StemCell Therapy

Many men take the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, without problems. But in rare cases, they may experience an odd side effect: changes in eyesight, including blue-tinted vision, that last for several weeks, according to a new report.

The report, published Friday (Feb. 7) in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, describes the cases of 17 men who visited a hospital in Turkey with vision problems that persisted for more than 24 hours after they'd taken sildenafil.

The problems reported included blurred vision, sensitivity to light, reduced eyesight and changes to color perception, including "intensely blue-colored vision," a side effect known as cyanopsia. Those with cyanopsia also reported "red-green colorblindness," in which red and green hues appear to be brownish, the report said. None of the patients had a history of eye disease or colorblindness.

While it's known that sildenafil can cause temporary vision changes, including blurred vision and cyanopsia, these side effects typically disappear within 3 to 5 hours. Persistent vision changes, like those seen in this report, are much rarer. Fortunately, the vision problems for all of the men described in this report went away after 21 days.

"For the vast majority of men, any side effects [of sildenafil] will be temporary and mild," study author Dr. Cneyt Karaarslan, of the Dnyagz Adana hospital in Turkey, said in a statement. "However, I wanted to highlight that persistent eye and vision problems may be encountered for a small number of users."

Last year, researchers in Massachusetts reported the case of a man who developed vision loss, including "doughnut-shaped" spots in his vision, which lasted for at least two months after he'd consumed an entire bottle of liquid sildenafil.

Related: Viagra goes generic: 5 interesting facts about the 'little blue pill'

Sildenafil treats erectile dysfunction by inhibiting an enzyme called phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), which plays a role in regulating blood flow to the penis. But sildenafil also inhibits a related enzyme called phosphodiesterase type 6 (PDE6), which is found in retinal cells, the light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. It's thought that, in high doses, this inhibition leads to the buildup of a molecule that is toxic to retinal cells, Live Science previously reported.

All of the men in the current report were first-time sildenafil users, and all of them took the highest recommended dose of the drug, 100 milligrams. What's more, none of the men had a prescription for the medication.

It's unclear why some people are more prone than others to persistent side effects from sildenafil. But it may be that their bodies do not break down the drug very efficiently, which could lead to high concentrations of the medication in their blood, much higher than what's seen in average users, Karaarslan said.

Because it's unclear who will experience such side effects, Karaarslan said men should start on lower doses of the drug. Indeed, it's recommended that patients start with a 50-mg dose and increase or decrease the amount depending on their reaction, according to Pfizer, the maker of Viagra. What's more, patients should take the drug under medical supervision, meaning they should get a prescription for it, Karaarslan added.

"Although these drugs, when used under the control of physicians and at the recommended doses, provide very important sexual and mental support, uncontrolled and inappropriate doses should not be used or repeated," said Karaarslan.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Men who took erectile-dysfunction drug had blue-tinted vision for days. - Livescience.com

Prevent Blindness has declared February as Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)/Low Vision Awareness Month to help educate the public on AMD types, treatment options, low vision services and more.According to estimates from thePrevent Blindnessreport Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems, more than 2.2 million Americans, including 88,546 Ohioans, ages 50 and over have AMD in the year 2020.AMD is an eye disease that affects central vision and may occur in one or both eyes. Symptoms usually appear gradually over time, and may include difficulty seeing in the center of vision, straight lines appearing wavy or missing, and trouble seeing in dim light.

Risk factors for AMD include:

Family history of AMD;

Aging - those over 60 years old;

Race - Caucasians have a higher rate of AMD;

Sex - females have a higher rate of AMD (may be because they live longer);

Light-colored eyes;

Smoking;

Heart disease;

High blood pressure (hypertension);

High cholesterol;

Obesity;

High sun exposure; and

Poor diet - with low intake of antioxidants.

The Vision Councilstates that one in 28 Americans age 40 and above have low vision.According to theAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology, low vision refers tovisionloss that cannot be corrected by medical or surgical treatments or conventionaleyeglasses. AMD, and other eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and retinitis pigmentosa, can cause low vision.

The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness offers educational materials at no cost through its dedicated web pages and its toll-free number. Resources include:Prevent Blindness AMD Learning Center-The AMD Learning Center, found atpreventblindness.org/amd, provides a variety of educational tools including fact sheets, a free downloadable Amsler grid and more.Living Well with Low Vision -This online resource,lowvision.preventblindness.org, includes a self-help guide to non-visual skills, a visual skills workbook for people with age-related macular degeneration, a guide to caring for the visually impaired and a range of resource directories, including a searchable database of more than 1,500 paratransit services around the country.Through early detection and effective management, the effects of AMD, one of the leading causes of vision loss, can be lessened, said Sherry Williams, President & CEO of the Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness.We encourage everyone to work with their eye care professional to create and adhere to an effective treatment plan to help save sight for years to come.

For more information on AMD, low vision and other eye disease, please contact Prevent Blindness at (800) 301-2020 or visitpbohio.org.

About Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate:

Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness serves all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to more than 1,000,000 Ohioans annually and educating millions of consumers about what they can do to protect and preserve their precious gift of sight. For more information or to make a contribution, call 800-301-2020.Visit Prevent Blindness on the web atpbohio.org, Facebook atfacebook.com/pbohio/ or Twitter attwitter.com/PB_Ohio.

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highlandcountypress.com - The Highland County Press

Good nutrition and good health go hand in hand. But did you know that a healthy diet can also protect your eyes? Its true: what we eat can affect how we see!

Why is caring for our eye health some important? As we get older, the risk for certain eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts increases. Many surveys have shown that sight is the most important of the five senses to maintain. Clearly, vision loss is a major concern.

Studies have shown that eating foods that are rich in certain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can slow down or even help prevent most eye diseases.

Are you wondering how to get more eye-friendly nutrients in your familys diet? Keep your eyes on these foods:

Lutein and zeaxanthin: These are found in kale, spinach, Romaine lettuce, collard greens, broccoli and eggs.

Beta-carotene: Found in carrots, pumpkins, winter squash, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers and cantaloupe.

Vitamin C: Found in oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, Brussel sprouts and green bell peppers.

Vitamin E: Found in sunflower seeds, wheat germ, almonds, hazelnuts and vegetable oils.

Omega 3 fatty acids: Found in salmon, tuna, sardines, herring mackerel and fortified dairy.

Zinc: Found in oysters, red meat, eggs, turkey, wheat germ, black-eyed peas and mixed nuts.

Challenge yourself to add more of these foods to your diet this year to help keep you seeing with 2020 vision well into the future.

Prevention is the key when it comes to eye health, and a lifetime of good sight starts early. Building healthy eating habits in childhood that include eye-friendly foods is a perfect way to start. Here are some ideas to encourage your kids to try something new.

Come up with a list of eye-healthy foods that you would like to add to your familys meals and ask your child to pick one or two to try. Find a recipe that includes those foods and then involve your child in helping you to prepare the ingredients. Younger children can help scrub produce, mix ingredients and pour liquids while older kids can help with measuring or even cutting different foods up. The more hands-on time that kids get with new foods, the more likely they are to eat them.

Roasted Salmon with Mango Sauce

4 wild Alaskan salmon fillets (fresh or frozen)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Mango Salsa

1 cup mango, cut into inch cubes

red bell pepper, diced into inch pieces

1 green onion or red onion thinly sliced

1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Salt and pepper

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil

Place fish on the cooking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle each fillet with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until each fillet is brown on top and cooked throughout.

While the salmon is cooking, mix the mango, red bell pepper, onion and cilantro in a medium bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, lime zest and lime juice in a small bowl. Pour dressing over salsa and mix to combine. When the salmon is done, spoon of the salsa over each prepared salmon fillet. Serve with brown rice and a green salad for an extra boost of eye-health nutrients.

Kathy Smith is a Texas A&M AgriLife extension agent.

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Eating well to help you see with 2020 vision - Weatherford Democrat

All, says Bernardeta Gmez in her native Spanish, pointing to a large black line running across a white sheet of cardboard propped at arms length in front of her. There.

