Everyone gets cataracts, even patients with diabetes. Your results will depend upon the degree of macular edema, not your glasses or intraocular implants.
Category: Blogs
Board Certification and Recertification
I am a board certified ophthalmologist. I am preparing to test for recertification to maintain this credential…but it’s not really fair.
What is Frill Following FOV?
Frill may develop after successful FOV, but happens only occasionally. Regardless of the cause, we need to understand exactly what it is before we can treat it.
Subconjunctival Hemorrhage; “Complication” of Vitrectomy?
Bleeding on the outside of the eye is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage. Sometimes related to disease, it’s common following retina surgery.
Alcon Constellation System Provides the Safest Vitrectomy
25 gauge vitrectomy has made retinal surgery much safer. The Constellation Vision System 25 gauge vitrectomy is simply the best and the safest.
Jetrea (Ocriplasmin) for VMA (vitreomacular adhesion)
I have recently started treating patients with Jetrea, an FDA approved enzyme, for the treatment of vitreomacular adhesion, or VMA.
A New Approach to Treating Chronic Kidney Disease: Replenishing Your Nephrons
As some of you may know, I have chronic kidney disease (CKD). Thanks to my wife and the scare put into me by my nephrologist, that I would soon have to begin dialysis, I have managed to get my CKD in remission, or at least under control. My GFR number (that indicates when you must start dialysis) has held steady, or actually gotten better since my wife put me on a strict diet and I have lost about 15 pounds – and my nephrologist took me off of lisinopril (for blood pressure control), which seemed to raise my GFR by (Read more...)
Surgeons vs. Non-Surgeons
There are basically two types of doctors; surgeons and non-surgeons. The basic difference is that surgeons can’t change their minds.
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 19: A New Virus Vector for Safer Delivery of Gene Therapies
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, along with some assistance from the Flaum Eye Institute and Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester, have come up with a new version of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector that can deliver genes deep into the retina using an intravitreal injection of the vector into the vitreous, a less-invasive technique, instead of an intraretinal injection below the surface of the retina, which is the common way gene therapy is currently delivered.
The study was authored by postdoctoral fellows Deniz Dalkaral (then with Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute of UCal Berkeley (Read more...)
Negative Online Reviews
I got a negative review online from a frustrated patient. Here’s why I think it can be a good thing.
Vitamin & Diet Recommendations for ARMD
AREDS 2 did not change any dietary or supplement (vitamin) recommendations for those with macular degeneration. The original formula is still recommended.
Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 25: ACT Patient in Dry AMD Trial Goes from 20/400 to 20/40!
The story started innocently enough. On Wednesday, May 15th, the journal Cell reported on a study that claimed biologists had finally created human stem cells by the same technique that produced Dolly the cloned sheep in 1996. They transplanted genetic material from an adult cell into an egg whose own DNA had been removed.
OK, an important story but what followed boggles the mind. Many science reporters wrote about the discovery which got picked up by several news sources. However, a sharp-eyed member of the Investor Stemcell Forum (iCell), a group originally started by investors in Advanced Cell Technology (Read more...)
AREDS 2 Vitamin Study for Macular Degeneration
AREDS vitamins can slow down ARMD in certain patients. AREDS 2 results were just released. Not much new information, but still a valuable study.
A New Technique for Restoring Normal Vision to the Blind: The Technology of Prof. Sheila Nirenberg of Weill Cornell Medical School
About a year ago, a colleague put me in touch with a Boston-based venture capitalist who was interested in a new method for restoring vision to the blind that was under development at Cornell University. I did some cursory research about the technology and wrote a brief report about what I learned.
I really didn’t understand the front end of the technology – how the research team was able to acquire and manage a useful visual signal that could be converted into sight by the brain, but since the back end involved the use of gene therapy, which I was (Read more...)
Macular Pucker Surgery
Vitrectomy for macular pucker is my favorite surgery. I recommend surgery as soon as you notice changes in the vision.
What is 25 Gauge Vitrectomy?
25 gauge vitrectomy has advantages other than no stitches and quicker healing. Due to the thinness of the instruments, the operation is now safer, too.
Recently Published Articles: Current Status of Stem Cells and Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology
In the past couple of months, I was asked to update an article I wrote on stem cells in ophthalmology, originally published in Retina Today, for its sister publication, Advanced Ocular Care, and to write a similar article about the current status of gene therapy for another ophthalmic publication, Retinal Physician. These two articles have now been published in the respective journals and made available online.
Here is a brief summary of each article, along with the link to its online version and a note about finding the current versions of the tables associated with each, online.
Best Treatment for Wet Macular Degeneration
The “best” treatment for wet macular degeneration is efficacious (works all the time), without complications and effective 100% of the time (works in everyone).
A Personal Journey: How I Went From Being A Bench Chemist to An Expert Resource in Ophthalmology and Medical Lasers
A short while ago, I was asked by Maureen Duffy, editor of VisionAware, the blog of the American Foundation for the Blind, how I became so knowledgeable about ophthalmology and why I started my blog. I prepared some background information for Maureen and she published it as a guest blog on her site, but because of space limitations, she was only able to use an abridged version. Since I don’t have the same space limitations, I decided to publish the “unabridged” version here.
So, here is my story:
The Beginning of My Career in Chemistry
I graduated from (Read more...)
When to Call After Your Retinal Surgery
Following retinal surgery, there are two particular signs of serious complications…pain and loss of vision.