Friday, June 14, 2013

Pre-summer eyewear sale!

One more thing before I jump into dry eye news and studies:

Wiley X AirRage ($90 to $144)
Summer is exactly one week away! We're all spending more time out of doors... make sure your eyes are well protected not just UV wise but from the drying effects of wind and sun. Eyewear doesn't have to be expensive - Dustbusters are less than $20. On the other hand if you've been contemplating some of the pricier ones, the best time to get them is during a DryEyeShop sale because the brand name ones are not usually ever discounted at dealers.

Click on this coupon for a 15% discount, good now through end of the day June 20th:

15% off coupon

Or if you have any trouble with the link, click on the Coupon link in the shopping cart at dryeyeshop.com and type in "Eyewear2013". Enjoy!

7Eye AirDam low-profile eyecup
By the way, if you want good dry eye protection but feel like those deep right-to-your-skin type eyecups are just too goggly-looking for you, take a look at the 7Eye AirDam products which I recently added to the shop. They have a shallower eyecup - still lots more protection than ordinary eyecups, but without the goggly appearance.

Back in the saddle

It has been two or three months at least since I blogged with any regularity. Sorry, dry eye friends!

I just looked at the email folder marked "Blog". That's where all the automated emails I get with new dry eye studies, drug news and so on get filed. As of today it stands at a record 244 unread entries (gasp).

So what have I been doing all this time that has kept The Dry Eye Digest" stuck in endless limbo between the bottom of my "gotta do" and the top of my "wanna do" lists?

North edge of our property last fall. The sheep have done
a great job clearing land for us since then, but we have
to keep them away from the alders because they strip
the bark in no time flat.
First, for those who haven't already noticed from my occasional personal blog posts... I moonlight as a sort of modern day homesteader. We've been hobby farming for a few years now on rented land, but late last year we finally were able to buy some land of our own. Raw land needing everything done. I mean everything. We started from scratch and are substituting labor and love for cash, which is a wonderful workout for our creativity. It's a ton of work and I've never been happier.

Winter was a long battle trying to scrape together enough daylight hours to keep clearing 8-foot overgrowth - in areas that weren't flooded by heavy rains - for some reasonably dry pasture for my sheep and poultry. Then with spring came a host of projects.

Spring also brought our first lambing season! It has been so exciting. We have 7 lovely icelandic lambs. Two are ewe lambs we will keep for breeding. Of the five ram lambs, one (now a wether) will be kept as a companion to the new breeding ram that we are trading a second for, and three will eventually go in the freezer. Next year I'm planning to build a stanchion and start milking our ewes to make feta. Sheeps milk feta is simply the best.

May arrived, and the lambs were all doing well, and we had most of our permanent fencing done or nearly, and other projects were all moving along nicely including planning for the tiny house we're
Noah and her lambs, Tiger and Sugarlips. They were
both born black but Sugarlips had the telltale white
wool around his lips that showed he had a white
undercoat and at 2.5 mths old he now looks like his mom.
planning to build, barn-raising style, in August. And I thought, great, I can finally get organized and back into some of my routines like blogging. Then, out of the blue, I got appendicitis. Nothing like an emergency abdominal surgery to remind you that "the best laid plans...." I remember cringing when the ER doc looked at me with a smile and said, "You'll need to clear your schedule for the week." Sigh. I had my appendix out more than three weeks ago and I'm still not caught on emails.

But I really have no right to complain at all. If you're going to be unlucky enough to get appendicitis at all, may you get it like I did! (If you're not familiar with it... a belly pain that starts generalized or around your belly button and then moves to your right side is The Big Red Flag.) I was quietly at work on a Tuesday afternoon. My abdomen started hurting. I gave it a couple of hours to settle down and it only got worse. Two hours after that when I could barely walk or talk, I had a friend drive me to ER. Straightforward diagnosis. Laparoscopic appendectomy several
"Spot the cow", with his mom, Mahlah.
Spot was born looking like a miniature
holstein. His spots have faded now.
hours later. And yes what they found sure confirmed I needed that thing out. Only mini-complaint was that it was 4 hours after arriving at ER before I even saw a doctor, but I think that was my own fault for inadvertently understating the pain... which was like one endless contraction.

I rested at a friend's house for a couple of days and took it pretty easy at work the following week and since then I've been more or less back to normal.... I am so thankful, seriously. Seems like everyone who hears about it has some horror story to tell about a family member or friend who didn't get diagnosed in a timely manner for some reason and had a perforated appendix,

The surgeon was adamant that I not lift anything greater than 10 lbs for SIX WEEKS. Oh. My. Gosh. Are. You. Serious. How do you farm without lifting anything? My daughter thankfully can do all the routine stuff, but all my late May and month of June projects, like digging a curtain drain across the pasture for better drainage next winter, have become July projects.
Lion, our bottle-fed lamb (we kept him in
diapers at the office at first).