It isnt exactly an impressive feat for a 57-year-old womanexcept that Gmez is blind. And shes been that way for over a decade. When she was 42, toxic optic neuropathy destroyed the bundles of nerves that connect Gmezs eyes to her brain, rendering her totally without sight. Shes unable even to detect light.

But after 16 years of darkness, Gmez was given a six-month window during which she could see a very low-resolution semblance of the world represented by glowing white-yellow dots and shapes. This was possible thanks to a modified pair of glasses, blacked out and fitted with a tiny camera. The contraption is hooked up to a computer that processes a live video feed, turning it into electronic signals. A cable suspended from the ceiling links the system to a port embedded in the back of Gmezs skull that is wired to a 100-electrode implant in the visual cortex in the rear of her brain.

Russ Juskalian

Using this, Gmez identified ceiling lights, letters, basic shapes printed on paper, and people. She even played a simple Pac-Manlike computer game piped directly into her brain. Four days a week for the duration of the experiment, Gmez was led to a lab by her sighted husband and hooked into the system.

Gmezs first moment of sight, at the end of 2018, was the culmination of decades of research by Eduardo Fernandez, director of neuroengineering at the University of Miguel Hernandez, in Elche, Spain. His goal: to return sight to as many as possible of the 36 million blind people worldwide who wish to see again. Fernandezs approach is particularly exciting because it bypasses the eye and optical nerves.

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Much earlier research attempted to restore vision by creating an artificial eye or retina. It worked, but the vast majority of blind people, like Gmez, have damage to the nerve system connecting the retina to the back of the brain. An artificial eye wont solve their blindness. Thats why in 2015, the company Second Sight, which received approval to sell an artificial retina in Europe in 2011and in the US in 2013for a rare disease called retinitis pigmentosa, switched two decades of work away from the retina to the cortex. (Second Sight says slightly more than 350 people are using its Argus II retinal implant.)

During a recent visit I made to palm-studded Elche, Fernandez told me that advances in implant technology, and a more refined understanding of the human visual system, have given him the confidence to go straight to the brain. The information in the nervous system is the same information thats in an electrical device, he says

Restoring sight by feeding signals directly to the brain is ambitious. But the underlying principles have been used in human-electronic implants in mainstream medicine for decades. Right now, Fernandez explains, we have many electric devices interacting with the human body. One of them is the pacemaker. And in the sensory system we have the cochlear implant.

Russ Juskalian

This latter device is the hearing version of the prosthesis Fernandez built for Gmez: an external microphone and processing system that transmits a digital signal to an implant in the inner ear. The implants electrodes send pulses of current into nearby nerves that the brain interprets as sound. The cochlear implant, which was first installed in a patient in 1961, lets over half a million people around the globe have conversations as a normal part of everyday life.

Berna was our first patient, but over the next couple of years we will install implants in five more blind people, says Fernandez, who calls Gmez by her first name. We had done similar experiments in animals, but a cat or a monkey cant explain what its seeing.

Berna could.

Her experiment took courage. It required brain surgery on an otherwise healthy bodyalways a risky procedureto install the implant. And then again to remove it six months later, since the prosthesis isnt approved for longer-term use.

Seizures and phosphenes

I hear Gmez before I see her. Hers is the voice of a woman about a decade younger than her age. Her words are measured, her cadence is perfectly smooth, and her tone is warm, confident, and steady.

When I finally see her in the lab, I notice Gmez knows the layout of the space so well she barely needs help navigating the small hallway and its attached rooms. When I walk over to greet her, Gmezs face is initially pointing in the wrong direction until I say hi. When I reach out to shake her hand, her husband guides her hand into mine.

Gmez is here for a brain MRI to see how things look half a year after having her implant removed (they look good). Shes also here to meet a potential second patient who is in town, and in the room during my visit. At one point during this meeting, as Fernandez explains how the hardware connects to the skull, Gmez interrupts the discussion, tilts forward, and places the prospects hand on the back of her head, where a metal outlet used to be. Today theres virtually no evidence of the port. The implant surgery was so uneventful, she says, that she came to the lab the very next day to get plugged in and start the experiments. Shes had no problems or pain since.

Gmez was lucky. The long history of experiments leading to her successful implant has a checkered past. In 1929, a German neurologist named Otfrid Foerster discovered that he could elicit a white dot in the vision of a patient if he stuck an electrode into the visual cortex of the brain while doing surgery. He dubbed the phenomenon a phosphene. Scientists and sci-fi authors have since imagined the potential for a camera-to-computer-to-brain visual prosthesis. Some researchers even built rudimentary systems.

In the early 2000s, the hypothetical became a reality when an eccentric biomedical researcher named William Dobelle installed such a prosthesis in the head of an experimental patient.

In 2002, the writer Steven Kotler recalled with horror watching Dobelle crank up the electricity and a patient fall to the floor writhing in a seizure. The cause was too much stimulation with too much currentsomething, it turns out, brains dont like. Dobelles patients also had problems with infections. Yet Dobelle marketed his bulky device as nearly ready for day-to-day use, complete with a promotional video of a blind man driving slowly and unsteadily in a closed parking lot. When Dobelle died in 2004, so did his prosthesis.

Unlike Dobelle, who proclaimed a cure for the blind, Fernandez almost constantly says things like, I dont want to get any hopes up, and We hope to have a system people can use, but right now were just conducting early experiments.

But Gmez did in fact see.

Bed of nails

If the basic idea behind Gmezs sightplug a camera into a video cable into the brainis simple, the details are not. Fernandez and his team first had to figure out the camera part. What kind of signal does a human retina produce? To try to answer this question, Fernandez takes human retinas from people who have recently died, hooks the retinas up to electrodes, exposes them to light, and measures what hits the electrodes. (His lab has a close relationship with the local hospital, which sometimes calls in the middle of the night when an organ donor dies. A human retina can be kept alive for only about seven hours.) His team also uses machine learning to match the retinas electrical output to simple visual inputs, which helps them write software to mimic the process automatically.

The next step is taking this signal and delivering it to the brain. In the prosthesis Fernandez built for Gmez, a cabled connection runs to a common neuro-implant known as a Utah array, which is just smaller than the raised tip on the positive end of a AAA battery. Protruding from the implant are 100 tiny electrode spikes, each about a millimeter talltogether they look like a miniature bed of nails. Each electrode can deliver a current to between one and four neurons. When the implant is inserted, the electrodes pierce the surface of the brain; when its removed, 100 tiny droplets of blood form in the holes.

Fernandez

Fernandez had to calibrate one electrode at a time, sending it increasingly strong currents until Gmez noted when and where she saw a phosphene. Getting all 100 electrodes dialed in took more than a month.

The advantage to our approach is that the arrays electrodes protrude into the brain and sit close to the neurons, Fernandez says. This lets the implant produce sight with a much lower electrical current than was needed in Dobelles system, which sharply reduces the risk of seizures.

The big downside to the prosthesisand the primary reason Gmez couldnt keep hers beyond six monthsis that nobody knows how long the electrodes can last without degrading either the implant or the users brain. The bodys immune system starts to break down the electrodes and surround them with scar tissue, which eventually weakens the signal, Fernandez says. Theres also the problem of the electrodes flexing as someone moves around. Judging from research in animals and an early look at the array Gmez used, he supposes the current setup could last two to three years, and perhaps up to 10 before it fails. Fernandez hopes a few minor tweaks will extend that to a few decadesa critical prerequisite for a piece of medical hardware that requires invasive brain surgery.

Eventually, the prosthesis, like a cochlear implant, will need to transmit its signal and power wirelessly through the skull to reach the electrodes. But for now, his team has so far left the prosthesis cabled for experimentsproviding the most flexibility to keep updating the hardware before settling on a design.

At 10 pixels by 10 pixels, which is roughly the maximum potential resolution Gmezs implant could render, one may perceive basic shapes like letters, a door frame, or a sidewalk. But the contours of a face, let alone a person, are far more complicated. Thats why Fernandez augmented his system with image recognition software to identify a person in a room and beam a pattern of phosphenes to Gmezs brain that she learned to recognize.

