Primary Eye Care Newsletter

The quarterly Primary Eye Care Newsletter is circulated to general practitioners; it contains interesting case studies and information relevant to a GP's practice.

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Latest Edition: GPQ #74

Stanford Medicine researchers build an eye 'aging clock' and the story of the optometrist, the 'lumpy-bumpy' optic disc, and the $10 million gift.
scientists looked at nearly 6,000 proteins present in the aqueous humour and found that they could use 26 of them to predict agingThey also found that
some cells commonly targeted in treatment are not the ones most involved in disease, encouraging a reevaluation of therapies.

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 #1. Optometrists can provide GP's with an effective screening programme for any patients being referred... Read more

 #3.  Some strange eye conditions ... seeing double after a couple of drinks, sudden refractive change in acute onset of diabetes... Read more

 #5. The primary care strategy, screening for diabetic retinopathy, retinal changes and heart disease in women and the aging population... Read more

 #7. Macular Degeneration - what can be done?... Read more

 #9. Eye pressure and glaucoma; the relationship is not simple. 3% of people over 35 have vision threatened by glaucoma... Read more

#11. Sight loss is not a routine part of old age... Read more

#13. The key to managing red eye is making the correct diagnosis in a timely fashion... Read more

#15.  Poor vision is far more common in our community than most people realise. A mild reduction in vision significantly impacts health.... Read more

#17. Save Our Sight month is held in August every year, to increase awareness of the need for regular eye examinations... Read more

#19. Health of the older person. Blindness from acute angle-closure glaucoma can result in as little as 1 or 2 days... Read more

#21. Save Our Sight - Fast facts for eye health... Read more 

#23. There’s good evidence from around the world that even a mild reduction in vision to less than 6/12 has a significant impact on social isolation and healthy aging... Read more

#25. A 49 year old male patient presents with a sudden painless loss of vision or why a fear of heights may be good for your eyes... Read more

#27. The amount of blindness due to cataract, as compared to eye diseases is about 5% in North America. But cataract is a condition of age... Read more

#29. Taking care of teeth and eyes could help lessen risk of dementia - low vision is a long term chronic condition... Read more

#31.  A good visual acuity depends both upon appropriate optical focus and the ability to resolve this focus at the retina... Read more

#33.  Some common disorders of the body that may have ocular findings... Read more

#35. Many of your patients will find driving at night far more challenging than in daylight... Read more

#37. The notion that healthy eating may be beneficial to eye health is still not commonly recognised - good diet is essential to eye health... Read more

#39. Poor vision can exacerbate and aggravate behavioural problems in dementia... Read more

#41. Migraine with aura can present by itself without any headache pain.... Read more

#43. Amblyopia is the most common cause of visual impairment among children in the developed world and affects 3% of people in New Zealand alone... Read more

#45. Most people think that optometry is all about eyes. Well, this is true at one level but most optometrists will tell you that optometry is about eyes and vision and seeing and perception... Read more

#47. Don't get blindsided by eye disease; early detection is a vital step in avoiding/limiting permanent damage to the eyes... Read more

#49. Low vision goes high tech... Navigation, orientation, and mobility can all be made easier! Read more

#51. More than 20,000 New Zealanders were overdue for hospital eye appointments last year...  concern for people with blinding conditions who are not being followed up in a timely fashion... Read more

#53. The rate of Post Concussion Vision Syndrome in New Zealand is increasing every year... Read more

#55. Obstructive sleep apnea and optic neuropathy - AMD, Bevacizumab and mortality - tear film changes - 3D Printing for customised spectacles - presbyopia - orbital fractures in children... Read more

#57. Save our Sight 2019...Thousands of New Zealanders every year needlessly live with vision problems that affect their everyday lives... Read more

#59. COVID-19 and the Eyes... some of the issues that optometrists have been concerned with regarding the SARS-CoV-2 enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus... Read more 

#61. May Budget 2020: SuperGold cardholders to get free health and eye check-ups... Why is this the topic for issue number 61 you might think?... Read more

#63. The Reality of Blue Light and the Eyes - Are blue-light lenses helpful or a marketing farce? Read more

#65. Recent research investigating the effects of myopia correcting lenses and eye fatigue, the effects of brief periods of monocular deprivation on ocular balance in the human adult visual cortex Read more

#67. Retinal cell map - New research identifies distinct differences among retinal cells suggesting differing vulnerability to retinal diseases, and potential for developing targeted therapies to treat them. Read more

#69. 3D map reveals DNA organization within human retina cells - Researchers mapped the organisation of human retinal cell chromatin in chromosones, providing insights into regulation of gene expression in general, and in retinal function, in both rare and common eye diseases. Read more

#71.Low Blood Sugar, Diet, and Circadian Rhythms - People with diabetes who experience periods of low blood sugar are more likely to have worsening diabetic eye disease. And a study showsa link between diet, circadian rhythms, eye health and lifespan. Read more

#73. Diabetes, wound healing in the eye, and cholesterol crystals in the retina - Two new developments in the understanding of diabetes-related connections pave the way for new therapeutic approaches to correct diabetic wound healing and potential for early detection of cholesterol crystals in the retina, a contributory factor in development of diabetic retinopathyRead more

