StemCell Therapy

WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called on the public to immediately discontinue use of EzriCare Artificial Tears, saying the eye drops could be linked to infections that have resulted in hospitalization, vision loss and one death.

The CDC issued its warning Wednesday after 55 patients in 12 states were identified with infections caused by a strain of the extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria between May and January.

Most patients reported using artificial tears. The majority of patients who used artificial tears reported using EzriCare Artificial Tears, a preservative-free, over-the-counter product packaged in multidose bottles, the CDC said. Patients and healthcare providers should immediately discontinue using EzriCare artificial tears pending additional guidance from CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

Testing by the CDC identified the presence of the outbreak strain in opened EzriCare bottles with different lot numbers collected from two states.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is found in the environment and skin and typically enters eye drops through contamination with environmental agents during handling, David Chen, an ophthalmologist at Singapores National University Hospital, told The Washington Post in an email. The bacteria can lead to corneal infections (microbial keratitis), which can lead to permanent visual damage or blindness if not properly treated, he wrote.

Patient outcomes the CDC identified included permanent vision loss resulting from cornea infection, hospitalization and one death due to systemic infection.

EzriCare, a distributor based in Lakewood, N.J., told the Washington Post that it was not aware of any testing that definitively links the Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak to EzriCare Artificial Tears but immediately took action to stop any further distribution or sale of the product.

The product is manufactured by India-based Global Pharma Healthcare, which sells the product under other brand names, and is working with the FDA on a potential recall, EzriCare said.

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CDC urges people to stop using brand of artificial tears linked to ...

Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death; China records 3,278 COVID-related deaths between Jan 27 and Feb 2 and more  Devdiscourse

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Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death; China records 3,278 COVID-related deaths...

I had two strokes at 29 and gone blind -I've been accused of faking my sight loss  Daily Mail

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I had two strokes at 29 and gone blind -I've been accused of faking my sight loss - Daily Mail

The International Classification of Diseases 11 (2018) classifies vision impairment into two groups, distance and near presenting vision impairment.

Distance vision impairment:

Near vision impairment:

Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion or almost half of these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.

This 1 billion people includes those with moderate or severe distance vision impairment or blindness due to unaddressed refractive error (88.4 million), cataract (94 million), age-related macular degeneration (8 million), glaucoma (7.7 million), diabeticretinopathy (3.9 million) (1), as well as near vision impairment caused by unaddressed presbyopia (826 million)(2).

In terms of regional differences, the prevalence of distance vision impairment in low- and middle-income regions is estimated to be four times higher than in high-income regions (1). With regards to near vision, rates of unaddressed near vision impairmentare estimated to be greater than 80% in western, eastern and central sub-Saharan Africa, while comparative rates in high-income regions of North America, Australasia, Western Europe, and of Asia-Pacific are reported to be lower than 10% (2).

Population growth and ageing are expected to increase the risk that more people acquire vision impairment.

Globally, the leading causes of vision impairment are:

There is substantial variation in the causes between and within countries according to the availability of eye care services, their affordability, and the eye care literacy of the population. For example, the proportion of vision impairment attributableto cataract is higher in low- and middle-income countries than high-income countries. In high income countries, diseases such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration are more common.

Among children, the causes of vision impairment vary considerably across countries. For example, in low-income countries congenital cataract is a leading cause, whereas in middle-income countries it is more likely to be retinopathy of prematurity.

As in adult populations, uncorrected refractive error remains a leading cause of vision impairment in all countries amongst children.

Personal impact

Young children with early onset severe vision impairment can experience delayed motor, language, emotional, social and cognitive development, with lifelong consequences. School-age children with vision impairment can also experience lower levels of educationalachievement.

Vision impairment severely impacts quality of life among adult populations. Adults with vision impairment often have lower rates of workforce participation and productivity and higher rates of depression and anxiety.

In the case of older adults, vision impairment can contribute to social isolation, difficulty walking, a higher risk of falls and fractures, and a greater likelihood of early entry into nursing or care homes.

Economic impact

Vision impairment poses an enormous global financial burden with an estimate annual global productivity loss of about US$ 411 billion purchasing power parity (3). this figure far outweighs the estimated cost gap of addressing the unmet need of visionimpairment (estimated at about US$ 25 billion).

While a large number of eye diseases can be prevented (such as infections, trauma, unsafe traditional medicines, perinatal diseases, nutrition-related diseases, unsafe use or self-administration of topical treatment), this is not possible for all.

Each eye condition requires a different, timely response. There are effective interventions covering promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation which address the needs associated with eye conditions and vision impairment; some are among the mostcost-effective and feasible of all health care interventions to implement. For example, uncorrected refractive error can be corrected with spectacles or surgery while cataract surgery can restore vision.

Treatment is also available for many eye conditions that do not typically cause vision impairment, such as dry eye, conjunctivitis and blepharitis, but generate discomfort and pain. Treatment of these conditions is directed at alleviating the symptomsand preventing the evolution towards more severe diseases.

Vision rehabilitation is very effective in improving functioning for people with an irreversible vision impairment that can be caused by eye conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, consequences of trauma, and age-related macular degeneration.

WHOs work is guided by the recommendations of the WHO World report on vision (2019) and the resolution on "integrated, people-centred eye care, including preventable blindness and vision impairment"thatwas adopted at Seventy-third World Health Assembly in 2020. The key proposal of the report and resolution is to make integrated people-centred eye care (IPEC) the care model of choice and to ensure its widespread implementation. It is expected thatby shaping the global agenda on vision, the report and resolution will assist Member States and their partners in their efforts to reduce the burden of eye conditions and vision impairment and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularlySDG target 3.8 on universal health coverage.

Some of WHOs key areas of work and activities in the prevention of blindness include:

1) GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators; Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study. Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation toVISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Feb;9(2):e144-e160. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30489-7.

2) Fricke, TR, Tahhan N, Resnikoff S, Papas E, Burnett A, Suit MH, Naduvilath T, Naidoo K, Global Prevalence of Presbyopia and Vision Impairment from Uncorrected Presbyopia: Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Modelling, Ophthalmology. 2018 May 9.

3) Burton MJ, Ramke J, Marques AP, Bourne RR, Congdon N, Jones I, et al. The Lancet Global Health commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020. Lancet Glob Health. 2021; 9(4):e489e551.

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Blindness and vision impairment - World Health Organization

Recovery from blindness is the phenomenon of a blind person gaining the ability to see, usually as a result of medical treatment. As a thought experiment, the phenomenon is usually referred to as Molyneux's problem. It is often stated that the first published human case was reported in 1728 by the surgeon William Cheselden. However, there is no evidence that Cheselden's patient, a boy named Daniel Dolins, actually recovered any vision.[1] Patients who experience dramatic recovery from blindness experience significant to total agnosia, having serious confusion with their visual perception.

The phenomenon has often been presented in empiricism as a thought experiment, in order to describe the knowledge gained from senses, andquestion the correlation between different senses.

John Locke, an 18th-century philosopher, speculated that if a blind person developed vision, he would not at first connect his idea of a shape with the sight of a shape. That is, if asked which was the cube and which was the sphere, he would not be able to do so, or even guess.

The question was originally posed to him by philosopher William Molyneux, whose wife was blind:[2]

Suppose a man born blind, and now adult, and taught by his touch to distinguish between a cube and a sphere of the same metal, and nighly of the same bigness, so as to tell, when he felt one and the other, which is the cube, which is the sphere. Suppose then the cube and the sphere placed on a table, and the blind man made to see: query, Whether by his sight, before he touched them, he could now distinguish and tell which is the globe, which the cube? To which the acute and judicious proposer answers: 'Not. For though he has obtained the experience of how a globe, and how a cube, affects his touch; yet he has not yet attained the experience, that what affects his touch so or so, must affect his sight so or so...'

In 1709, in A New Theory of Vision, George Berkeley also concluded that there was no necessary connection between a tactile world and a sight worldthat a connection between them could be established only on the basis of experience.He speculated:

the objects to which he had hitherto used to apply the terms up and down, high and low, were such as only affected or were in some way perceived by touch; but the proper objects of vision make a new set of ideas, perfectly distinct and different from the former, and which can in no sort make themselves perceived by touch (sect. 95).

