injury. When there is an orbital fracture, the eye is also often affected. If there is just head injury, then Parkinson's Disease and pre-senile dementia are a concern.
Dr. Rick Wilson
June 21, 2006
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Question: My nystagmus seems to disappear when I watch TV; is this common?
Answer:
Often people with nystagmus can pick a spot in their gaze where the nystagmus is minimal. Concentrating on an object of attention can also lessen the nystagmus.
Dr. Rick Wilson
June 21, 2006
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Question: What are the basics of the neovascular type of glaucoma?
Answer:
In this type of glaucoma, part of the eye does not get an adequate blood supply because of a vein occlusion or diabetes, etc. The part (retina or ciliary body) that does not get enough blood sends a chemical message to the body saying "Help, send me food and oxygen". The body tries to help by building new vessels (neovascularization), but these vessels do more harm than good by growing in the wrong places and leaking blood. When the vessels grow into the trabecular meshwork (drain of the eye), they block it. The eye continues to manufacture fluid at a normal rate but it cannot get out, and so glaucoma results.
Dr. Rick Wilson
May 24, 2006
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Question: Are cholesterol deposits in the blood vessels visible to a doctor during an eye exam?
Answer:
If the deposits are large enough, then they can be seen. However, most people, even those with high cholesterol, do not develop visible deposits in the retinal blood vessels.
Dr. Elliot Werner
March 30, 2005
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Question: Should a glaucoma patient take precautions for scuba diving?
Answer:
Unless you have a filtering bleb, scuba diving is safe, as far as we know, as long as you equalize the pressure in the mask.
Dr. Elliot Werner
March 30, 2005
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Question: Is a sudden increase in optical migraines something I should contact my glaucoma specialist about?
Answer:
If there is a definite change in your frequency or severity of migraines, ocular or otherwise, you would be better off seeing a neurologist rather than glaucoma specialist.
Dr. Rick Wilson
April 06, 2005
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Question: Is light sensitivity a condition of any type of glaucoma?
Answer:
Not usually. It is more commonly seen with intraocular inflammation.
Dr. Rick Wilson
April 06, 2005
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Question: Is amblyopia ["lazy eye"] a neurological disorder?
Answer:
Amblyopia clearly is a neurological condition, since the brain is not correctly processing messages from a normal eye. However, since it is usually observed in otherwise healthy kids, we don't typically consider it neurological.
Dr. Mark Moster
May 04, 2005
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Question: What causes nystagmus?
Answer:
Nystagmus has many causes. Visual loss is one cause. Congenital nystagmus is the term used when there is nystagmus from birth, with or without associated visual loss.
Dr. Mark Moster
May 04, 2005
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Question: Can nystagmus increase eye strain or cause headaches?
Answer:
There are so many types of nystagmus that I'd have to say that sometimes it could lead to eye strain. Headaches are so common however, that I think their occurrence with nystagmus may just be a coincidence.
Dr. Mark Moster
May 04, 2005
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Question: My mom has severe primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Her neuro-ophthalmologist saw an Arnold Chiari (A-C) brain malformation. Is there any connection?
Answer:
There is no connection between an A-C malformation and glaucoma. Because glaucoma is so common, we often see it in people who coincidentally have other neurological conditions.
Dr. Mark Moster
May 04, 2005
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Question: Is there any connection between the amount of pigment in the trabecular meshwork and the color of the iris, skin, and hair?
Answer:
There may be a loose connection, but I certainly see African Americans all the time with little pigment in their trabecular meshwork.
Dr. Rick Wilson
March 8, 2006
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Question: Can the SLO (scanning laser ophthalmoscope) be used to explore vitreous opacities and detachments?
Answer:
OCT (Ocular Computerized Topography) can detect the pull on the retina from a detaching vitreous but I know nothing about SLO exploring vitreous opacities.
Dr. Rick Wilson
March 8, 2006
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Question: Is uveitis the same as blepharitis?
Answer:
The ending 'itis' just means inflammation. So uveitis is an
inflammation of the uvea, and blepharitis is an inflammation of the eyelids.
Dr. Rick Wilson
February 1, 2006
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Question: Please define mild, moderate, and advanced glaucoma.
Answer:
Mild glaucoma involves cupping of the optic nerve but no visual field loss. Moderate glaucoma is visual field loss involving one small area of the field. Advanced glaucoma involves a large area of the field, or more than one area of the field. A "small" area is a statistical concept but would produce a mean defect of less than 10 decibels as measured by the Humphrey perimeter.
Dr. Elliot Werner
September 7, 2005
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Question: Can glaucoma cause proptosis?
Answer:
In young patients (less than10 years), eyes can enlarge with pressure. In adults this is generally not the case. Proptosis, an eye pushing forward, can be caused by many things, including things behind the eye pushing it forward. More frequently, the proptosis is actually an illusion caused by one eyelid being more open than the other, causing that eye to look more prominent. Sometimes, multiple surgeries like tube shunts and buckles for retina detachments can lead to a mild proptosis because of the hardware inserted around the eye.
Dr. Jonathan Myers
December 7, 2005 |
Question: Is there any evidence that long-term heavy use of computers is causing an increase in the incidence of glaucoma?
Answer:
I've never seen a single study that proved deleterious effects of computer usage on the eyes. Problems arise with the hand (carpal tunnel), the back, and so forth, but not with the eye, other than "strain".
Dr. Rick Wilson
February 2, 2005
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Question: I have a growth on my eye which is being checked every 4 months for malignancy. Should it be removed now?
Answer:
Depending upon where the growth is, it may be too difficult to remove, i.e., too dangerous to your vision.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 5, 2005
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Question: What does a calcium deposit in the eye mean?
Answer:
If the calcium deposit is in the cornea, it can cause blurred vision and a rough surface to the eye that can be irritating. Since it is usually seen in sick eyes, it would be worrisome.
Dr. Rick Wilson
October 26, 2005
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