 #2. Acquired brain injury and resulting visual problems are often overlooked during initial treatment... Read more

 #4. Contact lenses and their problems related to dry eye, trauma, extended wear. What sort of contact lens problems present nowadays?... Read more

 #6. Visual fields analysis alerts GP to cancer progression, visual fields and glaucoma and blurry vision ... Read more

 #8. Diabetic retinal photo-screening - the Wellington screening model is a world class programme achieving well ahead of targets ... Read more

#10. Why order an eye test for your patient? Optometrists can assist the GP's diagnosis... Read more

#12. Epiphora or watery eye; so diagnosis of the problem is easy, right?... Read more

#14. Dry eye conditions affect a significant number of people... Read more

#16. Some optometrical patients have significant associated systemic disease... Read more

#18 Good diet is essential to a healthy visual system ... still not commonly recognised... Read more

#20 A 49 year old patient presented to the optometrist for a routine eye exam with main symptom being presbyopia... Read more

#22 Patient reports loss of vision and also has severe pain in the neck, upper back and arms, worse at night... Read more

#24  Ten key objectives for Save Our Sight month in September 2009... Read more

#26 Reducing blindness - improving vision: ask for a comprehensive eye examination to provide information about risk and presence of a range of general diseases... Read more

#28. Survey shows NZ'rs have poor knowledge of threats to eye health and vision. Awareness & knowledge is critical prerequisite for motivating behaviours... Read more

#30. Corneal erosions - one of the most common and neglected ocular disorders - misdiagnosis of a scratched cornea is fairly common... Read more

#32. The eye patient benefits from general practice and optometry working together at all stages of disease progression... Read more

#34. A 60-year-old mail patient presents complaining of a painful, watery and red right eye... Read more

#36. Top four causes of visual impairment: uncorrected refractive errors, cataract, glaucoma, and Age related macular degeneration... How can a GP help? ... Read more

#38. Eye diseases are often degenerative - an ongoing, long term or recurring condition that has significant impact on a person’s life... Read more

#40. Regular eye examinations can save sight. An adult goes blind every five seconds and a child goes blind every minute... Read more

#42. Keratoconus - progressive thinning and distortion of the cornea causing reduced vision... Read more

#44. Many people put up with poor vision ... and do not even notice that glaucoma, AMD, or diabetes is robbing them of sight until it is too late... Read more

#46. Toxoplasmosis; could this be affecting the eyes of your patient?... Read more

#48.  Diet changes is associated with a decreased risk of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy... Read more

#50. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is being used more and more - a means to directly assess the cells of the retinal and the axons of the optic nerve... Read more

#52. Blue Light - How scared should we be? Some effects of exposure are well established others are still being investigated... Read more

#54. September is Save our Sight month. Thousands of New Zealanders every year needlessly live with vision problems that affect their everyday lives... Read more

#56. Is artificial intelligence the future of medicine?  Does familiarity breed contempt for myopia? Retinal alterations and biomarkers for psychiatric disorders and uveitis and sarcoidosis... Read more

#58. Visual Perception, virtual avatars and blood vessel leakage ... some new findings... Read more

#60. Comprehensive eye care - who are you going to call?... Read more

#62. Eyes and COVID-19 - Do we yet see the complete picture? Read more

#64. Recent research from the US National Institutes of Health and National Eye Institute - Gene Therapy Provides Neuroprotection to Prevent Glaucoma Vision Loss, Melanoma of the Eye: Preclinical test shows path towards treatment, and What Makes Us Sneeze? Read more

#66. Sports Vision - Research into player and referee vision - Differences in visio‐spacial expertise between first division rugby players and non‐athletes. -Association between Clinical Vision Measures and Visual Perception and Soccer Referees' On‐field Performance. -Comparison of Visual Search Behavior and Decision ‐making Accuracy in Expert and Novice Fencing Referees. -Rugby Goggles To Correct On‐Field VisionRead more

#68. Newlydiscovered brain pathway helps to explain light dffect on mood - The way in which light-intensity signals reach the brain and become processed in relation to mood has not been well understood. Improved understanding of neural pathway connecting light-sensitive cells in the retina with the cortical brain regions involved in mood and cognition has implications for development of treatments for some mood disorders. Read more

#70. Retinal changes that correspond to brain changes in early stage Alzheimers disease may lead to earlier diagnosis - Cedars-Sinai investigators analysis is an important step toward undersanding the complex effects of Alzheimer's disease on the retina, especially at the earliest stages.  Read more

#72. Is the window of brain plasticity for vision pehaps wider that we thought? New research shows that the window of brain plasticity, for at least some visual tasks, extends much further than previously thought. Read more

 #74. Researchers build an eye 'aging clock' - The 'lumpy-bumpy' optic disc and $10 million gift to study it. - scientists looked at nearly 6,000 proteins present in the aqueous humour and found that they could use 26 of them to predict aging. They also found that some cells commonly targeted in treatment are not the ones most involved in disease, encouraging a reevaluation of therapies. Read more