Show 1402: How You Can Protect Your Precious Eyesight and Keep Your Eyes Healthy

The People's Pharmacy

This week, Joe and Terry Graedon welcome your calls about how you can protect your precious eyesight. Have you been struggling with dry eyes or diagnosed with glaucoma? You can share your experience or ask your questions at 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EDT on Saturday, October 5, 2024. We also invite you to send you comments in beforehand to [e-mail].

You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on Oct. 7, 2024.

What Visualizing the Retina Tells Us About the Brain:

The very back of the eye, where the images form when we see, is called the retina. Our guest, ophthalmologist Sharon Fekrat, has led cutting-edge research on retinal imaging and dementia diagnosis. Specialized imaging called optical coherence tomography angiography combined with artificial intelligence analyses can discriminate between people with serious brain changes and those with healthy brains. Not only does this offer earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease or other dementias, it also suggests that keeping the retina healthy might also benefit the brain.

If you have questions about retinal detachment or other retinal problems, please get them to us through email or phone. We will also be discussing diabetic retinopathy and welcome questions about screening and treatment for that condition.

Why Are So Many Kids Nearsighted?

A study published last month in the British Journal of Ophthalmology (Sep. 24, 2024) analyzed 276 studies covering more than 5 million children and youth. Rates of myopia, the technical term for nearsightedness, have been rising rapidly. Now, more than one third of youngsters are nearsighted and many need glasses to see well. Is there anything parents should be doing to try to prevent this problem?

Clearing Your Vision of Cataracts:

As we grow older, the proteins in the lens of the eye begin to deteriorate. This can cause the lens, which starts out clear, to become cloudy. At some point, the cataract will impair vision. The standard treatment is surgical removal of the clouded lens and replacement with a synthetic lens. When should you have cataract surgery? What else might be causing your visual problems?

Protect Your Precious Eyesight from Glaucoma:

Glaucoma can begin so gradually that there may be no symptoms at first. Eventually, though, it can lead to vision loss because the optic nerve becomes damaged. When an eye doctor measures the pressure in your eyes, he or she is assessing you for glaucoma. Not every case presents with high intra-ocular pressure, though. What other diagnostic tests should you undergo? When do you need them? What treatments do doctors use when they diagnose glaucoma?

Age-Related Macular Degeneration May Threaten Your Vision:

Like many of the other conditions that can undermine your precious eyesight, the risk of macular degeneration rises as we age. The macula is the central part of the retina responsible for clear vision. When it begins to break down, people may have trouble seeing directly in front of them. This makes driving dangerous and reading extremely challenging.

The two types of macular degeneration, dry and wet, have different characteristics and different treatments. The FDA recently approved two new treatments for dry macular degeneration with geographic atrophy. They are Syfovre and Izervay. When they are injected into the eye on a regular basis (every month or two), they can slow the progression of the atrophy. We don’t yet have treatments that can reverse it.

The treatment of wet macular degeneration also involves injections into the eye. In this condition, small blood vessels start to grow under the retina where they don’t belong. If they leak, they can scar the retina. This serious condition is also treated with injections to stop the formation of blood vessels.

The eye doctor may also suggest taking a multivitamin with the AREDS2 formula since a randomized controlled trial demonstrated that this can slow progression of macular degeneration.

Why You Should Wear Safety Glasses to Protect Your Precious Eyesight:

Any time you work with tools that might create flying shards, it is critical to wear safety glasses. People with impaired vision in one eye should be especially conscientious about wearing 3mm polycarbonate shatterproof lenses to protect the good eye.

What to Do with Your Old Prescription Glasses:

Respectacle is a resource/website where used prescription glasses are repurposed (cleaned and posted on their website). At the website, one’s prescription can be entered and possible glasses prescription “matches” show up to consider as an option. The glasses cost $5 and provide an option for those who may not currently have the resources to pay for standard prescription glasses and as a result are doing without.

Join the Conversation:

Please share your inquiries and your stories about protecting your vision. You can email us: [e-mail] or call 888-472-3366 between 7:00 and 7:50 am EDT on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

This Week’s Guest:

Sharon Fekrat, MD, is a retina specialist at the Duke Eye Center and vice chair of faculty affairs and professor of ophthalmology and neurology at Duke University School of Medicine. She is associate chief of staff at the Durham VA Healthcare System and past interim chief of surgery there. She is currently Director of Duke iMIND Research Group and Chief Editor of the book All About Your Eyes. She also edits the Duke Journal of Case Reports in Ophthalmology. Dr. Fekrat is past President of the NC Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.

Sharon Fekrat, MD, FACS, FASRS

Listen to the Podcast:

The podcast of this program will be available Monday, October 7, 2024, after broadcast on October 5. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free.

The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you).

Download the mp3.