This thought experiment (it was a thought experiment at the time) outlines the debate between rationalism and empiricism; to what degree our knowledge of the world comes from reason or experience.

There are many stories or anecdotes of the phenomenon, preceding the first documented case, including one from the year 1020, of a man of thirty operated upon in Arabia.[3]

Before the first known human cases, some tests were done rearing animals in darkness, to deny them vision for months or years, then discover what they see when given light. A. H. Reisen found severe behavioural losses in such experiments; but they might have been due to degeneration of the retina.[4]

The first known case of published recovery from blindness is often stated to be that described in a 1728 report of a blind 13-year-old boy operated by William Cheselden.[5] Cheselden presented the celebrated case of the boy of thirteen who was supposed to have gained his sight after couching of congenital cataracts.In 2021, the name of Cheselden's patient was reported for the first time: Daniel Dolins.[1] As it happens, philosopher George Berkeley knew the Dolins family, had numerous social links to Cheselden, including the poet Alexander Pope, and Princess Caroline, to whom Cheselden's patient was presented.[1] The report misspelled Cheselden's name, used language typical of Berkeley, and may even have been ghost-written by Berkeley.[1] Despite his youth, the boy encountered profound difficulties with the simplest visual perceptions.Described by "Chesselden":

When he first saw, he was so far from making any judgment of distances, that he thought all object whatever touched his eyes (as he expressed it) as what he felt did his skin, and thought no object so agreeable as those which were smooth and regular, though he could form no judgment of their shape, or guess what it was in any object that was pleasing to him: he knew not the shape of anything, nor any one thing from another, however different in shape or magnitude; but upon being told what things were, whose form he knew before from feeling, he would carefully observe, that he might know them again;[6]

Unfortunately, Dolins was never able to see well enough to read, and there is no evidence that the surgery improved Dolins' vision at any point prior to his death at age 30.[1] A total of 66 early cases of patients who underwent cataract operations were reviewed by Marius von Senden in his German 1932 book, which was later translated into English under the title Space and sight.[7] In this book, von Senden argues that shapes, sizes, lengths and distances are difficult for blind people to judge, including for a time after their operation.

In his book, An Anthropologist On Mars (1995), neurologist Oliver Sacks recounts the story of Virgil, a man who saw very little until having cataract surgery at age 50. Virgil's subsequent behavior was that of a "mentally blind" personsomeone who sees but cannot decipher what is out there; he would act as if he were still blind. Often confused, Virgil rapidly sank into depression.[8]

In 1974, Richard Gregory described a patient, Sidney Bradford, a 52-year-old who gained vision from corneal grafts to both eyes. No experimental psychologist was informed of the case until after the corneal grafting took place.His operation was able to reveal idiosyncrasies of the human visual system. For example, not having grown up with vision, Bradford did not perceive the ambiguity of the Necker cube. Nor was he able to interpret the perspective of two-dimensional art.

Nevertheless, he could accurately judge the distance to objects in the same room, having been familiar with these distances before regaining sight by virtue of having walked them. In a similar analogy between vision and sightless (touch-only) experience, Bradford was able to visually read the time on the ward clock just after his operation. Before surgery Bradford was a machinist, but even after acquiring vision preferred working with his eyes closed to identify tools. He died two years after his operation due to a prolonged period of ill health, with no specific cause of death noted.[9][10][11]

Michael G. "Mike" May (born 1954) was blinded by a chemical explosion at the age of 3 but regained partial vision in 2000, at 46, after corneal transplantation and a pioneering stem cell procedure by San Francisco ophthalmologist Daniel Goodman.[12]May had a stem-cell transplant in his right eye in 2001 when he was 47, after 40 years of blindness. He reportedly has adapted well to his recovered vision.

The effect of visual loss has an impact in the development of the visual cortex of the brain. The visual impairment causes the occipital lobe to lose its sensitivity in perceiving spatial processing. Sui and Morley (2008) proposed that after seven days of visual deprivation, a potential decrease in vision may occur. They also found an increasing visual impairment with deprivation after 30 days and 120 days. This study suggests that the function of the brain depends on visual input. May lost his eyesight at age three, when his vision was still not fully developed to distinguish shapes, drawings or images clearly. It would be difficult for him to be able to describe the world compared to a normal sighted person. For instance, May would have trouble differentiating complex shapes, dimension and orientations of objects. Hannan (2006) hypothesized that the temporal visual cortex uses prior memory and experiences to make sense of shapes, colours and forms. She proposed that the long-term effect of blindness in the visual cortex is the lack of recognition of spatial cues.

At three years of age, May's vision had still not reached the acuity of an adult person, so his brain was still not completely exposed to all possible clarity of images and light of the environment. This made it difficult for Michael to lead a normal daily life. Cohen et al. (1997) suggested that early blindness causes a poor development of the visual cortex with the result of a decrease in somatosensory development. This study proposed that Michael's long-term blindness affects his ability to distinguish in between faces of males and females, and to recognize pictures and images. In spite of the surgery on his right eye, his newly regained vision, after blindness of forty years, is not fully recovered. Thinus-Blanc and Gaunet (1997) suggest that early blinded people show limited ability in spatial representation. Michael still struggles to identify pictures or illustrations. The impairment of his visual cortex, due to the loss of his vision at a very early age, resulted in visual cortex cells that are not used to the stimuli in his surroundings. Cohen et al. (1997) proposed that in their early age, blinded subjects developed strong motivations to tactile discrimination tasks. May's early blindness benefited him so far; he developed very precise senses of hearing and touch.

In 2006, journalist Robert Kurson wrote a book on May, Crashing Through, expanded from an article he did for Esquire,[13] which was adapted into a motion picture.[14] Crashing Through was released on May 15, 2007.

Shirl Jennings (19402003) was blinded by illness as a young boy. Experimental surgery in 1991 partially restored his vision, but like Bradford and May, Jennings found the transition to sightedness difficult. In 1992, a pneumonia infection resulted in anoxia, and ultimately cost Jennings his vision again.

In 2011, The Guardian published a story about Shander Herian, who was blinded by illness at the age of 14 and fully recovered after an experimental surgery in middle age.[15]

More recently, another condition called aniridia has been treated with reconstructive surgery using the membrane from the amniotic sac that surrounds a fetus combined with stem cell transplantation into the eye.[16]In 2003, three people were successfully implanted with a permanent "retinal prosthesis" by researchers at the University of Southern California. Each patient wore spectacles with miniature video cameras that transmitted signals to a 4-mm-by-5-mm retinal implant via a wireless receiver embedded behind the ear.[17]

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Recovery from blindness - Wikipedia

Colour blindness tests, juggling, avoiding glare: A hockey goalkeepeers quest to train his biggest weapon, eyes  The Indian Express

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Colour blindness tests, juggling, avoiding glare: A hockey goalkeepeers quest to train his biggest weapon, eyes - The Indian Express

Viewers of this video were asked to count how many times white-shirted players passed the ball. Fifty percent of them didnt see the woman in the gorilla suit. Daniel Simons

For more than a decade, my colleagues and I have been studying a form of invisibility known as inattentional blindness. In our best-known demonstration, we showed people a video and asked them to count how many times three basketball players wearing white shirts passed a ball. After about 30 seconds, a woman in a gorilla suit sauntered into the scene, faced the camera, thumped her chest and walked away. Half the viewers missed her. In fact, some people looked right at the gorilla and did not see it.

That video was an Internet sensation. So, in 2010, I decided to make a sequel. This time viewers were expecting the gorilla to make an appearance. And it did. But the viewers were so focused on watching for the gorilla that they overlooked other unexpected events, such as the curtain in the background changing color.

How could they miss something right before their eyes? This form of invisibility depends not on the limits of the eye, but on the limits of the mind. We consciously see only a small subset of our visual world, and when our attention is focused on one thing, we fail to notice other, unexpected things around usincluding those we might want to see.

