Rheumatoid Arthritis and Your Eyes

 

Image: www.medicalnewstoday.com

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an auto immune condition in which the immune system mistakenly targets the joints. RA is a systemic disease that can affect the whole body. While most people think of arthritis as inflammation of only the joints research shows that inflammation causes damage to other parts of the body including the eyes.

RA as it relates to the eye may lead to conditions such as dry eye, scleritis or uveitis. RA damages the connective tissue, made mostly of collagen that covers the end of the bone joints, but collagen is also the primary substance of the eye’s sclera and cornea.

About 25% of RA patients will develop an eye problem. There are several common vision complications associated with RA

• Dry eye
•  Damage to the cornea
• Infections like conjunctivitis
• Inflammation of the sclera
• Conjunctiva
• Patients with RA are at a higher risk for developing cataracts

Diagnosis of RA requires a rheumatologist who will work closely with your eye care physician to manage problems with your eyes.

Some medications used to treat the RA has dry eye as a side effects. So that will also be addressed. The treatment plan will include trying to balance treatment for RA related eye conditions and side effects of the medication

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare
#PittsburghOptometrist
#ra 

Sources:

 https://www.nvisioncenters.com/conditions/arthritis-and-vision/

www.arthritis.org

www.bausch.com

www.ado.org

Why do Potatoes Have Eyes

Image: www.chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/

Each tuber or potato has several buds. These are the small sprouts we call potato “eyes”. It is from these buds that new potato plants can grow. When these buds are exposed to warmth and moisture, they begin to swell and soon sprout into entire stems with roots growing from their bases and leaves at the top. Some people ask is it safe to eat potatoes with eyes? When potato sprout the starch is converted into sugar, if the potato is firm it has most of the nutrients intact and can be eaten after the sprouts are removed.

Sometimes potatoes develop a greenish color - a potato exposed to light, sprouted or unsprouted, may have an increased concentration of glycoalkaloids. If this is the case, the toxic area will turn green, which can exert toxic effects on the nervous system by interfering with the body‘s ability to regulate acetylcholine, a chemical responsible for conducting nerve impulses.

So even though a potato’s eyes can’t help it to see underground, they can help it grow more potatoes.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist


Sources:

www.rachaelray.com

www.wonderopollis.org

www.diynetwork.com

 

Why do my eyes water when yawning?

Image: www.akc.org

Yawning is an involuntary process of opening the mouth and breathing in deeply, filling the lungs with air. Why we yawn has puzzled scientist throughout the ages. 

Your eyes water when you yawn, doctors have some theories as to why. As you know when you yawn your face becomes contorted and you close your eyes. This puts pressure on the lacrimal glands under your eyebrows. The lacrimal glands are paired exocrine glands found in most terrestrial vertebrates and some marine mammals that secrete the aqueous layer of the tear film that keeps the eye protected from irritants and infection causing pathogens. 

Tears normally drain out through tiny little ducts in the corner of the eye but by squeezing the muscles in your face during a yawn closes up the ducts and the tears have no way to drain so they overflow. When the yawn is over and you open your eyes this fluid can drain normally again through the ducts.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

 

Sources:

www.self.com

www.healthline.com

www.webmd.com

 

Vision requirements for Pennsylvania drivers

Vision requirements for drivers vary state to state and from license type to license type. The requirements to drive a tractor trailer in Pennsylvania are more stringent than a passenger car.

Visual acuity is the clarity or sharpness of vision. Normal vision is 20/20, for example, someone with 20/40 vision means you need to be at a distance of 20 feet to see what someone with 20/20 vision can see at 40 feet.

In order to drive without correct of lenses you must have 20/70 or better vision during the day and after dark 20/40 or better vision. Individuals with visual acuity poorer than 20/40 with both eyes may drive with a daylight-only restriction. If you do need corrective lenses you must wear them at all times when driving.

In order to hold a driver’s license in PA you must also meet field of vision requirements. Your visual field in clinical terms, is the area of space that you can see at the same time, in other words field of vision is how far out peripherally you are able to see without moving your head or eyes side to side.

