This post will be short and is written as follow-up to "Diabetics Get Cataracts". There is a study just published in the journal Ophthalmology where patients with diabetes underwent cataract surgery. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy was then followed for at least 12 months. Patients with both Type I and Type II diabetes were followed. Overall, there was an increased incidence of … [Read more...]
How Many Intraocular Injections (eg Avastin) Are Too Many?
August 27, 2009 By 2 Comments
Intraocular anti-VEGF injections are commonly used to treat wet macular degeneration. "Libbyextra" follows me on Twitter. She asked, "Is there a limit to the number of injections (Avastin) a patient can have?" There are two ways to answer this. I do not believe there are any physical restrictions limiting the number of injections an eye can be given. The injection requires use of a … [Read more...]
Do Cataracts Cause Macular Degeneration?
August 26, 2009 By 6 Comments
Life as a retina specialist is very rewarding. It has special challenges. There are two conditions that increase as we age; macular degeneration and cataracts. Most people understand cataracts. Cataract surgery is intuitive. Vision blurs, glasses don't help, cataract surgery is performed and vision returns! Simple..............right? What happens when cataract surgery doesn't help? … [Read more...]
Can Patients with Diabetes Get Laser Vision Correction?
August 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Yes, maybe and no. This is a hard question to answer. The "Yes" answer. In my opinion, patients without diabetes, usually do well with laser vision correction, e.g. LASIK, if they meet certain criteria and their vision and correction is stable. By "correction" I mean that their prescription (measurement for glasses) is unchanged. The criteria that usually needs to be considered are; … [Read more...]
Diabetics Get Cataracts
August 21, 2009 By 1 Comment
Cataracts are like grey hair..............everyone gets cataracts, some at an early age and some at a later age. Period. Cataracts are generally not inherited (okay, there are some inherited or congenital cataracts seen in kids). There are many factors that may influence the development of a cataract; ultraviolet rays from the sun, trauma, previous eye surgery and .... diabetes. While … [Read more...]
Macular Degeneration is Not Inherited
August 18, 2009 By 1 Comment
Macular degeneration is not inherited. While there are probably heritable risk factors for developing the disease, the actual cause is not known. Having a sibling with macular degeneration, does not mean that you will follow the same fate. An example that I use often is the development of skin cancer. "Fair" individuals have less pigment in their skin to protect them from the sun's harmful … [Read more...]
How to Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy?
August 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I am asked this question all the time. A friend encouraged me to readdress the subject. How do patients with diabetes avoid diabetic retinopathy? First, let me offer some caution; there is a lot of bad information about diabetic retinopathy out there! Let's consider some points; 1. The incidence of diabetes mellitus continues to rise in the United States. In patients that do … [Read more...]
Do All Patients With Drusen Have Macular Degeneration?
August 14, 2009 By 21 Comments
Drusen are commonly found in many individuals that have macular degeneration. Do all patients with drusen have macular degeneration? The answer is no. There are characteristic findings in patients with macular degeneration. Patients may have white dots located in the deeper layers of the retina. These excrescences are called drusen. There are two types of drusen, hard and soft. Both … [Read more...]
My 5oth Post to RetinaEyeDoctor.com. What I Have Learned.
August 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
As I recently "celebrated" my fiftieth post, I also recognize the progress, and mistakes, made so far. For those of you interested, modern blogging is a powerful medium in which to publish, share, market and promote goods, services and information. I would like to share some of this progress and tell you what I have done so far; 1. Be disciplined. I started April 21, 2009. 50 posts … [Read more...]