Consider, for instance, a famous 1995 incident in which police were in hot pursuit of four suspects driving away from the scene of a shooting. After cornering the suspects, the first police officer on the scene, Michael Cox, chased one of them on foot. Other officers arriving on the scene mistakenly thought Cox was a suspect and beat him. Meanwhile, another officer, Kenny Conley, had taken up pursuit of the same suspect and ran right past the altercation. Conley claimed not to have seen Cox or his assailants, and he was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Conleys conviction raised an intriguing legal issue: Could an eyewitness actually fail to notice an assault like that one? Last year, psychology professor Christopher Chabris and I decided to put Conleys alibi to the test. Although we could not simulate a high-speed police pursuit, we could extract the most critical element: Conleys focus on pursuing a suspect. In our experiment, we asked participants to jog behind an assistant and count the number of times he touched his hat. As they jogged, they ran past a staged fight in which two men appeared to be beating a third. Even in broad daylight, over 40 percent missed the fight. At night, 65 percent missed it. In light of such data, Conleys statement that he didnt even see Cox or his assailants was plausible.

Indeed, most of us are unaware of the limits of our attentionand therein lies the real danger. For instance, we may talk on the phone and drive because we are mistakenly convinced that we would notice a sudden event, such as a car stopping short in front of us.

Inattentional blindness does have an upside. Our ability to ignore distractions around us allows us to retain our focus. Just dont expect your partner to be charitably disposed when your focus on the television renders her or him invisible.

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But Did You See the Gorilla? The Problem With Inattentional Blindness ...

A new survey from the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and the Canadian Association of Optometrists says many Canadians especially younger people are under-informed about diseases that lead to blindness.

This news has eye doctors reminding people to get their vision checked. They say individuals could be living with a preventable or treatable disease and not even know it.

"We detect any early eye disease or even general health issues. Its important because most eye diseases, such as glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration the earlier theyre diagnosed, the better the outcome is," Dr. Janelle Morin, a Timmins-area optometrist, told CTV News.

Morin said she has seen patients who would have benefitted from coming in sooner.

"There isnt a lot of attention to the fact that eye examinations are important and that eye health can deteriorate, without people being aware that thats the case," Dr. Phil Hooper, of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, said.

The survey showed that while just over sixty per cent of respondents were aware of cataracts, only a quarter knew that they are the leading cause of blindness in the country.

Over a third of those who had not had their eyes checked in over two years, said it was because they did not see a problem with their vision.

Experts in eye health said it is important to look for warning signs and getting an eye exam every year for children and every two years for adults is a good habit to keep up.

"Any flashing lights, a lot of floaters, things like that. Those are big ones for retinal detachment, that can lead to permanent vision loss Diabetic retinopathy, most of the time, doesnt have any symptoms, until it is too late. Same thing with macular degeneration," Morin said

Though Hooper said there are barriers, like the cost of eye exams and the availability of treatments and surgeries that need resolving.

"To make sure these people dont delay their care until the outcome isnt as good as it otherwise could be," Hooper added.

Experts said that parents in Ontario should make eye exams a yearly habit for their children since theyre covered by OHIP.

And for adults that have not had an exam in a while, they said its better to get one now than regret it later.

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Canadians unaware of diseases that lead to blindness, survey says - CTV News Northern Ontario

Although most of the eye's focusing power comes from the cornea, the focus is fixed. By altering the lens' shape, accommodation, i.e., the focussing of light to provide a clearer vision of close objects, can be achieved. The epidemiology of cornea is too extensive, including viral ocular disorders, which lead to corneal scarring and inflammatory conditions and finally lead to functional blindness[1]. Globally, the foremost reasons for blindness are uncorrected refractive error, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. With increasing age, the number of people affected by vision loss also increases[2]. To cope with the rising cases, we should take the initiative to set up large-scale eye camps to address these patients. The government should develop various public health programmes and awareness programmes to deal with the current havoc created due to loss of vision targeting the senior population and neonates and children. Approximately 1.4 million children have blindness globally, meaning they are more likely to be in a lower socio-economic class and suffer from socio-economic deprivation[3].

When the cornea is touched, an involuntary reaction to close the eyelid occurs because the cornea possesses unmyelinated nerve endings that are subtle to feel, temperature, and chemicals. A healthy cornea has no need for or necessity for blood vessels since transparency is of utmost significance. The anterior-most part of the eye is the transparent structure forming the anterior one-third of the outer layer called the cornea[4].

The cornea comprises six layers: the corneal endothelium, Dua's layer, Bowman's membrane, corneal stroma, and corneal epithelium.The thickness of the cornea in an adult is 550 microns[4]. The main functions of the cornea are the following: to protect structures inside the eye, the structural barrier, and against environmental infections, and to contribute to the eyes two-third refractive power[5].

It is constituted of two components: the cellular component and the acellular component. Collagen and glycosaminoglycans are included in acellular details, whereas endothelial cells, keratocytes and epithelial cells are included in the cellular part[4].

The various causes leading to corneal blindness are depicted in Figure 1.

Bacterial Keratitis

Bacterial keratitis is the most common type of infectious keratitis in most countries worldwide. The most common bacteria responsible for causing bacterial keratitis is coagulase-negative staphylococci followed by Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae spp [6].

Fungal Keratitis

There are various species of fungi that cause fungal keratitis eventually leading to corneal blindness. The most common fungi that are involved are Candida, Aspergillus, and Fusarium [7]. In India, the most commonly involved species is Aspergillus which is then followed by Fusarium [8,9]. The prevalence of specific species of fungi depends upon various specific risk factors such as temperature, climatic conditions, and urbanization of that region. The patient-specific risk factors include trauma and contact lens use [10].

The pathophysiology behind fungal keratitis is a defect in the corneal epithelium which gives entry to the corneal stroma. This is the reason for the increased prevalence of this disease in patients with trauma [11].

Herpes Simplex Keratitis (HSK)

The infection caused by the herpes simplex virus is another cause which progressively leads to blindness due to corneal involvement. Keratitis instigated by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 is a primary reason for contagious blindness. Epithelial or dendritic keratitis is the most typical manifestation. With recurrent illness, herpes stromal keratitis can cause progressive corneal opacification and visual loss[12].

The mouth, genitalia, and eyes, however, are the most typical sites of infection in a person with a healthy immune system. Very young toddlers and, in rare cases, adults may also get brain infections. In affluent nations, HSV eye illnesses are the principal infectious reason for corneal blindness[13]. The three types of stromal keratitis caused by HSV are endothelial subtype, epithelial subtype, and stromal subtype. In disciform HSK, the DNA value of the HSV is reduced as compared to the dendritic HSK. The laboratory boosts confidence in identifying HSK subdivisions with the combination of the HSV Immunoglobulin A by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by the use of tear samples along with the procedure of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)[14].

Trachoma

Currently, trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness globally. Chlamydia trachomatis bacterial infection is spread through sexual contact, causing chlamydia. It is the furthermost often stated microbial disease in the United States. It is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the entire world. It produces trachoma, the most pervasive infectious factor behind blindness worldwide, an eye infection[15].

Dry Eye Disease

It was previously known as Keratoconjunctivitis sicca, which was given by Henrik Sjogren. He also established the triad, which included joint pain, dryness of mouth and Keratoconjunctivitis sicca[16]. The patient presents with the symptoms of foreign body existence, itchy and gritty eyes accompanied by excess tears and blurred vision. Furthermore, when the disease is not treated, it leads to further worsening of conditions causing discomfort and eventually causing blindness. The most common affected population is the senior population; the disease prevalence is seen more in females as compared to males. The various causes of dry eye disease are ocular surface dysfunction, blink rate, autoimmune diseases and other disorders[17]. The risk factors that are mainly responsible for the condition are the female gender and the advancement of age. The hormonal imbalance in the females further aggravates the symptoms like the decrease of tear production significantly around 60 years, along with the effect on meibomian gland function and the density of goblet cells of the conjunctiva[16].

The assessment and diagnosis of the diseases are based upon the questionnaires that are specifically developed for dry eye diseases like symptom assessment in dry eye (SANDE) and ocular comfort index (OCI)[18].

