NEWS & MEDIA
World Health Day
Here's wishing everyone good health in all respects. Physical, psychological, and professional! In these days and times when it is fashionable to advertise aggressively, those who silently but diligently worship the principles and sanctity of pursuit of medicine face an additional hurdle. That of unhealthy attitudes and ruthless competition.
On this World Health Day we pledge to remain ever faithful to the noble duty of giving the best of care to those who seek it from us. We are always on our toes to ensure excellence in what we have to offer. May this Health day inspire in all a drive for healthy thinking and living.
www.dranilkulkarni.com
Dr. Deepti Kulkarni
Dr. Anil Kulkarni Eye Hospital,
Miraj
Myopia
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY DOES MAKE JACK A DULL BOY! The importance of playgrounds and games for children can never be more important than now! With increasing number of gadgets overpowering our daily routines, outdoor activities need to be given more precedence than they are getting now!
There is growing evidence from both human and animal studies of refractive error showing that ambient light exposure is an important environmental factor involved in the regulation of eye growth. Documented seasonal variations in eye growth and refractive error progression in childhood (with slower eye growth seen in summer months and faster rates of eye growth in winter months) support a potential role for ambient light exposure in the control of human eye growth.
Indian population : 13.1% school children have myopia. There is a positive association of myopia with studying in private schools vs. government schools, positive family history, higher socio-economic status, studying/reading > 5 hours per day, watching television > 2 hours / day and with playing computer/video/mobile games.
An inverse association with outdoor activities/playing is observed with children playing > 2 hours in a day. SO LET THE CHILDREN PLAY OUTSIDE. A LITTLE SUN AND TAN WILL DO NO HARM! North India Myopia Study (NIM) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342249/ Role of Outdoor Activity in Myopia (ROAM) Study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342249/
Dr. Deepti KulkarniDr. Anil Kulkarni Eye Hospital,
Miraj
The Aging Eye
The eye serves one of the most precious and priceless senses bestowed upon us – that is VISION. Such a small organ yields such a lot of information and acts as one of our primary modes of understanding this world.
Like with everything else, the eye too undergoes many changes with age. The vision changes, the glasses power may vary, there may be cataract formation and the retina develops signs of ageing too.
The mantra for care of the eyes is the same as that of the rest of the body. A healthy balanced diet, an active lifestyle involving exercise or any physical activity of our choice and a relaxed mind help preserve this ever precious boon of vision.
Most people experience some discomfort in their eyes at some point of time in their lives. This may be due to an allergy, an infection or even something as commonplace as lack of sleep or a stressful day. Most allergies can be taken care of by drops after your eye doctor has examined you. Your eye doctor will be able to take a better decision if details about your current lifestyle, exposure to allergy causing factors, a travel history are told to him.
Glasses are not a distraction or a hindrance, and hence they must receive their due attention. In fact they give us a better view and so a better perspective. This is especially important in children. The little ones may be suffering from a blurry vision and will not know that it is blurry! A routine yearly eye check up will help tide over this problem. In case a child is diagnosed to have a glass power, he/she must be encouraged to use them. This will help preserve their visual potential.
Next come cataracts. This is the most widely known eye problem, and rightly so, since it is a correctable problem. No amount of publicity or awareness can highlight the lowering of the quality of life that a patient with cataract experiences. Everything seems to be seen through a cloud, the vehicle lights seem intolerable, climbing down stairs becomes a struggle. Modern cataract surgery combines surgical finesse with technology in the form of microincision cataract surgery with Phacoemulsification and state of the art lenses that give stunning visual recovery.
The retina is the integral part of our vision system and the diseases of the retina have the highest impact on a person’s lifestyle. The optic nerve, the macula (the main area of vision) and the rest of the retina provide us with the high quality vision that we so non-chalantly enjoy. There are many conditions that now have a treatment and hence conditions like age related macular degeneration and diabetes and retinal vein diseases causing macular edema and vision loss are far less fearsome than they used to be.
Diabetics must bear in mind that a yearly check up with your eye doctor is mandatory. Early detection of diabetic eye problems helps us preserve vision, and this is possible only with a regular eye examination. Treatment of diabetes and retinal vein related problems involve laser therapy, injections into the eye and in some cases surgery. All this is helpful if the sugar and BP control is good.
Age related macular degeneration affects the elderly and disturbs the near vision. They are of the dry and wet types. Wet types required injections for treatment and the dry type is management with diet modification and nutritional supplements.
All said and done, we cannot stop aging. But we can make the journey enjoyable if we have something to look forward to. Health is a sum of our habits, and if our habits are on the right side of things, aging can be a fun process!
Wish you all a happy and festive Navratri season!
Dr. Deepti Ameya KulkarniD.N.B., F.V.R.
Consulting Ophthalmologist and Vitreo – Retinal Surgeon
deepti.ameya@gmail.com
Phone 0233-2211666
