Fall River Kids Need School Eye Exams

As the summer of 2014 seems to have just flown by, it is tough to believe Fall River kids are starting to think about heading back to school. Childrens’ vision and eye exams are an important item on the back to school “readiness” checklist and all Fall River kids should have an eye exam to startthe school year right! While most parents can easily observe that children today operate in a very intense and demanding visual environment as they read, write, play sports, use computers and tablets-but the eye doctors at Center for Sight want to be sure to remind parents that children use their eyes and vision as critical tools in the learning process.  

The most frequent eye problems we find in school age kids are the common vision problems of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Sometimes, not having clear vision in the classroom can lead to the undeserved perception of a behavioral problem or attention problem. What we know is that kids are often unable to verbalize that they have a vision problem as they just don’t recognize it. The earlier a vision problem is detected and treated, the more likely treatment will be successful.

If you or someone you know needs a Back to School eye exam for children please come in and see us at please feel free to call Center for Sight at 508-730-2020, visit Center for Sight or www.facebook.com/centerforsightfallriver to schedule an appointment.

Center for Sight is conveniently located at 1565 North Main Street, Suite 406, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 for patients from Massachusetts or Rhode Island. 

Diabetic Retinopathy Patient Knowledge

According to a recent study exploring patients’ understanding of the risk factors, cause and controllability of their own diabetic retinopathy revealed considerable misunderstanding, gaps in knowledge and potentially damaging beliefs about the cause and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Assessment of Patient Understanding of Diabetic Retinopathy

Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 57 patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), nearly half of whom had severe proliferative DR-a serious complication. Most of these patients had also undergone laser treatment. At the conclusion of the study, patients were found to have had a reasonable understanding of the basic risk factors for DR, such as diabetes control, but they were less clear about specific risk factors such as blood pressure and lipid control.

Most patients attributed their DR either to poor diabetes control or to failings of the health care system, rather than having a basic understanding of the small blood vessel disease including circulatory and oxygen deprivation that results from the damaged blood vessels in the retina. Some patients believed that their DR was a result of health aspects beyond their control or environmental factors, whereas others were unsure about the cause.

Improving patients' understanding of the major risk factors for DR as well as helping them have a better understanding of the causes of diabetic retinopathy and being able to grasp expectations of realistic outcomes of laser treatment may improve patients' coping mechanisms, adaptation to disease and ocular outcomes.

If you or someone you know has questions about diabeticretinopathy feel free to call Center for Sight at 508-730-2020, visit www.center-for-sight.com or www.facebook.com/centerforsightfallriver to schedule an appointment.

Center for Sight is conveniently located at 1565 North Main Street, Suite 406, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 for patients from Massachusetts or Rhode Island. 

Help for Dry Eye after Cataract Surgery

Patients having cataract surgeryand lens implants might need help for dry eye after their surgery. This is because the incidence of mild to moderate dry eye in a cataract aged population prior to cataract surgery-and exacerbated by cataract surgery makes temporary dry eye a rather common complaint among this age group.

According to the Prospective Health Assessment of Cataract Patients Ocular Surface (PHACO) Study some 60-75% of a cataract aged population had a meaningful deficiency in their tear film testing. Further, although cataract surgery is quite friendly to the cornea, it does require an incision which has the potential to temporarily interrupt corneal nerves responsible for reflex tearing and tear film integrity as well. This along with some of the solutions used during the cataract procedure can indeed result in a dry eye. The symptoms one might experience could include fluctuations of vision, dryness, grittiness, tearing, burning and a general tiredness as well as an overall sandy feeling.

DryEye Treatment Options

The good news is that for the vast majority of patients with dry eye there are potentially helpful treatment options that include specialized artificial tear lubricants and solutions, tiny punctal plugs to help you retain tears and prescription medication that stimulates production of your own tears. In addition there are more technological approaches such as lasers and other methods to treating underlying blepharitis, eyelid gland problems or eyelid inflammation that can contribute to dry eye as well.

If you or someone you know has questions about dry eye help after cataract surgery, please feel free to call Center for Sight at 508-730-2020, visit www.center-for-sight.com or www.facebook.com/centerforsightfallriver to schedule an appointment.

Center for Sight is conveniently located at 1565 North Main Street, Suite 406, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 for patients from Massachusetts or Rhode Island. 

Eye Health Problems & High Altitude

Sometimes patients who spend a great deal of time in high altitudes-skiing, mountain climbing or even just touring and hiking-are concerned about the effects of high altitude low oxygen conditions on their eyes, especially if they have some other eye problems or diseases related to hypoxia or not enough oxygen. Have you ever been concerned about your eye health at high altitude?

Researchers from the Tübingen High Altitude Ophthalmology (THAO) published a report in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. The group examined the effect of high altitude on the cornea and on the drainage angle of the eye-a key anatomical landmark for predicting narrow angle glaucoma risk. Using the advanced imaging technique of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) they studied corneal thickness changes and the depth and shape of the “anterior chamber angle” to determine the effects of high altitude. In normal healthy eyes, they found that a significant degree of reversible corneal swelling occurred with increasing altitude but no effect was noted on the size or shape of the eye fluid drainage angle. Since the corneal swelling was reversible it was not damaging. However, for patients with corneal dystrophy problems such as Fuchs Dystrophy, any endothelial dystrophy or compromise there may be some delay in the deswelling of the cornea. For patients who might be at risk for narrow angle glaucoma, the researchers reported that no change in angle depth or shape occurred at the higher altitudes-and thus there was no increase in angle closure glaucoma risk.

If you or someone you know has questions about the effect of high altitude low oxygen conditions of angle closure glaucoma and corneal swelling risk, please feel free to call Center for Sight at 508-730-2020, visit www.center-for-sight.com or www.facebook.com/centerforsightfallriver to schedule an appointment.

Center for Sight is conveniently located at 1565 North Main Street, Suite 406, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 for patients from Massachusetts or Rhode Island.