Keratoconus

Keratoconus is an illness that causes thinning of the cornea, eventually causing reduced visual acuity and irregular astigmatism. It is a bilaterally asymmetrical disease associated with ocular inflammation. The various risk factors associated with keratoconus are allergy, atopy, eye rubbing and various environmental and familial factors, which are mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) [19].

Ophthalmia Neonatorum

This is the conjunctiva disease, a kind of conjunctivitis observed in neonates. This disease frequently spreads following a vaginal birth and is associated with severe side effects such as ocular perforation and ulceration, which may result in lifelong blindness. According to research, this eye condition is caused by a number of microbes, including Chlamydia trachomatis, N. gonorrhoea, infection of the virus, and bacteria from the skin and intestinal system[20].

Non-infectious Neonatorum

It is an autoimmune disease, which is one of the leading reasons for blindness that can be prevented by various measures.

For evaluation of the infectious keratitis, the primary step is the sample collection for culture and direct microscopy using various stains. There might be a need for corneal biopsy for deeper infections [11]. The gold standard techniques for diagnosing the infectious cause leading to corneal blindness remain the same, that is, Gram staining and culture methods which give the results instantaneously[21]. For confirmation of the diagnosis, a PCR is used occasionally because of its high sensitivity.

Fungal Keratitis

The medical treatment currently available includes antifungal agents which are fungistatic that increase the duration of treatment for complete eradication of the causative agent. The drug of choice is topical natamycin 5% and the other topical antifungal agents that can be given are amphotericin B, which is used specifically for yeasts; voriconazole; and itraconazole.

For the patients who do not respond to the given medical treatment, surgical interventions have been used for their treatment. The interventions include lamellar keratoplasty and therapeutic keratoplasty [11].

Bacterial Keratitis

The treatment of choice for bacterial keratitis is the use of topical antibiotics. Fluoroquinolones are most commonly used. Even anti-collagenases and steroids are used for the treatment [22].

In the case of bacterial keratitis, topical antibiotics are the most preferred and primary stay treatment regimen. Even anti-collagenases and steroids can be used in bacterial keratitis[22]. Voriconazole is used for fungal keratitis, which is a newer generation triazole because of its tremendous ocular penetration[23]. The ultimate target for managing the above condition is to decrease inflammation and avoid further eye complications[24].

Dry Eye Disease

Questionnaires like Fluorescin break up time or Ocular Surface Disease Index can be used for diagnosing dry eye disease along with Schirmer's test for detecting decreased tear production; the assessment can also be carried out by stains and by cytology to find out the ocular damage[25,26].

Dry eye disease management can be done by keeping the ocular environment in control, such as avoiding prolonged exposure to digital devices, avoiding the dry atmosphere and using external protection like contact lenses such as silicon hydrogel and scleral lenses[26]. Even lipids can be used with velocity enhancers for the effective treatment of dry eye disease (DED) [27].

Keratoconus

The early detection of keratoconus can be done by more frequent monitoring of the disease progression and performing the indicated interventions at the time, leading to improved patient outcomes so that the use of transplantation of cornea is reduced to a significant amount[19]. The advances for the diagnosis are the corneal biomechanics, various biomarkers like tear inflammatory cytokine or levels of matrix metalloproteinases in the tear immunoglobulin A or by using artificial intelligence[28].

Various treatment modalities are available for the management of keratoconus and for preventing corneal blindness. To prevent further disease progression, the mainstay clinical modality is corneal cross-linking. Various strategies and new molecules have been implicated in the scleral cross-linking. One of the more unknown molecules isolated from the Streptoverticillium sp., named transglutaminase, does not need photoactivation, which makes the cornea stiffer without causing much damage to the underlying layers of the cornea. The others include numerous keratoplasty procedures, transplantation of the Bowman's layer, additive keratoplasty, and cellular therapies[28]. Keratoconus causes the fragmentation of the Bowmans layer in the earliest phase of the disease[29].

The biomechanical support to the cornea is provided by the Bowman's layer, which is also responsible for the maintenance of its shape and keeping it sturdy. Hence, if we replace this tissue, we can stop the further progression of the keratoconus to its later stages and prevent blindness[30]. A femtosecond laser was employed to produce the stromal compartment, which decreased the risk of micro-perforation during manual dissection. Recently, intraoperative optical coherence tomography has allowed for better visibility of the dissection plane[31]. The graft is localised at the mid-stromal level in the traditional approach; however, a recent variation describes inserting the graft as an onlay in the subepithelial region[32]. The additive keratoplasty helps to increase the thickness of the cornea along with biomechanical stability. To avoid immune rejection, an approach towards tissue engineering has been preferred, which enabled better outcomes in the case of visual acuity and in terms of biomechanical effects[28]. Diagnosis of non-infectious uveitis is based on clinical symptoms and the association with systemic diseases[33].

One of the treatment modalities that is used for treating corneal blindness is organ donation. The concept of corneal transplantation for the treatment of blindness was first stated by Himly in the year 1813, but the first transplantation surgery was actually performed by Von Hippel in the year 1886 by replacing the cornea of a rabbit[34]. Anterior corneal opacities were initially treated using lamellar keratoplasty, including the selective removal of layers of the cornea. This treatment modality was actually used to treat the disease keratoconus and also the scarring of the cornea, but it was halted since it didn't provide the best visual gain. This might have been because of the imperfect interface or any remaining opacities[35].

The various types of lamellar keratoplasty surgeries that can be done are anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK), superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty (SALK), automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty (ALTK) and others.

Immune Privilege

The three barriers that contribute to the ocular immune privilege of the cornea are anatomical, cellular and molecular. The mentioned mechanisms facilitate immune tolerance to donor antigen. The predisposing factors destroying and interrupting the immune privilege are the following: the previous rejection of the graft, vascularized corneal tissue, and ocular inflammation.

When the immune privilege is interrupted, it leads to corneal graft rejection. It is predominantly a cell-mediated pathway [36].

Intra-operative Optical Coherence Tomography (iOCT)

Continuous feedback on intraoperative surgical manoeuvres is provided by the iOCT. In Lamellar keratoplasty programmes like superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty, automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty, deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty, Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty, and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty, it is beneficial. The centre corneal thickness (CCT) of the donor and host corneas, both of which are significant criteria for choosing the blade size to be utilised in the microkeratome for dissection, may be measured using the iOCT. Additionally, it serves as an intraoperative directing aid when donor tissue is manually prepared so that the issues related to this will be further reduced. With the use of iOCT, appropriate coherence may be carried out in situations of superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty and automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty. The iOCT directs every surgical step in the deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) process, from the depth of trephination through graft-host apposition[37].

Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Lamellar Keratoplasty (FALK)

The femtosecond laser can be used for laser and total thickness penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). This keratoplasty has various improvements when compared with the manual one[38].

Bioengineered Cornea

This technique was developed for visual rehabilitation and for managing the gap in the availability of donors. Bioengineered cornea includes replacing the part of the cornea or the whole of the diseased cornea[39]. These include various methods ranging from the use of keratoprosthesis that actually supersedes the function of the cornea to the most recent advancement of tissue-engineered hydrogels, which assist in regenerating the tissue of the host[40].

Various public health interventions are needed to decrease the prevalence of corneal blindness. Measures like vitamin A supplements and advice regarding the modification of nutrition, i.e., nutritional assessment and the vaccination against measles can prevent xerophthalmia, which is caused due to Vitamin A deficiency. Implementing the SAFE strategy, which includes Surgery for trichiasis, Antibiotics for infection, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement to control transmission, can successfully prevent trachoma, which is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, causing corneal opacification leading to corneal blindness and decreasing its prevalence. Onchocerciasis can cause blindness due to inflammation caused by the Onchocerca volvulus, which can be controlled by the ivermectin distribution in public along with the control of the Simulium fly. In less developed and developing countries, traumatic corneal abrasion is the most common precipitating factor for blindness due to corneal involvement. Hence, to prevent such blindness due to trauma, a prophylactic topical antibiotic should be taken for a few days, especially in high-risk occupation people as farmers, who have an increased risk for trauma through vegetable matter[41].