At 25 by 25 pixels, Fernandez writes in a slide he likes to present, vision is possible. And because the Utah array in its current form is so small and requires so little power to run, Fernandez says theres no technical reason his team couldnt install four to six on each side of the brain, offering vision at 60 x 60 pixels or higher. Still, nobody knows how much input the human brain can take from such devices without being overwhelmed and displaying the equivalent of TV snow.

What it looks like

Russ Juskalian

Gmez told me she would have kept the implant installed if she had been given the choice and that shell be first in line if an updated version is available. When Fernandez is done analyzing her array, Gmez plans to have it framed and hang it on her living room wall.

Back in Fernandezs lab, he offers to hook me up to a noninvasive device he uses to screen patients.

Sitting in the same leather chair Gmez occupied during last years breakthrough experiment, I wait as a neurologist holds a wand with two rings against the side of my head. The device, called a butterfly coil, is connected to a box that excites neurons in the brain with a powerful electromagnetic pulsea phenomenon called transcranial magnetic stimulation. The first blast feels as if someone is shocking my scalp. My fingers involuntarily curl into my palms. Look, it worked! Fernandez says, chuckling. That was your motor cortex. Now we will try to give you some phosphenes.

The neurologist repositions the wand and sets the machine for a rapid series of pulses. This time when she fires, I feel an intense zzp-zzp-zzp, as if someone were using the back of my skull as a door knocker. Then, even though my eyes are wide open, I see something: a bright horizontal line flashes across the center of my field of vision, along with two shimmering triangles filled with what looks like TV snow. The vision fades as quickly as it arrived, leaving a brief afterglow.

This is like what Berna could see, Fernandez says. Except her sight of the world was stable as long as the signal was being transmitted to her brain. She could also turn her head and, with her glasses on, look around the room. What I had seen were merely internal phantoms of an electrically excited brain. Gmez could actually reach out and touch the world she was looking at for the first time in 16 years.

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A new implant for blind people jacks directly into the brain - MIT Technology Review

When someone asks where you plan on traveling this year, odds are good Guatemala is not on the itinerary. But for nearly three decades, thats exactly what two local doctors have been doing, using their skills to help restore vision to people in need.

Dr. Christopher Wallyn and Dr. Michael Merck are ophthalmologists at Regional Eye Center in Hutchinson. They met while in training together at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center in Chicago. Both were married with young families, and both were Catholic, so pairing them together as residents was a natural fit.

Our faith really, they could tell, motivated much of how we looked at our lives, Wallyn said.

It was also the doctors faith that led them to accept an offer that would change their lives. In the early 1990s, the Rev. Greg Schaffer, a priest for the Diocese of New Ulm, invited Wallyn and Merck to visit Guatemala, where Schaffer had worked at the mission parish in San Lucas Toliman since 1963.

He invited us to come and see because both of us had said that we would like to do mission work, Wallyn said. That was one of our goals.

It was the personal invitation of the late Father Greg Schaffer that led to my commitment to begin the work of bringing surgical eye care to the area, Merck said about the two doctors first trip to Guatemala. He so generously offered to host me and my family. And he extended the kind of hospitality that made it impossible for us to refuse to make that initial trip.

On their first visit, Wallyn and Merck quickly realized how difficult the living situation was for the people of Guatemala. Most families lived in one-room homes with dirt floors and tin roofs. Malnutrition is also a serious threat for young children. With so many concerns, eye care was often neglected.

People went blind and that was part of life, Wallyn said.

But while life is tough in Guatemala, Wallyn and Merck were inspired by the culture and reverence for elderly people. Grandparents are an important part of a family and often live together with multiple generations. And while the older generations want to contribute to the family with tasks such as collecting fire wood, cooking and cleaning, they cant do that if they cant see.

Coming from North America, coming from this country that has so much, learning what people lived under and trying to help where we could, which was really trying to help people with their eyes, from that point we decided that we were gonna try to address the needs of the people in this area, Wallyn said.

From then on, Wallyn and Merck became regulars in Guatemala. Their trips started in 1992 and usually last 7-10 days. On average the doctors said they see about 120 patients per day, many often with cases of neglected cataracts requiring surgery.

Some we can help by just giving them explanations, Wallyn said, some people by just giving them eye drops, some people by giving them the opportunity to have surgery.

Now almost 30 years later, the doctors continue their trips, sometimes as many as two to three times per year. In 2000, the doctors established a nonprofit organization to help their mission called The Foundation For Saving Sight.

While the need for eye care remains, the conditions have somewhat improved. The doctors now have a full operating room with equipment that allows them to complete cataract and glaucoma surgery. Theyve also earned the trust of the locals.

We've gone from people being very superstitious about eye surgery and superstitious about what we're all about to trusting us and understanding who we are and what we are there to do, Wallyn said.

Their work has also attracted other eye care groups from St. Louis, Texas and Seattle that help with the mission.

Here we are trying to address mature cataracts with modern-day surgery, Wallyn said. The end result is, a person goes from blindness to being able to see, which is dramatic, life changing.

Just as dramatic as restoring a persons vision, however, is giving patients the knowledge and understanding of an issue with which theyve had to live.

I've found it can be equally moving to be able help a patient who is plagued with the uncertainty and lack of understanding they have of their disabling eye condition, Merck said. to be able to answer for them the haunting questions that they and their loved ones have lived with for too long, not knowing whether they are neglecting or have neglected a treatable problem or not, and then witness their gracious acceptance of their difficult circumstances when they learn it is permanent and untreatable.

On Thursday, Wallyn departs for his latest trip to Guatemala and is scheduled to return Feb. 16. Mercks next trip is scheduled for the fall.

While the two plan to continue their mission, theyve inspired others to join them. Mercks son, Joseph, started attending the trips with his father as a child. He is also a certified ophthalmologist now and helps perform surgeries and other procedures. Merck's three daughters, all nurses, also accompany the group to Guatemala and assist with the work.

Katie Wallyn also started her own project called LEAST, which stands for Loving the Elderly and Satisfying His Thirst and helps feed elderly people in San Lucas.

There are also plans to develop a mentorship program with the University of Minnesota to bring residents in training along to Guatemala so they may experience life on a mission trip.

If others are looking to donate either through money or service, they can visit through foundation.regeycenter.com for more information about the organization.

It's wonderful to have people able to participate and be part of that process, Wallyn said, because we couldn't do it just by ourselves.

Its been 28 years since their first trip, and although the Rev. Greg Schaffer is gone he died in 2012 his work and love for Guatemala live on in Wallyn and Merck, and continues to spread down to new generations of missionaries.

Part of my life, and Dr. Merck's the same way, is for us to never just consider that working in a medical practice in central Minnesota would be a sufficient answer to the gifts that we were given, Wallyn said, that there would be more to it than that.

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Two Hutchinson doctors are on a mission to save sight and change lives in Guatemala - Crow River Media

Many know Daniela Ruah as Field Agent Kensi Blye on NCIS: Los Angeles. The Portuguese actress has played the character since its 2009 creation. Fans likely noticed one of Ruahs unique eyes while watching. Heres what the star wants viewers to know about a condition she embraces.

If you look close enough at Daniela Ruahs eyes, youll notice one is darker than the other. The condition is relative to a blemish on the eye.

It happened when I was a kid. You know how Barbies have the little plastic hands? One of them stuck in my eye when I was sleeping, she joked to Esquire in 2011. She eventually came clean.

Its a birthmark called nevus of Ota. It covers the whole white of my eye and darkens it. The square of the eye, the white part, is completely dark on my right eye, not just the iris, she said.

Its very common in Asian people but quite rare in Caucasians. It doesnt affect my vision or anything like that.

Those affected by nevus of Ota are clinically described as having,increased amounts of melanin (pigment) and melanin-producing cells (melanocytes) in and around their eyes, according to the New York Eye Cancer Center.

Those with the condition are at a greater risk of developing an eye cancer and it affects more women than men. However, the birthmark doesnt seem to affect Ruahs eyesight.

The short answer is no. Ruah was born in America but moved to Portugal when she was five. She landed her first acting role at 16 and moved to London, England at 18 where she attended the Performing Arts at the London Metropolitan University. She graduated with honors, according to IMDb.

By 2007 two years shy of becoming a part of the NCIS franchise Ruah made the move to New York City where she studied at the Lee StrasbergTheatre and Film Institute.