With a healthy and normal eye, you should be able to see approximately 95° temporarily towards your car and 60° towards your nose from the center and 60° above and 75° below from the center. In PA your horizontal visual field must be at least 120° wide with both eyes.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

Sources:

www.preventblindness.org

www.AOA.org

www.penndot.gov

Image:

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

How Huge is the Eye Supplement Market?

 

Image:www.healthline.com

Eye supplements are the products that are taken for maintaining eye health and good vision. The growth in the supplement market is being driven by the increase in the prevalence of a related diseases, increasing geriatric population, increasing awareness about eye disease and preventative eyecare measures for avoiding eye and vision problems has been a major promoter of the eye supplement market. The global eye health supplements market size was estimated at USD 1.57 billion in 2020.

The national eye institute estimated 2.7 million Americans suffer from glaucoma, and it is expected to reach 4.3 million by the end of 2030. 2.1 million Americans suffer from advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and it is expected to reach 3.7 million by 2030.

Are these supplements really worth it?

There are lots of claims about these products, that some can help delay or prevent eye problems or disease. So what should you believe about eye supplements?

Your doctor should be your first source of information about your health. Regardless of dosage, supplements are not a cure for health issues or a substitute for, first and foremost, a healthy lifestyle or medication when needed. Most of the nutrients found in supplements can be obtained through the food you eat such as:

• Lutein & zeaxanthin

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin E

• Essential fatty acids

• Zinc

• Vitamin A

• Beta-carotene

Controlling other risk factors by changing certain behaviors:

• Not smoking

• Reducing exposure to sunlight by wearing UVA/UVB protective eyewear

• Controlling other diseases like diabetes

 

If you do choose to use any supplements you should take precautions as with any medication. There can be interactions between supplements and prescribe drugs, possibly Unknown since a lot of supplements have not been tested in clinical trials. Again consult your doctor to advise you and schedule a yearly dilated eye exam with a retinal image scan is the number one way to catch any issues early.

#eyegotcha

 

Sources:

www.globenewswire.com

www.medgadget.com

www.webmd.com

www.aoa.org

www.allabouteyes.com

Why would a doctor prescribe prednisolone eye drops?

Image: www.healthline.com

Prednisolone eye drops are a steroid drug applied to the eyes. Steroids change how your immune system response to inflammation and irritation. 

Doctors prescribe steroids for a variety of reasons, and I drop form, they are used to:

1. Reduce inflammation after I surgery.

2. Treat Uveitis.

3. Minimize damage after injury.

4. To treat redness

5. To treat irritation that is not from infection, but from irritants such as chemicals heat, allergies or objects in the eye.

6. To prevent the body rejecting a corneal graft.

7. To reduce scarring. 

Balancing the benefits and risks of steroids is vital to ocular health. Each patient’s circumstances must be factored into the treatment plan. There are many different steroid eye drops, for many different uses and results. The dosage and length of treatment are based on your medical condition and response to treatment. Prednisolone eye drops are only to be used as instructed by your doctor. 

As with all medications there are possible side effects associated as well as other drug interactions so be sure to communicate any reactions to your Physician. 

Using this medication for longer than 10 days can increase your risk of increased intraocular pressure (IOP), among other adverse reactions. Your doctor will want to monitor IOP on a more frequent schedule for use longer than 10 days. 

A patient should not just stop the use of this medication. Patients should be weaned off of steroid use by slowly decreasing the dose one day to the next.

 

#eyegotcha 

Sources:

www.healthline.com

www.aao.org

www.verywellhealth.com

www.webmd.com

 

It’s Groundhog Day Trivia 2/2/2021

So Punxsutawney Phil the Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Profit Extraordinary has called for, sorry to say, 6 more weeks of winter. https://youtu.be/YBTchR3jV6M 

1. Phil is 135 years old, his life is extended by seven years every summer at the annual picnic at Gobbler Nob by taking a swig of groundhog nog.

2. Phil announces his prediction annually in groundhogsese. Which is translated by the President of the inner circle.

3. Punxsutawney Phil‘s wife is named Phyllis

4. Groundhog day originated from German settlers who came to the USA in the early 1880s. Before their arrival in America, Germans would look to the badger to forecast weather. The settlers replace the badger with the more common ground hog in PA. The first Punxsutawney ground hog celebration was an 1886.

5. The Christian religious holiday of Candlemas day evolved into the celebration we know today is Groundhog Day.