Excerpt from:
A Review of Corneal Blindness: Causes and Management - Cureus

Artificial retinas made in space appear to be better than retinas made on Earth suggesting that a cure for a leading cause of blindness could be one of the first products manufactured on tomorrows commercial space stations.

Vision 101: After light enters the eye, it travels to the retina a thin layer at the back of the organ where light-sensitive cells called photoreceptors convert it into electrical signals. The signals are then sent on to the brain for interpretation.

Many eye diseases damage photoreceptors, leading to vision problems or even blindness. They affect millions of people, and there are no known treatments for the most common ones: retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

Even a force as light as the pull of gravity during manufacturing can lead to imperfections.

Artificial retinas: Connecticut startup LambdaVision is using a light-activated protein, called bacteriorhodopsin, to build artificial retinas. The hope is that the devices will one day restore vision in people with retinal degeneration by filling in for their damaged photoreceptors.

Activated by light entering the eye, the artificial retina pumps protons toward the bipolar and ganglion cells, explains LambdaVision CEO Nicole Wagner. Receptors on those cells detect the protons, which triggers them to send signals to the optic nerve, where they travel to the brain.

Space build: Each of the artificial retinas contains 200 layers of the protein on a mesh membrane. The more uniform these layers are, the better the implant should work, but even a force as light as the pull of gravity during manufacturing can lead to imperfections.

In pursuit of flawless protein layers, LambdaVision decided to explore the feasibility of manufacturing its artificial retinas in space, the hope being that the microgravity environment on satellites would lead to a better product.

The company teamed up with Space Tango, a space-based research firm, to design an experiment using one of its CubeLabs, boot-box-sized containers packed with all the automated systems needed to perform experiments with near-real-time input from Earth.

LambdaVisions most recent CubeLab prior to flight. Credit: LambdaVision

Backed by a $5 million commercialization grant from NASA, it sent its first CubeLab to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2018, and four others have followed.

[Were looking at] how do you make this as reproducible and as high quality as possible, said Wagner.

The fifth CubeLab has now returned to Earth, and according to LambdaVisions initial analysis, the 200-layer films in it were more uniform than the controls they created on Earth.

This fifth experiment was also the most autonomous yet while LambdaVisions researchers had to frequently intervene with early CubeLabs, this tech inside this one produced the films almost entirely on its own.

Looking ahead: Each microgravity experiment has aided LambdaVision in its goal of meeting the FDAs manufacturing standards for its artificial retinas by the end of 2023, and it already has three more CubeLabs scheduled to arrive at the ISS in the next year.

Weve made a lot of progress, but theres still work to be done, said Wagner. Were continuing to look at the parameters, were continuing to develop these assays. But having made the 200-layer film in microgravity is a big milestone.

The ISS is a research lab. Commercial space stations will have more capabilities.

LambaVision hopes to have its artificial retinas ready for trials involving patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa in 2024. If those go well, trials to treat age-related macular degeneration would follow.

Ultimately, it plans to work with commercial partners to manufacture the implants in space.

Theres a lot of promise in continuing to do this work in a microgravity environment, Wagner told the Financial Times. But the ISS is a research lab. Commercial space stations will have more capabilities. They will be designed with the future in mind.

Wed love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at [emailprotected].

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A cure for blindness may be first product made in space - Freethink

Nearly 1.2 million Indians suffer from irreversible blindness caused due to glaucoma

AbbVie company recently shed light on the need for early diagnosis and treatment for glaucoma.

Currently, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of glaucoma is possible with medicines, surgery, or laser treatments, so that further vision loss can be prevented or if already present, it can be stabilised in most cases.

Talking about the common causes of glaucoma Dr Ramanjit Sihota, Head, Glaucoma Services, Shroff Eye Centre, New Delhi said You may be at risk of glaucoma if you have a family history of glaucoma or suffer from medical conditions like thyroid disease, high blood pressure, or other cardiovascular problems. Apart from these, those who take steroid-containing medications, have high eye power, or have had an eye injury or surgery should check their eyes regularly for early diagnosis of the condition.

She also emphasised that, Although glaucoma is more common in adults, it can develop at any age. Childhood glaucoma, also commonly known as primary congenital glaucoma, is rare but is responsible for about 4 per cent 8 per cent childhood blindness. An estimated 1 in 10,000 births are affected by primary congenital/infantile glaucoma.

Highlighting the need for timely treatment, Dr Rishi Jain, Medical Director, Allergan, an AbbVie Company said, India faces a considerable challenge in terms of eye care, including poor coverage and access to quality services for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. A shortage of trained eye care service providers and poor integration of eye care services into health systems is a leading cause for the growing concern of vision loss.

Glaucoma is an under-recognised and under-treated condition. A timely diagnosis and appropriate management can significantly lower the chances of vision loss. At Allergan, an Abbvie company, we work closely with health care practitioners and communities to raise awareness, engage, and empower people about this condition.

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Early detection and management is the key to prevent glaucoma related blindness: Experts - Express Healthcare

Jimmy Donaldson, famously known as 'MrBeast' online, is one of YouTube's highest-paid and most-viewed creators on the platform, with his over-the-top stunts, challenges and generous donations.

Well, the YouTuber who's amassed over 105 million subscribers on his main channel alone is rumoured to be helping 1,000 blind people regain their vision.

In leaked footage posted to YouTube, Donaldson stated just that, after briefly touching on the project on the Flagrant podcast in September.

He said: "The one after that, were gonna try to fix 1,000 peoples eyesight. I think itd be cool. Yeah, cause, like, a lot of people just cant see, and the only reason that is, is they dont have money, which kind of blows my mind."

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MrBeast Gets Flagrant and Walked Away from $1 BILLION DOLLARSwww.youtube.com

This week, a clip was shared to YouTube via user Breone that showed MrBeast saying: "In this video, we're curing 1,000 people's blindness."

The crowd erupted into cheers while the cameraman stood on a ladder to get the shot.

Details remain sparse, but fans of the YouTuber took to the comments to praise his reported efforts.

MrBeast Is Helping 1,000 Blind People...www.youtube.com

"Just knowing what Jimmie does makes me smile helping dozens or thousands with their condition or status it's just amazing of him," one said, while another joked: "Jimmys becoming Jesus."

A third wrote: "Yet there are dudes that try to cancel this man even though he does all the good things for other people."

Meanwhile, one sceptic wrote: "Imagine he can't help them and doesn't release the video."

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Is MrBeast trying to cure 1000 people's blindness? - indy100

Dr. Kashef Ijaz

Gregory Noland

By Gregory S. Noland, Director, River Blindness Elimination Program, and Dr. Kashef Ijaz, Vice President-Health, The Carter Center

World Sight Day is the second Thursday in October, and we at The Carter Center and our country offices are doing our part to preserve vision in vulnerable populations through our robust river blindness and trachoma programs.

In our August column, Kelly Callahan, director, Trachoma Control Program, described the programs accomplishments, so this column will concentrate on our River Blindness Elimination Program.

River blindness, also known as onchocerciasis, is a parasitic infection that can cause intense itching, skin discoloration, rashes, and eye disease that often leads to permanent blindness. The parasite is spread by the bites of infected black flies that breed in rapidly flowing rivers.

About 20.9 million people are infected with the parasite, with more than 240 million at risk of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Yemen.

The Carter Center currently works to eliminate river blindness in Brazil,Ethiopia,Nigeria,Sudan,Uganda, andVenezuela. Together with the respective ministries of health and partners, the Centers Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas has eliminated river blindness transmission in Colombia (2013),Ecuador (2014),Mexico (2015), andGuatemala (2016) the only four countries in the world to achieve this status.

The Carter Center assists the national ministries of health to eliminate river blindness through health education and mass drug administration (MDA) of the medicine Mectizan, donated by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey. Mectizan kills the parasite larvae in the human body, preventing blindness and skin disease in infected persons and stopping the transmission of the parasite to others.