From there, the roles came along. From Guiding Light to Red Tails, Ruah is one of the only actors to appear as the same character in two different NCIS iterations and also in Hawaii Five-0.

The actress even competed in Portugals 2006-2007 version of Americas Dancing With the Stars. The show is Danca Comigo, and Ruah won proving nevus of Ota cant hold her back.

It starts the conversation, if anything. But I dont think its ever gotten me a job or lost me a job, she said.

However, there have been times adjustments have to be made on set to get the right shot.

When were shooting, sometimes they need to light my eye in a slightly different way, she explained. Otherwise, it looks like theres a big shadow over it.

If you want to stay on Ruahs good side, theres one thing to never, ever do, and its in regards to her distinctive eye. Dont use Photoshop to edit out the dark of her eye.

It drives me crazy. This is my eye, my little trademark, she said, owning who she is with zero apologies. Were here for it.

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'NCIS: Los Angeles': The 1 Thing Daniela Ruah Wants You to Know About Her Eye Condition - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

A Polish man, who was blind for over two decades, isreportedly able to see again after he was hit by a car.

Local media said that Janusz Goraj from Gorzw Wielkopolskiin Poland was able to see properly two weeks after being involved in anaccident.

Janusz suffered from an allergic reaction that damaged theretina in his right eye. His left eye could only register shapes and light.

During an interview with Polsat News, Janusz said that hissight has been perfect after he was hit by a car while crossing the road in2018.

I fell on the car bonnet, hit my head and then I slippedand fell on the road, Janusz said.

Following the accident Janusz was taken to the IndependentPublic Provincial Hospital for hip surgery.

At a certain age such fractures dont heal so quickly, sohe had to be hospitalised, hospital spokesperson Agnieszka Wisniewska said.

At that time, doctors werent concerned about his visionbecause of his injuries.

Within two weeks his injuries had mostly mended with theadded bonus of his eyesight miraculously returning.

Janusz vision has been restored to such an extent that hedoesnt even need to wear his old glasses anymore.

Doctors were stunned by the incident, but they can now onlyspeculate as to what the reason behind his recovery is as Janusz declined totake part in further tests.

We dont quite know what caused it. Maybe it was the mixof drugs he was getting during that time, Wisniewska said.

One theory is that the large doses of anticoagulants (medicinethat helps prevent blood clots) mixed with his other medicine couldve helpedwith the patients unexpected eyesight return.

Incredibly Janusz is now able to live an independent lifeagain. He even got a job as a security guard at the same hospital where hissight came back.

We dont know if he specifically asked for the job or ifits just a coincidence, but he is working here with us, Wisniewska confirmed.

Source: Magazine Features

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Blind man's sight restored after being hit by car - News24

The first step to protecting your eyes is by paying attention to your diet. Those issues you're having with your eyes might be because of the nutrients that are missing in your diet. This article will show you the foods that would help you improve your eyesight.

It's no news that age, genetics and your electronic gadget has a way of affecting your eyesight. This is why you need to eat right especially if your eye defect is genetic. You don't have to worry about breaking the bank to keep up with this diet.

The foods can be found in the market. Below are the foods that would help protect and maintain your eyesight.

Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and tuna contain nutrients that can help protect and maintain your eyesight. These fishes are rich in omega-3-fatty acid prevents macular degeneration, dry eyes, and cataracts. One of the ways you can enjoy this fish is by grilling it. You can avoid frying them so as not to reduce their nutritional value.

The benefits of consuming green leafy vegetables can never be overemphasized. Leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli contain nutrients that delay the development of cataract and macular degeneration. These vegetables are also a great source of vitamin A which is healthy for the eyesight.

Britannica

For you to maintain your eyesight, you need some carotenoid in your body and carrot is the right food to get you that. It's loaded with beta-carotene which is antioxidant that's also a precursor for vitamin A, which strengthens the eyes. Your night vision will improve if you add carrots to your diet.

The Picture Pantry

The vitamins and nutrients present in egg protect the eyes against night blindness. The best way to get all the nutrients is by boiling it rather than frying.

ALSO READ: Stay healthy by having these nutritious foods for breakfast

This pepper is quite common in the market. Red bell pepper is a good source of vitamin A, C and other nutrients needed to maintain good eyesight. The nutrients keep your retina in good health as well as protecting your eyes from macular degeneration.

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5 foods that will help you protect and improve your eyes - Pulse Nigeria

The 80 year old was operated on by Sir Harold Ridley in 1956 when he was 16.

Jeffrey, a retired electrical engineer, said: Initially I was told by my local hospital that Id never be able to see with my right eye but my mum refused to accept that. We were eventually referred to Sir Harold Ridley at St Thomas Hospital. What he was doing wasnt widely known about then but he said he could help me.

By then the lens in my eye had gone opaque and my vision had started to get worse. Once my lens had been removed and the new one was inserted my vision was brilliant and it stayed that way for 30 years.

Jeffrey had accidentally pierced his right eye while playing darts. As a result he developed cataracts, a clouding of the lens in the eye which leads to a decrease in vision.

And as part of the 70th anniversary of the first successful lens implant operation - which was developed by Sir Harold, Jeffrey wanted to publicly thank the ophthalmologist, whose breakthrough has saved the sight of millions worldwide.

Sir Harold was a pioneer now so many people have the operation each day thanks to what he discovered.

He was a brilliant surgeon. I would have completely lost my vision in my right eye without him. It was great my mum pushed for treatment because my life could have been very different without vision in one eye."

It was only by 1986, that Jeffreys artificial lens had started to rub against his cornea so it was removed at St Thomas and he was given contact lenses and a corneal graft. He said: The team was amazed that the lens Sir Harold Ridley put in was still there. Ive done very well with my sight for so long."

Sir Harold made his medical breakthrough after treating a Spitfire pilot who had Perspex in his eye. He noticed that, unlike most foreign bodies, the eye did not reject Perspex. He used this discovery to create an artificial lens made of Perspex to replace those in eyes which became clouded by cataracts.

Previously people with cataracts had the cloudy lens of the eye surgically removed and then needed to wear powerful thick glasses. At the time Sir Harolds invention was a radical concept, which was initially resisted by much of the medical profession. By the 1980s it had become a routine procedure but involved a 1cm incision, stitches and a two-week recovery.

Today it is the most common eye operation in the world. It has evolved and now only requires an incision of just 2mm to insert a lens which unfolds within the eye, no stitches and a same-day discharge. Some patients may even have no need to wear glasses afterwards.

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Milton Keynes grandfather thanks the pioneer who saved his sight in medical first - Milton Keynes Citizen

In what must be the most unusual media buy of Super Bowl LIV, Zenni, an online eyewear retailer, is airing spots only in Fox affiliate markets that have some tie-in to eyesight.

Zennis first Super Bowl commercial, featuring George Kittle, a tight end on the San Francisco 49ers, will appear in GlenVIEW, Ill., Mountain VIEW, Calif., ChEYEnne, Wyo., TallahasSEE, Fla, Jackson and Memphis TennesSEE and so forth.

"We wanted to get as creative as we could while finding the appropriate level of investment but with some level of scale," explained Sean Pate, Zennis brand communication officer. "We thought the vision centric markets made for a nice pun, while we primarily focus on the Bay Area and Chicago markets."

Pate estimated a media buy of less than $1 million.

Zenni, based in Novato, Calif., is the official eyewear of the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bulls.

"While the 49ers are our hometown football team, we dont have any corporate connections to Chicago, however, both franchises are legacies of their sports and carry many millions of devoted fans not only in market, but across the country and internationally," said Pate. "As an e-commerce business with no retail in either location, the partnership with both teams gives us significance across the country."

The 30-second Kittle spot, created in conjunction with Beasley Media Group, Naples, Fla., and Scheme Engine, Los Angeles, features the stylish player in a range of Zenni eyewear. The spot shows him on the field, walking into the stadium and reviewing plays on an iPadSuper Bowl spot.

In a voiceover monologue, Kittle says: "Vision is critical to an athletes performance and protecting it is just as important as correcting it."