We and our partners have made major progress against river blindness in Uganda.

Fred Matalocu, 65, is old enough to remember how river blindness (onchocerciasis) once devastated his community in northwest Ugandas Moyo district. Because of the unbearable itching, disfiguring skin damage, and crippling vision loss caused by the infection, people had to stop farming near the rushing rivers and streams in the area. And it affected him directly.

I have suffered from river blindness by scratching my body, he says. Some people used rough objects [to scratch themselves] as if their fingernails were insufficient objects such as dried maize cobs or sharp stones.

Ugandas Ministry of Health and The Carter Center (as the River Blindness Foundation until 1996) commenced activities in Moyo in 1993 in hopes of controlling onchocerciasis; elimination was not considered possible at that time. However, in 2007, Uganda boldly shifted its river blindness programs goal from mere control to elimination, and significant progress has followed.

Now, after years of treatments with Mectizan, the entire Madi-Mid North focus, including Moyo, has reached the status of transmission interruption suspected a major step toward elimination. In fact, the entire country is on track for elimination of onchocerciasis transmission within the next few years a feat that no country in Africa has yet achieved.

We believe all people deserve to be free of preventable diseases, and if things go according to plan, the people of Uganda soon will be free of this one.

Read this article:
As World Sight Day Nears, River Blindness is Fading - SaportaReport

Friday 14 October 2022 12:00 pm

By: The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has a mission to support and cure people living with needless cataract blindness in developing nations, and in turn eliminate extreme poverty.

Dolakha is located in northeastern Nepal. Popular amongst tourists and natives, its natural beauty, cultural sites and array of hiking trails attract people from far and wide.

One of the largest attractions in the area is the Bhimsen Temple, a site dedicated to one of the brothers in the epic Sanskrit poem Mahabharata. The temple remains incredibly popular due to the fascinating capacity of the statue of Bhismen has to perspire fluid-esque droplets, resembling tears, on occasion.

Nearby is the Kalinchowk Bagawait temple, dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Kali. Myths and lore encircle the temple as prominent figures in Hinduism, such as the Pandavas sons in the Mahabharata are said to have meditated on top of the hill. Today people flock to the area to give thanks and pray to the shrine of Kali.

Members from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation travelled to the area of Dolokha from Kathmandu, some 180km away. The town itself, slightly shadowed by the majestic Himalayas, is often dusted with snow as are the tips of the mountains. Other members of the team had already begun screening people in the hilltop town, so in September 2021, another team travelled into the remote corners of the district to find people suffering from cataracts.

The outreach microsurgical eye camp (OMEC) was set up in the picturesque town and by the early hours of the morning of the first day, patients were queueing up, patiently awaiting their turn.

People of all ages arrived, eager to receive treatment to rid them of the cataracts that had made their daily lives difficult. One patient, a young girl named Jesika, was seen by members of the team clinging to her fathers arm. The team spoke to her father, Bishnu, who disclosed that Jesika had been having trouble seeing the blackboard at school for over two years. When the pandemic struck the area, Bishnu was spending more time at home as he was unable to go to work in India, where he worked in the informal hospitality industry, and he saw just how much his daughters sight had deteriorated. Unable to navigate around the home in the evenings, Bishnu knew that something had to be done to save his daughter from a life of total blindness and all that can come with it.

Doctors allied with the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation confirmed that Jesika was suffering from congenital cataracts, a form of cataracts that clouds the lens at birth, and in order to save her eyesight, she must undergo surgery.

Luckily, her surgery was able to be performed at the outreach camp in Dolakha, and later that day Dr Sanduk Ruit a world-renowned surgeon operated on the young girl. Jesika and her family returned the following day to have the patches on her eyes removed and she happily confirmed she was able to see again, leaving her father in floods of joyful tears.

Like the Tej Kolhi & Ruit Foundation, Bishnu was aware of the detrimental effects that blindness can have on women in low-income countries. Unable to work, earn a living and perhaps even safely look after your own children these are all issues that women suffering from needless blindness deal with regularly. Thankfully, since Dr Ruit performed surgery on Jesika she is back in school and thriving, enjoying a social life and working her way towards a brighter future, unbound by the constraints that losing your eyesight can have.

Stories like Jesikas are not unheard of for the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation. On this occasion in September 2021, after setting up ten camps and screening 1,576 patients, members of the foundation removed patches of 98 people who were immensely happy to say they could see once again.

Since its commencement in March 2021, The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has screened over 170,000 people and cured the sight of 21,571.

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a restricted fund operating under the auspices of Prism The Gift Fund, registered UK charity number 1099682.

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Tears of happiness: How curing blindness in Dolakha saved a girls future - City A.M.

In the leadup to World Sight Day, global eye care nonprofit Orbis International and UC Davis Health announce the launch today of a two-week training project on board the Flying Eye Hospital a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board a plane.

According to a news release,Orbis's clinical staff and Volunteer Faculty (medical experts) along with UC Davis Medical Health physicians and staff will share their knowledge with nearly 50 ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents, nurses, and biomedical engineers fromBolivia,Chile, andPeru, helping them build skills to fight avoidable blindness in their communities.

Orbis noted in the news release that the ophthalmologists and ophthalmology residents participating in the training will hone their skills using leading-edge ophthalmic surgical simulation training technology on the Flying Eye Hospital, which is currently at Moffett Federal Airfield, inMountain View, California.

The nurses and biomedical engineers will have hands-on training at the UC Davis Health Center for Simulation and Education Enhancement, a state-of-the-art facility focused on supporting interprofessional medical education and research activities, inSacramento, California. Simulation training allows the visiting eye care teams to grow their confidence in a training environment before moving on to real-life surgical procedures.

"Orbis has a long history of training eye care professionals inLatin America. After delivering virtual trainings throughout the pandemic in the region, we are thrilled to host participants once again for in-person training on board the Flying Eye Hospital," Derek Hodkey, president and CEO of Orbis International, said in a news release. "This project represents a wonderful opportunity to provide quality hands-on training through simulation as a means to fight against avoidable blindness around the world."

David Lubarsky, MD, MBA, CEO of UC Davis Health, pointed out that at UC Davis Health, they are committed to health equity and successful outcomes for patients everywhere.

As a nationally ranked teaching hospital, an important part of what we do is share our treatment techniques and medical research with other providers, he said in the statement. This partnership with Orbis will provide training to improve eye health and help prevent blindness in places where access to care is limited, and providers can't easily make it toCalifornia. We're excited about sharing our expertise in this way and taking the training to places where it will help patients around the globe."

Learning surgical skills for cataract removal will be a major focus of the training for the ophthalmologists and ophthalmology residents. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness inBoliviaandPerudespite being treatable with an operation that can take as little as ten to fifteen minutes. Participants will also learn to treat other conditions that threaten vision, including glaucoma and macular degeneration, respectively the second- and third-most common causes of blindness inBoliviaandPeru. A select group of these participants, who are already highly experienced ophthalmologists, will also participate in a train-the-trainer course, which will deepen their ability to train the next generation of eye care professionals. This helps ensure ongoing continuity of and local access to eye care in their home countries.

Nurses will train in simulated emergency scenarios, patient recovery, operating room procedures and sterilization practices. In addition, nurses will receive an orientation to eye banking and get hands-on experience evaluating corneal tissue at Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank. Senior nurses will also participate in a train-the-trainer course integrated into the nursing training program. Biomedical engineers and technicians will train in ophthalmic equipment maintenance and repair. Part of this training will include a workshop hosted by biomedical engineers from Alcon,a long-time supporter of Orbis.

Forty Years of Innovation at Orbis

This year, Orbis is celebrating 40 yearssince the Flying Eye Hospital took its first flight. Since 1982, three generations of the Flying Eye Hospital have taken training to eye care teams in over 95 countries around the world. In 2020, Orbis reimagined in-person Flying Eye Hospital trainings as virtual ones to ensure that eye care teams could still access critical training safely during the pandemic. Orbis reached nine countries in 2020 and 34 countries in 2021 through virtual Flying Eye Hospital projects. As the plane has returned to in-person programming, the virtual model Orbis developed is being used in conjunction with in-person training, a concept known as "blended learning," to ensure that participants can maximize the time with their mentors, continue their education after the plane leaves and more.

Globally, 1.1 billion people live with vision loss, and 90% of cases are completely avoidable. Nine out of ten people with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries, where quality eye care is often difficult, sometimes impossible, to access. An effective, lasting solution to this challenge is to ensure that eye care professionals in such countries can access quality ophthalmic training, building the skills they need to provide quality eye care to patients in their communities.

Over the past four decades, Orbis has conducted tens of millions of eye screenings and performed eye surgeries and laser treatments for hundreds of thousands of patients. Orbis has also trained hundreds of thousands of eye care professionals at all levels, including tens of thousands of medical doctors. The people Orbis trains go on to provide sight-saving care in their communities and, in many cases, go on to train eye care professionals themselves.

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World Sight Day: Orbis, UC Davis team up to train eye care teams from Latin America to fight avoidable blindness - Ophthalmology Times

The King has praised Malawi for its remarkable success in eliminating the infectious disease trachoma which causes blindness.

Charles paid tribute to the hard work, dedication and commitment that led to the breakthrough, in a message to the countrys president, Lazarus Chakwera.

The Countess of Wessex is visiting Malawi to celebrate the achievement and has attended a dinner marking the milestone, before joining guests at Malawis national World Sight Day celebrations on Thursday.

The King said in his message: This is a remarkable success, and a true testament to all those whose hard work, dedication and commitment has led to Malawi becoming the first country in Southern Africa to eliminate this devastating, neglected tropical disease as a public health issue.

Tackling avoidable blindness across the Commonwealth was a cause close to the heart of my beloved mother.

Indeed, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, set up in 2012 to create an enduring legacy for her, took the elimination of trachoma as a major part of its mission.

I am particularly proud that Malawi is the first country supported by the Trust to reach the extraordinary milestone of trachoma elimination.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a few weeks ago it had validated Malawis elimination of trachoma as a public health issue, making it the fourth country in WHOs African Region after Ghana (June 2018), Gambia (April 2021) and Togo (May 2022) to achieve this significant milestone.

Sophie is visiting Malawi in her role as a global ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and as former vice patron of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.

Charles went on to say: The commitment made by so many Commonwealth leaders at the Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases summit in Kigali a few months ago gives me great encouragement that other countries will be inspired by your achievement and, thus, redouble their efforts to eliminate trachoma along with other such diseases.

The rest is here:
Charles pays tribute to Malawi's elimination of disease causing blindness - Express & Star

Act 1 Intentional blindness?

How else to explain the GOPs reaction last week after a Daily Beast report that Herschel Walker, running for the Senate as an abortion opponent, paid for a woman to have an abortion?

Even as the former football star denied it, Walkers son called him a liar. He has four kids, four different women. Wasnt in the house raising one of them, tweeted Walkers son, Christian. [H]ow dare you lie and act as though youre some moral, Christian, upright man.

The GOP response to this embarrassing elephant in their room was intentional blindness.

Republicans stand with him, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. So much for opposition to abortion if it means losing a Senate seat.

Act 2 More Intentional blindness?

How else to explain the silence among Senate Republicans when former President Trump said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had a death wish, before throwing a racist barb at McConnells wife?

Not one of McConnells Senate colleagues opened their mouths to stand by him and condemn Trump. None opened their eyes to Trumps threat and racism.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was a lonely voice among Republicans in Congress, noting that Trumps words could lead to violence against the Republican leader of the Senate. She labeled his attack on McConnells wife absolutely despicable.

Cheney also noted her partys intentional blindness. How it could be that nobody in my party will say thats unacceptable, she asked.

The Wall Street Journals conservative editorial page noticed the chilling GOP silence.

The death wish rhetoric is ugly even by Mr. Trumps standards and deserves to be condemnedIts all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell.

Act 3 Intentional blindness is now a pandemic?

Republicans running in the midterms are now required to close their eyes to the nearly two-year-old reality that a Democrat, President Biden, won the 2020 election. Blind eyes are now a sign of party loyalty.

Last week, data and polling website FiveThirtyEight ran a chilling headline: 60 Percent of Americans will have an election denier on the ballot this fall

Out of 552 total Republican nominees running for office, we found 200 who fully denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election. These candidates either clearly stated that the election was stolen from Trump or took legal action to overturn the results, such as voting not to certify election results or joining lawsuits that sought to overturn the election, the sites staff wrote.

Opinion polls put the share of Republican voters who refuse to accept Biden as a legitimate president at around 70 percent.

Similarly, The Washington Post reported last week that a majority of Republican nominees on the ballot this November for the House, Senate and key statewide offices 299 in all have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election.

One politics professor, Larry Jacobs of the University of Minnesota, told the Post that mistrust of elections and the intentional undermining of their legitimacy is a disease that is spreading through our political process and its implications are very profound.

Jacobs thinking is supported by Pew Research polling. In August, Pew found 51 percent of Republicans say they like political leaders who assert [Trump won in 2020] compared with 17 percent who dislike such leaders.

Many of the Republican candidates running on intentional blindness will be sworn in as members of Congress in January 2023. Their presence on Capitol Hill will give more energy to claims of election fraud which have been proven false in courts, by intelligence experts and repeated audits.

Once in Congress, their next act of intentional blindness might be to try and reverse the outcome of the 2024 presidential election if they dont win.

A Yahoo! News/YouGov poll released in late September shows that among self-described Trump voters from 2020, just 33 percent say candidates should agree in advance to accept the results in this falls elections.

Trumps refusal to concede the 2020 election and baseless claims of voter fraud have proven damaging to the GOP in the recent past.

When he introduced the Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen, it depressed Republican turnout in Senate run-off elections in Georgia two months later. Two Democrats won, costing Republicans the Senate majority.

The final act in this story of Republicans blinding themselves has yet to be written.

In the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a naked king parading through the streets as if he had dazzling clothes, it took a child to get people to open their eyes. He shouted out that the king had no clothes.

Here is hoping that there is a daring child to open Republican eyes.

Juan Williams is an author, and a political analyst for Fox News Channel.

See original here:
Juan Williams: The GOPs epidemic of intentional blindness - The Hill

Frank Bruni has seen many people and places over the last quarter-century as a correspondent and columnist for the New York Times.

Because of a rare vision disorder, he now lives with the knowledge that soon he may not see anything.

Bruni, 57, writes about taming that anxiety, and about aging and the hard-earned wisdom it brings, in The Beauty of Dusk, On Vision Lost and Found. On Friday, he kicked off the ninth Morristown Festival of Books in a free-wheeling, often humorous conversation with MSNBC anchor Katy Tur.

If you focus on all the bad that can happen that will become your life, that fear, that paralysis. What have you accomplished? Bruni said during the hour-long keynote at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, where he also touched on politics, the pitfalls of social media, the process of writing, and the pressures of college admissions.

The festival and its junior spinoff, KidFest, continue all day Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, with free talks in downtown churches and the library by 60 authors. Tickets are $60 for the closing session with best-selling author James Patterson (Blowback).

Bruni awakened one morning in late 2017 with blurry vision in his right eye. Doctors told him a rare stroke had cut off blood to an optic nerve, rendering that eye functionally blind. They warned of a 20 percent chance the same thing could happen in his left eye.

For months, he faced the dawn with anxiety: Would he wake up blind?

A pair of clinical trials were dead ends. One study involved a series of injections directly into his faulty eyeball. Clamped eyelids kept him from blinking.

So you feel like youre Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, Bruni recounted, to laughter from the large crowd.

The Beauty of Dusk offers examples of people persevering despite major disabilities a limb lost in wartime, early-onset Parkinsons disease, blindness. Many times we avoid asking individuals about their afflictions, out of politeness or concerns about making them uncomfortable. These are missed opportunities for insights, according to Bruni, who discovered that people were eager to share their stories for his book.

Gradually, he adopted a sunny view of his situation.

I think for a lot of us, there is a zone in which we can choose to be more positive or negative, Bruni said.