Zenni Optical, founded in 2003, is a pioneer in the online prescription eyewear niche, disrupting the category with eyewear averaging $40 a pair. Rashida Jones is another endorser who will appear in outdoor and print ads for Zenni through 2020.

"Youll see additional sports marketing investments and likely more celebrity engagement and other collaborations," said Pate. "We are in a major brand building and education mode right now."

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The 'eyes' have it for Zenni Optical's first Super Bowl spot - Campaign US

UPMChas implanted the first patient in the United States with a new wireless retinal device as part of a clinical trial aimed atrestoring partial sightto patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that leads to permanent blindness.

Vision research has advanced dramatically in the recent past and UPMC is at the forefront of this revolution. This is the first of many such breakthroughs led by UPMC and Pitt that will benefit patients with vision loss in our community and around the world, saidJos-Alain Sahel, director of theUPMC Eye Center, Eye and Ear Foundation chair of ophthalmology and distinguished professor at theUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicinewho initiated the trial at UPMC. We are proud to be the first center in the United States to test this next generation retinal implant that could help treat an incurable disease like AMD.

The system, called PRIMA, is designed to restore sight in patients blinded by retinal degeneration. It consists of a two-millimeter-by-two-millimeter, 30-micron thick miniaturized wireless photovoltaic chip, placed under the damaged retina and works in tandem with augmented reality glasses that have a built-in miniaturized camera and infrared projector.

The chip acts like a tiny artificial retina, made up of 378 tiny electrodes that convert infrared light from the glasses to electrical signals that are carried by the optic nerve to the brain. After receiving the implant, patients undergo an intensive rehabilitation program that trains their brains to understand and interpret the signals from the implant in combination with their remaining natural vision. Compared to earlier-generation implants, PRIMA is wireless and has significantly more electrodes, which allows for the transmission of more visual information.

This is an incredibly exciting first for us at UPMC and Im honored to be a part of it, saidJoseph Martel,the implanting surgeon at the UPMC Eye Center and the Pitt School of Medicine, and the principal investigator of the trial at UPMC. Im grateful to our patients who have volunteered to participate in this trial, without whom this would not be possible.AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in people older than 50. Today, it affects approximately 14 million people in the United States, and the prevalence is expected to rise as the baby boomers age. As AMD progresses, the center of vision becomes increasingly blurry. Atrophic AMD, which accounts for a large proportion of advanced cases, has no curative treatment available.

The UPMC feasibility trial is running in parallel with the first-in-human trial in France, which involves five patients with advanced AMD, who now have been followed for more than a year. The 12-month results from the French study demonstrated the ability of most patients to identify sequences of letters and there were nodevice-related serious adverse effects.

We are working with a great sense of urgency because the aging population of the United States, especially the western Pennsylvania region we live in, will see a significant rise in the number of patients at risk for vision loss through diseases like age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and vascular eye disease, as well as earlier onset genetic conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, said Sahel. This is why our physicians and researchers at UPMC and Pitt, in collaboration with our U.S. and international colleaguesespecially at the Paris Vision Institute at Sorbonne Universityare taking a multi-pronged effort to treat and rehabilitate patients with vision impairments.

In March 2019, UPMC broke ground on theUPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Tower at UPMC Mercy, which when completed, will provide advanced specialty clinical care and innovative programs for visually impaired patients. It also will be the home for the vision research program at Pitt and UPMC.

The PRIMA implant was invented by Daniel Palanker,professor of ophthalmology atStanford University, and licensed and developed byPixium Vision, a spin-off from the Paris Vision Institute. Sahel is a co-founder of Pixium and holds shares in the company.

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First in the U.S. Wireless Retinal Device for Advanced Age-related Macular... - ScienceBlog.com

Getting regular eye checkups is just one of many ways you can improve your eyesight and prevent injuries or illnesses that could harm your vision. Keep reading to learn other ways you can improve your vision.

Vitamins A, C, and E, as well as the mineral zinc, contain antioxidants that can help prevent macular degeneration. Its a condition in which the macula the part of the eye that controls central vision deteriorates.

Food sources for these important nutrients include a variety of colorful vegetables and fruits, such as:

Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon and flaxseed, are also recommended for better eye health.

A few other nutrients are also keys to improving eyesight. Among them are lutein and zeaxanthin, which are carotenoids found in the retina. You can also find them in leafy green vegetables, broccoli, zucchini, and eggs.

Lutein and zeaxanthin can also be taken in supplement form. These carotenoids help protect the macula by improving pigment density in that part of the eye, and absorbing ultraviolent and blue light.

Yes, exercise and maintaining a healthy weight can help your eyes, not just your waistline. Type 2 diabetes, which is more common in people who are overweight or obese, can cause damage to the tiny blood vessels in the eyes.

This condition is called diabetic retinopathy. Too much sugar circulating in your bloodstream injures the delicate walls of your arteries. Diabetic retinopathy causes the very small arteries in your retina the light-sensitive back part of the eye to leak blood and fluid into the eye, harming your vision.

Getting your blood sugar levels checked regularly and staying fit and trim can lower your odds of developing type 2 diabetes and its many complications.

Diabetes isnt the only disease that can affect your vision. Other conditions, such as high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis, can affect your eyesight. These conditions are linked to chronic inflammation, which can harm your health from head to toe.

Inflammation of the optic nerve, for example, can cause pain and even complete vision loss. While a disease such as multiple sclerosis cant be prevented, you can try to manage it with healthy habits and medications.

High blood pressure can be effectively treated with a heart-healthy diet, exercise and antihypertensive medications.

Whether youre playing racquetball, working in your garage, or doing a science experiment in school, its vital that you protect your eyes with appropriate eyewear.

Tough, protective eyewear is essential if there is a risk of chemicals, sharp objects, or materials such as wood shavings, metal shards, or even a stray elbow during a basketball game, entering your eye.

Many protective goggles are made with a type of polycarbonate, which is about 10 times tougher than other forms of plastic.

Shop for protective goggles.

Sunglasses arent just for looking cool. Wearing shades is one of the most important steps you can take when it comes to improving your eyesight. You want sunglasses that block out 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation from sunlight.

Sunglasses help protect your eyes from conditions that stem from eye damage. These include cataracts, macular degeneration, and pterygium a growth of tissue over the white part of the eye. Pterygiums can lead to astigmatism, which can cause blurred vision.

Wearing a wide-brimmed hat can also help protect your eyes from sun damage.

Your eyes work hard during the day and need a break now and then. The strain can be especially intense if you work at a computer for long stretches at a time. To ease the strain, follow the 20-20-20 rule.

That means every 20 minutes, you should stop staring at your computer and look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

You know smoking is bad for your lungs and your heart, not to mention your hair, skin, teeth, and just about every other body part. That includes your eyes, too. Smoking dramatically raises your risk of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Fortunately, your eyes, lungs, heart, and other body parts can start to recover from years of tobacco-induced harm within the first hours of quitting. And the longer you can avoid cigarettes, the more your blood vessels will benefit and inflammation will ease off throughout your eyes and the rest of you.

Some eye conditions are hereditary, so being aware of eye conditions that your parents or grandparents had can help you take precautions.

Hereditary conditions include:

Understanding your family history can help you take early precautions

Your eyes are especially vulnerable to germs and infections. Even things that just irritate your eyes can affect your vision. For those reasons, you should always wash your hands before touching your eyes or handling your contact lenses.

Its also super important to wash your hands and disinfect your contact lenses as instructed.

You should also replace your contact lenses as advised by the manufacturer or your doctor. Germs in your contact lenses can lead to bacterial infections of the eyes.

You may not associate washing your hands, eating your vegetables, or watching your weight as key steps toward better eyesight, but they all play a role.

Living a healthier lifestyle and protecting your eyes from the sun and foreign objects cant protect against every eye condition. But they can all lower your odds of developing a problem that could hurt your vision.

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How to Improve Eyesight: 10 Natural Ways to Get Better Vision

MRIDA, January 27, 2020.- Although diabetes stole her sight little by little for a space of three years, Yolanda Cab Chan, 49, never lost her desire to recover her vision, and now, thanks to the alliances for health between Mexico and the United States, she was able to see the light again.