You can decide to be angry, and legitimately so. Where does that get you? You can decide to do a tally of all the things that are unavailable to youWhere does that get you? Or you can say, What do I have left?'

Driving at night has become problematic, and parallel parking is out. Reading can be a struggle. Yet Bruni knows things could be worse.

How lucky am I, or any of us who have vision disabilities, to be living at a moment in time when you can control the font size of just about everything?

Bruni said he even scammed the Times into sending him to a Greek island, the source of one of his trial drugs.

Bruni became a media professor at Duke University last year. He has covered the White House, the Persian Gulf War, and the AIDS crisis. Times assignments included Rome bureau chief, restaurant critic, and columnist; he also has appeared regularly on CNN and taught at Princeton. The Beauty of Dusk is his fifth book.

His most popular work, Where You Go Is Not Who Youll Be, took aim at college admissions.

I think weve done a hideous disservice to young people by changing their middle school and high school experiences into this terrifying period whereeverything they do is passed through the prism of how this will look to a bunch of strangers in Princeton, New Jersey, Bruni said.

Its really parents who have to change this, stop telling their kids that this school is better than that school because it rejects more people.

Fielding audience questions, Bruni and Tur who on Saturday will discuss her second book, Rough Draft agreed that writing is hard.

I kind of hate it, said Tur, 38, who anchors MSNBCs Katy Tur Reports. Her advice: Let the words cascade, then start pruning.

Although Bruni once banged out an Ivanka Trump column in 20 minutes, other pieces could take hours, he said. I dont have a process. Just a lot of hope and a keyboard.

When words dont come, he advised pausing. Take a run. Take a showerhave a cocktail.

Bruni and Tur said they dread man on the street interviews. They also admitted suffering from Imposter Syndrome, described by Tur as the fear that interview subjects will think youre an idiot.

Both were critical of social media. Blasted repeatedly by President Trump, Tur turned off her Twitter account before publishing her best-seller Unbelievable, My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History.

Its a liberating feeling to release yourself from that jail, she said. It can ruin you. In reality, Twitter is a very small portion of the population who have not-representative opinions about most issues.

It was supposed to be a means and a tool of connection, and its become an agent of division, Bruni added. People use social media to hunker down deeper and more consistently in their own micro-tribes.

Most importantly, a young listener wanted to know how Bruni, a University of North Carolina graduate, feels about teaching at archrival Duke. Bruni got booed for that new affiliation while delivering a commencement address at his alma mater.

When the Tar Heels play the Blue Devils in basketball, Im Switzerland, Bruni insisted.

I view it all with anthropological curiosity.

MORE ABOUT THE 2022 MORRISTOWN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

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Coping with calamity: Former NYT columnist Frank Bruni on blindness and vision, at Morristown book fest keynote - Morristown Green

Express News Service

CHENNAI: It was during the pandemic that FM RadioCity received a call from Suresh, a weaver describing his tough fight with cataract and a plea for help as his profession depended on his vision. Providing a solution to the problem, Dr Mohan Rajan, chairman and medical director, Rajan Eye Care Hospital, collaborated with RadioCity and provided free checkup and treatment to the weaver. This initiative that began for Suresh has now extended as the Weavers Vision Project, serving 10,000 weavers in the silk belt ofthe state.

Service for a lifetime

Celebrating World Sight Day 2022 at the Rajan Eye Care Hospital, T Nagar, organised by Chennai Vision Charitable Trust and Rotary Rajan Eye Bank, the event witnessed the distribution of privilege cards to the weavers of Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Cheyyar, Vellore and Arani. Dr Vishnu Prasad, MP, gave the cards to almost 300 weavers, and applauded the initiative. The privilege cards will authorise the weavers to get free consultations, retino surgery, glasses and other eye health services, free for their entire life, said Dr Mohan. He also educated the audience on the importance of eyesight and the awareness of eye related problems. India contributes to 1/5th of the global blindness with 25 million people affected by blindness. If a kid loses his/her eyesight, he or she will lose 33 working years. For adults it is eight years of loss of working years, he explained.

Initiatives through years

The event also shed light on the fact that India is the largest producer of blindness, cataract disease and children with blindness in the world. Even though there is the case of curable blindness due to various reasons like cracker injury, diapetic retinopathy, short-sightedness or long-sightedness, the doctors confirmed that most people arent aware of the treatment they had to undergo and the various schemes available for reducing the economic burden on these treatments. Providing a solution to the array of problems, Rajan Eye Care started their eye bank in 1991.

With several ambassadors, the project has reached millions of people and the institution continues to spread awareness on corneal blindness and the importance of eye donation. In 2005 their initiative, Blind Free India - A Reality, started organising eye donation rallies every year, reiterating the slogan, Daanathil siranthathu Kandanam, Kankale erikartheerkal, puthaikartherkal (The greatest donation is eye donation, dont bury or burn them).

The hospital also took the tertiary eye care services to the rural doorstep. Now, the latest initiative empowering the weaving community aims to create a better future for them and provide help to a major part of the working sector of the country. Guest of honour, Dr Nandakumar N, district governor, R.I Dist 3232, summed up, We need to support weavers and understand that their job is a seasonal play and requires a lot of effort. With collaborations like this, we can provide help to more people.

Read more from the original source:
Sighting solutions in a world of vision for weavers - The New Indian Express

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MONTREAL, Oct. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quebecers will have access to better glaucoma care thanks to one intrepid ophthalmologist. Dr. Hady Saheb, a glaucoma specialist at the MUHCs McGill Academic Eye Centre (MAEC), pledged to run 50km while blindfolded to raise $40,000 for the MUHC Foundation in support of glaucoma care. With the help of a sighted guide, he completed his run and raised $40,000 the process.

I treat patients who have become blind or have a medical condition that could cause vision loss.Blindness is one of the most devastating conditions a patient can live through, and glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in Canada and worldwide. With better awareness we can prevent blindness. I ran blindfolded because I wanted to put myself in the shoes of those who live with vision loss and blindness, and better understand their struggles and fears.

Dr. Hady Saheb, Glaucoma specialist and ophthalmologist, McGill Academic Eye Centre, McGill University Health Centre

Dr. Saheb completed his final 5km on Friday, October 7th with supporters looking on. He hopes that his run will raise awareness of glaucoma and encourage more people to have regular eye exams. The funds raised will support equipment and programs to help individuals living with glaucoma, vision loss and blindness receive the very best care.

We are inspired by Dr. Sahebs determination and empathy. He already provides life-changing care in his clinic every day, but he went the extra milequite literallyto ensure the well-being of his patients. We are grateful to him for his support of the MUHC Foundation, which will in turn provide important resources to the McGill Academic Eye Centre.

Julie Quenneville, President and CEO, McGill University Health Centre Foundation

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people over 60 years of age. The most common form is caused by a build-up of pressure in the eye. The pressure damages the optic nerve, leading to vision loss or blindness. Most frightening of all, glaucoma can develop without warning signs, putting more individuals at risk. Thanks to Dr. Saheb, fewer Quebecers will experience blindness as a result of glaucoma.

About the McGill University Health Centre Foundation

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the McGill University Health Centre, one of the top university hospitals in Canada. Our Dream Big Campaign to change the course of lives and medicine is raising millions of dollars to solve humanitys deadliest puzzles: infectious diseases; end cancer as a life-threatening illness; fix broken hearts through innovative cardiac care; detect the silent killersovarian and endometrial cancersearly; create the best skilled health care teams in Canada; and much more. We are rallying our entire community to solve the worlds most complex health care challenges.

Tarah Schwartz Director, Communications & MarketingMcGill University Health Centre Foundation [emailprotected]

Kelly AlbertSenior Communications OfficerMcGill University Health Centre Foundation [emailprotected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bc9096a3-9224-40c2-ad20-54c1e72492f2

Blindfold Run raises $40 000 for the MUHC Foundation

Dr. Hady Saheb and Dr. Sherin Al-Safadi

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Blindfold run raises $40,000 for the MUHC Foundation to support glaucoma care at the MUHC - StreetInsider.com