This alliance is the sum of efforts between the System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF Yucatn) and specialists in optometry from the United States. Yolanda was part of the group of 14 local people chosen to be intervened, as part of the First Annual Retinopathy DiabeticDay.

I am happy to see again. Now I can sew by hand, help in the house and cook for my family as I did before, said Doa Yolanda, who lives with her husband and five children in the community of San Martn Hili, Tekax, Yucatn.

Yolanda explained that at age 29, her life changed when she was detected withdiabetes. With the passage of time, this disease also caused her to lose her sight and stopped her from doing what she liked so much: cooking for her family.

Its good that DIF and doctors in the United States support people. When they told me that I was going to be able to see again, I couldnt believe it, but today I am excited because I can see and I feel better than ever, she said.

Like Yolanda, another 13 people were practiced laser surgery at the facilities of the Regional Hospital of High Specialty of the Yucatan Peninsula (HRAEPY), with the participation of specialists from the Rosemberg School of Optometry, San Antonio , Texas, and Vision Care Ophtalmology Hospital, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, both in the United States.

Ana Jimnez Coral, head of the Department of Medical Services of the DIF Yucatan, reported that medical evaluations were performed on 67 patients from 23 municipalities. In the end, 14 patients were selected who, in addition to complying with medical requirements, due to the degree of involvement of retinopathy, required laser treatment.

With this project, we reiterate our commitment to improve the quality of life of the Yucatecans, with high quality medical services that help improve their health, she said.

Meanwhile, Jeannette Wong, a PhD in Optometry from the Rosemberg School of Optometry, said that diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, and more than 80 percent of people with diabetes do not know that they are at great risk.

This condition can be prevented by timely informing patients with diabetes about the risks of the disease, with a timely diagnosis and with the appropriate treatment, said the specialist.

During three days, Dr. Joseph Pizzimment, a professor at the Rosemberg School of Optometry, along with a team of three students and one more resident, also came to Yucatn to offer their services free of charge to the population.

Doctors Mara Fernanda Castrejn Mario and Mara Alejandra Vale Oviedo also participated, as well as Retinologist Carlos Eduardo Estrada Reyes and Dr. Marco Antonio de la Fuente Torres, Head of Neurosciences Division of the Regional Hospital of High Specialty of the Yucatan Peninsula (HRAEPY).

The Yucatan TimesNewsroom

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Group of specialists from Yucatn and the U.S. give eyesight to the blind - The Yucatan Times

There are a few spots in the body better designed than others. The skull is pretty good. Opposable thumbs are amazingly useful. But knees could use an overhaul, perhaps. And eyes? Theyre often in need of support before were old enough to read. But can a diet rich in plants help with eye health?

A little anecdote: When I was in the first grade, I wore glasses. Not just any old glassesbifocals, just like my grandmother. I had weird stuff going on like being near- and far-sighted at the same time, apparently. Everyone in the family wore glasses so it didnt seem like a big deal. But then, I lost them. (They were actually stolen and stepped on by Jimmy Bermans friend Steve when we were having a little fight on the playground. Six-year-old romance is complicated. But as far as my parents were concerned, I lost them, okay?) So, back to the optometrist, we went for a new prescription. Except, this time, he said I didnt need them.

Its not uncommon for sight to change, especially in a child. But to go from bifocals to eyeglass-free was unexpected. The doctor said that by high school my poor sight would return and Id need glasses again. That didnt happen. And now, some, ahem, thirty years since high school, and Im still 20/20even after sitting at a computer all day while everyone else is my family wears glasses.

The biggest difference between me and the rest of my family? I went vegan shortly after high school. And I didnt just give up animal products, I went deep into hippy food territorycarrot juice and steamed kale were daily feasts. And it turns out, they may have done my still-developing eyes a whole world of good.

Not only do eye-healthy foods like beta-carotene-rich carrots and sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens like kale help improve eyesight, but a poor diet can make eyesight worse, faster.

New findings published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggest the standard American diet, which is heavy in processed meat, fried foods, and sugar, can increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

According to the study, a standard meat-heavy diet increased the risk of macular degeneration by three-fold over healthier diets. Those who ate more fruits and vegetables (the study also included eating poultry, fish, and dairy in that subset) saw a decreased risk.

That decreased risk came with higher consumption of carrots and greens.

Foods that are part of the Western diet are less nutrient-dense, meaning they provide less of the beneficial nutrients needed for the eyes per calorie contents than such food as fruits and vegetables, study coauthor Amy Millen, Ph.D., of The State University of New York, Buffalos School of Public Health and Health Professions,said in an interview.

And she pointed to another correlation: inflammation. Foods generally considered unhealthythat Standard American Diet, once againdont just affect our weight or risk for heart disease or cancer. According to Millen, like all things, diet is connected to our eye health.

Most people understand that diet influences cardiovascular disease risk, and risk for obesity, but Im not sure how much the average person thinks about diet as connected to vision loss, said Millen. But what you eat to maintain good health is also related to what you eat to maintain good vision.

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Is Eating More Plant-Based Foods the Secret to Eye Health? - The Beet

Rev Robert F, Tucker, St. Louis de Montfort Parish, Litchfield

Do you share the joy that Simeon and Anna did marveling at what they say about this forty-day old child of a poor and observant Jewish couple?

We are celebrating the fact that Mary and Joseph are bringing Jesus to the temple to fulfill the law on Jewish boys from the Torah. How amazed must these parents have been to see this couple, Simeon and Anna, recognizing in this six-week old child the Savior of the World!

This is our occasion to see that we must be the light of God because we were presented by our parents for Baptism. As we are now living in the year 2020, so we may need to let this presentation affect our sight. May we begin seeing 20-20 vision as we want 20-20 on our eye chart exam, so in 2020, we need to focus on Christ.

We are told in the second reading from Hebrews that, Christ became like his brothers and sisters in all things but sin. So with the light and hope of eternal life, we are asked to walk in the example of Jesus the way, the truth and the life. By prayer, effort and work, we are called to allow the Holy Spirit to move us as the Spirit did Simeon and Anna to recognize Jesus and to focus on Him and not on Self. May the words of Simeon affect our choices and decisions for living a 20-20 Christ focus as we live and believe that, Jesus is the light of Revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people, Israel.

A wealthy man was dying and called for the Priest. He stated, I never cared for church or you or the Lord, but Im about to die and I want to be sure of eternal matters and salvation. Do you suppose that if I gave $l million to the church and $100,000 to you personally I would get into heaven?

The priest replied, Listen Sir, I cant say for sure, but what do you have to lose? Its worth a try.

For the believer, it is not trying to buy your way but to live your way into heaven. The closer we are to God, the more aware we are of Gods presence in our everyday lives. Simeon and Anna could see with the eyes of their minds and hearts not only with human eyes and so had 20-20 faith focus. The better we know about God and strive to act in a faith-filled way, the more visible He will be for us.

Monday is the Feast of St. Blaise, the traditional day for the blessing of throats with blessed candles, so we might more willingly speak the light and word of God. The custom comes from a time when there were many blessings given to people to better practice their faith in the course of the year. This blessing of throats has continued for good health of the throat and speech.

Perhaps this blessing may give us the opportunity to watch over and improve our speech and to more often speak the truth. May we be more open to appreciate and be attentive to the voices of others. May we have a 20-20 faith focus outside self and more on God and others this week and month, with its extra day a leap year.

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Rev. Robert Tucker: Presentation of the Lord - Torrington Register Citizen

Tear gas used against Palestinian protesters during the Great March of Return protests in Gaza in 2018 (Wikimedia Commons)

For the second time in three months, a Palestinian photojournalist has lost an eye in an attack by Israeli military forces. Attiya Darwish was hit by a tear gas canister in his face while covering protests at the Gaza Strip in December of 2018. After seeking medical treatment at several hospitals, he was told on Sunday, January 19, that he had lost all vision in his left eye.

Darwish, who worked as a photographer for the Palestinian Al-Rai News Agency, was injured while covering the weekly Friday protests in the Gaza Strip near the Israeli separation barrier, dubbed theGreat March of Return.

I was taking pictures like all other photojournalists, and wearing safety gear, until I suddenly felt something striking my face, the 32-year-old photographer told Palestinian news agenciesat a Gaza hospital after his injuryin 2018.

Hyperallergic has reached out to theIsrael Defense Forces spokesperson for comment.

Darwish suffered several fractures and broken bones in his face and jaw, and severe bleeding in his left eye and ear. Hislower jaw was later repaired and the broken bones in the left side of his face were replaced with a metal plate, but a scar in his left eye eventually caused an irreversible loss of sight, despite multiple surgeries in Jordan and Egypt.

Palestinian social media users responded to news about Darwishs injury with the hashtag #AttiyaEye. One tweet shows Darwishs left eye covered with bandaid with a caption that reads: #Attiyas eye, closed by order of the occupation forces.

In November of 2019, photographer Muath Amarneh lost his eye from a rubber bullet fired by Israeli soldiers. Amarnehwas wounded in his face while covering a protest in the occupied West Bank.

According to AlJazeera, Israels border police denied targeting Amarneh at the protest near the city of Hebron and said it had used nonlethal means to disperse the crowd.

In a social media campaign that went viral last November, photojournalists andactivists from around the world took photos of themselvescovering an eye with one hand in solidarity with Amarneh. The images were circulated under the hashtags #MuathEye, or #EyeOfTruth. The latter is now being used to show supportforDarwish as well.

According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, more than 215 Palestinians have been killed during the Great March of Return demonstrations, including at least two journalists. Tens of thousands of others have been injured.

Despite his injury, Darwish pledged to return to work, saying, I will continue to bring the truth and broadcast the message of Palestinian photojournalists to the world.

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Palestinian Photojournalist Loses His Eye After Being Hit in the Face by Israeli Tear Gas Canister - Hyperallergic

Even before I learnt to write the alphabet, I was drawing and sketching. I dont even remember how old I was when I started.

It was Thirupurasundari, an architect based in Chennai, who said artisans before art to me in a recent interview. She emphasised the need to acknowledge artisans who work hard to produce their masterpieces. And therefore, I was not surprised at her excitement when artist Manohar Devadoss was honoured with the Padma Shri this Republic Day.

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Padma Shri Manohar Devadoss is not only an artist par excellence but is also a writer and innovator. His most significant works were to capture the historic, social, and cultural heritage of Madurai and Chennai in his sketches, which in many ways, remain the only documentary evidence of the times gone by. Having lost his eyesight five years ago, Manohar feels honoured that he is still remembered and his work remains relevant.

He begins, Even before I learnt to write the alphabet, I was drawing and sketching. I dont even remember how old I was when I started.

He remembers visiting the local zoo when he was about three. After the visit, he took his brothers pencil and went on to sketch the giraffe in great detail. That was perhaps the beginning of his interest in art.

As he grew up, Manohar shares that he never faced any challenges while pursuing drawing.

In fact, he says, even if I were drawing and sketching before my examinations, my mother would urge me to study and tell me that I could return to my art once I finished studying.

The fact that his parents let him do what he wanted played a vital role in shaping his future. Manohar also attributes his interest in the arts to his parents, who were both excellent with their handiworkwhether it was his mothers embroidery or his fathers sketches.

He adds, chuckling, In my entire family, all cousins included, I was perhaps the best artist.

In 1957, he completed his graduation in Chemistry from American College in Madurai. It was on his fathers insistence that he took a year off and pursued arts, piano, and mathematics. In 1958, he moved to Madras and took up a job at Oldham Company as a chemist.

His first real work of art was a Christmas greeting card for his boss. He had sketched fisher folk and catamarans on it. In 1962, he visited London for three months as part of his job and was exposed to various kinds of art at museums and theatres there.

There came a time when I was going blind, and my vision was getting poorer by the day, so I asked Dr Badri of Shankar Netralaya to make me a powerful pair of glasses, somewhere between +26 to +28 so that I could continue sketching, he says.

He is often asked how he continues his work despite his physical question, and he has no answer. It just comes to me, he says.

Until his vision was perfect, Manohar would do sketches on the spot without any trouble, but when it started deteriorating, it was a challenge for him.

Professionally, I am a scientist, and that rational thinking ability is what I used when I sketched. I undertook each drawing like a project and completed it, he tells me.

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One of the first things he did after getting his high powered glasses, was to create a portrait of his wifethe one he calls his most cherished piece of work. With these special glasses, I could immediately see better. The first thing I did was to make a portrait of my wifeMahema.

I can feel the love and the bond that he shared with his wife. I ask him if hed be willing to speak more about her and the relationship they shared, and he obliged.

With almost child-like enthusiasm, he narrates, Before Mahema and I were married, she had gone to watch a movieTo Kill A Mockingbird. In one of the scenes, a young boy takes a teddy bear to bed with him when he sleeps. I remember asking Mahema coyly if she took a teddy-bear to bed when she was younger.

He tells me that he was always amazed at her quick-wit. Her reply was, I did take one to bed when I was younger Mano, but I will be taking one to bed in two months from now. (They were to be married in two months from then.)

Taking inspiration from her words, Manohar sketched a teddy-bear and a doll seated on a bedthe dolls head resting on the teddy-bears arm. He tells me that he had presented this sketch to Mahema.

The couple was also a great team, publishing some powerhouse books that combined his artwork and her writing skills.

Their first book titled The Green Well Years came out in 1997. He says, It was an autobiographical novel and my way of paying tribute to Madurai, the city that nurtured me. The stories in the book were all inspired by my childhood friends and the life we led there. I would draw, and Mahema would write.

Although Mahema passed away almost a decade ago, she continues to be Manohars muse. His second book Dreams, Seasons & Promises was a book of poems in which he poignantly writes about his wife and her life.

In 2002, he published another biographical novel on Mahema titled A Poem to Courage. The city of Madurai and his wife, Mahema, continued to be his muses as he published his fourth book Multiple Facets of My Madurai in 2007.

Also Read: Sachin Backs Indias Blind Cricketers, Asks BCCI to Support Association

While most know Manohar as an artist par excellence, he allowed me a glimpse into the beautiful bond he shared with his wife. As we end our conversation, he says, I wish she [Mahema] were with me today. She would have been so proud and happy at this honour I received.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

Images Courtesy: Nividitha Louis & Naveen

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Padma-Winning Legend Lost His Eye-Sight But Not the Art Within Him - The Better India

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zenni, the online optical industry leader, has an eye for Super Sunday and has set its sights on airing its new ad campaign featuring the NFC Champion 49ers George Kittle, exclusively on FOX affiliates televising the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 2. The ad will run exclusively in vision-centric media markets including GlenVIEW, IL (DMA #3 Chicago); Mountain VIEW, CA (#6 SF Bay Area); Memphis (#51) & Jackson (#176), TennesSEE; Sierra VISTA, AZ, (#62); TallahasSEE, FL (#109); LakeVIEW, OR (#135); PlainVIEW, TX (DMA #142); and ChEYEnne, WY (DMA #197).

Developed in concert with the Beasley Media Group and Scheme Engine, the 30-second spot showcases the All-Pro Tight End Kittle on and off the football field, including watching film and training while wearing a variety of stylish Zenni frames. Zenni became the official eyewear partner of the San Francisco 49ers in 2019.

As this is the 2020 Super Bowl, the timing could not be better for a leader in the online eyewear retail category to create buzz on the biggest sports day of the year with its newest brand ambassador. The commercial can be viewed and downloaded here.

Kittle delivers a monologue as a voice-over to the visual content. When I am in the zone, action and awareness merge. Times flies, self vanishes and performance goes through the roof. But, before I can actualize my vision, I need clarity. Zenni has changed the eyewear game so every fan can have access to truly affordable eyewear. Kittle concludes his monologue and the commercial by exclaiming, With Zenni in 2020, I have a championship vision!

Kittle is also featured in an alternate version of the spot promoting Zennis blue light-blocking lens technology called Blokz.

Our partnership with the San Francisco 49ers and new collaboration with George Kittle resulted in creative and compelling content that we wanted to share on the biggest stage possible, said Sean Pate, Brand Communications Officer, Zenni. We searched for a creative and timely execution and decided to air the commercial in media markets whose name had a connection to vision or sight in addition to all our owned media channels. At Zenni, weve always had a unique vision for how to conduct business.

In addition to its sponsorship with the San Francisco 49ers, the brand forged a landmark partnership with the Chicago Bulls in 2018 to serve as the iconic basketball franchises official eyewear partner and first jersey patch sponsor. Zenni partnered with the Bulls to leverage the teams relevance locally, nationally and globally, as Zenni aspires to have similar domestic and international significance.

In 2019, Zenni celebrated its sweet 16 birthday with more than 25 million pairs of glasses sold. Since its founding in 2003, the companys mission has focused on providing the highest quality prescription eyewear at a fraction of the cost of traditional retailers and delivers solely direct to consumer via its online store. With a complete prescription pair starting at just $6.95, and averaging $40, the company has brought convenience with massive price disruption to the traditional retail model.

About Zenni

Zenni Optical pioneered the online eyewear industry in 2003 with a mission to make prescription eyewear affordable and accessible to everyone. Based in Marin County, Calif., Zenni offers men, women, and children the freedom to express their personal style and individuality through high-quality prescription and protective eyewear curated with a sense for fashion and incredible selection. With over 29 million frames sold worldwide, a pair of Zennis is owned in every country across the globe. Zenni is proud to be the Official Eyewear of the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bulls. For more information, visit http://www.zenni.com or connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

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Zenni Sets Its Sights on Super Bowl Advertising - Business Wire

With the arrival of the year 2020 we are reminded that this number is often recognized as an indicator of perfect vision.

It seems appropriate in the year 2020 to consider what nutrients and foods preserve and promote vision health.

Making healthy lifestyle and diet choices can help keep our eyes healthy and may prevent age-related eye diseases, such as sight loss, dry eyes, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, and problems with night vision.

Our eyes, like the rest of our body, benefit when we eat a balanced diet. However, there are several key nutrients that are particularly good for maintaining eye health.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps the retina to absorb light. Vitamin A deficiency is most common in developing countries. Some of the first signs of this deficiency are dry eyes and night blindness.

There are two types of vitamin A found in foods: preformed vitamin A, also known as retinol, and pro-vitamin A, known as beta carotene. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy products are common sources of vitamin A.

The body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A. A diet rich in beta-carotene helps eyes adjust to low levels of light at night. Orange-coloured fruits and vegetables like oranges, apricots, carrots, pumpkin, squash, and sweet potatoes, get their tint from the beta-carotene. High levels of this pigment are also found in parsley, spinach, kale, egg yolk, collard greens, butter, liver and cod liver oil. Some of these foods are rich in both vitamin A and beta-carotene.

To maximize the availability of the beta-carotenes, the foods should be eaten raw or lightly steamed.

Zinc is a mineral that helps release vitamin A from the liver and drive vitamin A to the retina to produce melanin, which helps protect our eyes from ultraviolet light. It can also help delay age-related sight loss and macular degeneration.

The eye itself contains high levels of zinc, particularly in the retina, and the vascular tissue surrounding the retina. Legumes like beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils add zinc to the diet. Beef is also rich in zinc; chicken breast and pork loin contain lower levels.

Vitamin C contributes to healthy blood vessels in the eye. As an antioxidant it fights against age-related eye damage and helps to absorb some of the harmful rays generated by the sun. Vitamin C is found mainly in vegetables and fresh fruits including lemons, oranges, grapefruits, strawberries and bell peppers. Kiwi is the highest fruit source of vitamin C, making it the top eye food in the fruit category. Broccoli is also a high source of vitamin C and contains lutein and zeaxanthin.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two nutrients with antioxidant qualities that help protect against the damaging effects of UV rays. Because part of the back of the eye is made up of lutein and zeaxanthin pigment, it is essential to keep the body nourished with these minerals to maintain healthy eyes. Essentially, lutein acts like a pair of sunglasses helping to protect the retina.

Leafy green vegetables are rich in both lutein and zeaxanthin and are also a good source of vitamin C.

This combination of nutrients has the potential to reduce the progress of age-related macular degeneration and vision loss. Well-known leafy greens include spinach, kale, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Other food sources of lutein and zeaxanthin include eggs, zucchini, corn, garden peas, brussels sprouts and blueberries.

Vitamin E is another important antioxidant that protects the eyes from free-radical damage. Oxidation can cause our body to deteriorate and become prone to disease, but vitamin E protects cells in the body from this effect. It can also potentially decrease the progression of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Adding wheat germ to baking or as a topping on salads, oatmeal, yogurt, soups, or smoothies is an easy way to add vitamin E to the diet. Other sources of vitamin E are almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Omega-3 fatty acids help to protect adults from both age related macular degeneration and dry-eye syndrome. Omega-3 helps modulate the inflammation that can lead to dry eyes. Some studies have found that fish oil can reverse dry eye, including dry eye caused by too much screen time.

Oily fish are those that have oil in their gut and body tissue, and eating them offers higher levels of omega-3-rich fish oil. The fish that contains the most beneficial levels of omega-3s include tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and herring.

Nuts, legumes and seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and also contain high levels of vitamin E. Consider incorporating walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts, lentils, chickpeas, ground flax seed, chia seeds and hemp seeds into your meals as garnishes or snacks.

Water is vital for eye health. Without proper hydration, your body can no longer produce tears, or keep your eyes moisturized, which may lead to eye strain or dry eye. Blurry vision, eye fatigue, and headaches are all signs that you need to drink more water.

It is recommended that healthy adults consume six to eight, eight-ounce servings of water each day. To ensure you drink enough, keep a water bottle with you and set reminders for yourself to take in more fluids, especially after physical activity.

It should be noted that diets excessively high in sugar and refined carbohydrates are a risk factor for cataracts.

Few protein sources are better than salmon when it comes to eye health. Packed with omega-3 fatty acids, salmon can help with eye inflammation and reduce the effects of vision conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and dry eyes syndrome.

Spinach is one of the healthiest vegetables available, full of vitamins A, B, and K, iron, and calcium, among other nutrients. The benefits of these nutrients range from acting as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant to maintaining bone health and helping control blood pressure. Spinach also contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which are primary antioxidants in the eye that can promote eye health and help prevent eye problems such as macular degeneration.

Place the salmon in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat or use a counter top grill.

Turn after roughly four minutes on each side. The salmon should be lightly browned on the outside and slightly transparent on the inside.

While the salmon cooks, mix together the oil, vinegar, honey and Dijon mustard in a separate bowl to create the dressing.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the dressing over the spinach and add the blueberries, capers, orange or grapefruit and onions. Toss well.

Divide the salad onto two plates and top each salad with a salmon filet and a garnish of ground flax seed.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Adapted from fyidoctors.com/assets/FYidoctors-Eats-For-Your-Eyes-Cookbook-Vol-1.pdf.

Sources: Canadian Association of Optometrists, The American Optometric Association, fyidoctors.com and healthline.com

Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and a member of Team Resources. Contact: team@producer.com.

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Take care of your eyes by making healthy eating choices - Western Producer

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio The nonprofit Sight for All United is partnering with Eye Care Associates and Classic Optical Laboratories Inc. to dispense 614 pairs of glasses to children in need at Youngstown and Liberty schools this week.

While schools are required to annually screen and identify kids for vision difficulties, more than half of those identified never get an eye exam. In December 2019, Sight for All United five exam lanes in each school, providing full eye exams for children who failed vision screenings conducted by school nurses and organized by United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.

After an eye exam, children selected frames for glasses provided by Classic Optical Laboratories. Each child will receive two pairs of glasses one for home and one for school.

Area eye doctors provided the screenings, including Drs. John Conrad, Nick Lawrence, Chris Shoemaker, Guy Barrett, Pete Sforza, Mike Woloschak, Ryan Maceyko, Brandon Maceyko, Lindsey Foster, Frank DApolito and Sergul Erzurum. All services were provided free of charge through Sight for All United and donations from DentaQuest, Essilor Vision Foundation and Classic Optical Laboratories.

Pictured: Beth Landers, Classic Optical Laboratories customer service representative, and Kim Blazek, licensed optician, assist a student with selecting frames. Image courtesy of Sight for All United.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

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