Ah well, that means at least now I have time to start getting caught up on things like my blog.

Apropos of the appendix thing, isn't it amazing what a different world we live in from what it was just ten years ago? I started hurting on a Tuesday at 3pm. By the time I got to ER at 7pm, I had spent an hour or so googling, knew what was wrong with me (or at least pretty sure, and I was right) and also knew roughly how much the surgery and hospital stay were going to cost. - Although that actually turned out to be not quite right... I remember poring over forums seeing a lot of quotes between $18k and $30k. When I finally worked up the nerve to visit my PO box the other day, I had $40k of bills waiting. (No, I'm not insured.) But anyway, the availability of information makes everything so different. There is nothing that has not been discussed on the internet. Just try googling "Can't poop after appendectomy" and you'll see what I mean.

Now, back to dry eye at last. After one last lamb picture....

Thursday, May 9, 2013

How dry is your office?

I was horrified to hear from someone recently that when requested, their employer tested their office humidity level and determined average humidity to be 7%.

Ow.

Do you know what the humidity level in your office is?

The US's OSHA says:
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EMPLOYER
The following are general recommendations which, where relevant, should be standard procedure. If followed, they will help prevent or alleviate many indoor air-quality problems...
3. Air Treatment. Air treatment is the removal of air contaminants and/or the control of room temperature and humidity. Recommendations for air treatment include:
  • The use of filtration, electronic cleaners, chemical treatment with activated charcoal or other sorbents;
  • Humidity control in the range of 20%-60%; and
  • Temperature control in the range of 68-76 F.
Frankly, you can be pretty miserable at 20% and would be justified in pushing for an improvement on this.

Canadian OHS says:

Are there any standards on office temperatures?
The CSA Standard CAN/CSA Z412-00 (R2011) - "Office Ergonomics" gives acceptable ranges of temperature and relative humidity for offices in Canada. These values are the same as recommended by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55 - 2010 "Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy". The recommended temperature ranges have been found to meet the needs of at least 80% of individuals. Some people may feel uncomfortable even if these values are met. Additional measures may be required.
Temperature / Humidity Ranges for Comfort
ConditionsRelative HumidityAcceptable Operating Temperatures
°C°F
Summer (light clothing)If 30%, then
If 60%, then
24.5 - 28
23 - 25.5
76 - 82
74 - 78
Winter (warm clothing)If 30%, then
If 60%, then
20.5 - 25.5
20 - 24
69 - 78
68 - 75


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Lobob's Miraflow equivalent

Miraflow fans... yes lots of us still miss that product (discontinued a coupla years ago)... Lobob now has an equivalent product and I'll have it available in the shop ready to ship starting Monday the 22nd. 
It's called Sof/Pro2 'Extra Strength' Daily Cleaner - but for those of you purchasing direct from Lobob, or Amazon or wherever, please be careful because there are two different products under the same name. If you want this for PROSE / plasma treated scleral type products, the one you want is the one that says "for soft hydrophilic lenses including silicone hydrogel contact lenses", NOT the one that just says "for soft contact lenses".


$11.95 in the Dry Eye Shop

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

DryEyeShop special: Night eye protection

For one week, 15% off all night eye protection items, e.g. Tranquileyes, Quartz, sleep masks & goggles, etc. Enjoy!

http://www.dryeyeshop.com/night-eye-protection-c74.aspx?Coupon=NightStuff

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Just one more day to use the 15% off eyewear coupon

Good through midnight Friday

http://www.dryeyeshop.com/eyewear-c71.aspx?Coupon=Eyewear2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Abstract: Beware eye whitening procedures.

Some people with chronic dry eye suffer from chronic redness. In some of those cases, the redness is much more noticeable to themselves than to anyone else, but in others it's obvious and unsightly and can be very distressing. Not a lot of fun to have others (think: potential employers?) think you're stoned. The emotional impact of chronic redness makes people quite vulnerable to promises of improvement through surgeries. They figure, the worst that can happen is that it just doesn't work or doesn't last.

Wrong.

Here's a good reason to resist the temptation.


BACKGROUND:
We report necrotizing scleritis as a serious complication of a cosmetic eye whitening procedure that involves the use of intraoperative and postoperative topical mitomycin C.
FINDINGS:
This is a single case report. A 59-year-old Caucasian male with a history of blepharitis status post uncomplicated LASIK refractive surgery reported chronic conjunctival hyperemia for 15 years prior to undergoing a cosmetic eye whitening procedure. He presented to our clinic 12 months after the cosmetic eye whitening procedure with progressive bilateral necrotizing scleritis and scleral calcification.
CONCLUSIONS:
Chronic conjunctival hyperemia may prompt patients to seek surgical correction with cosmetic eye whitening procedures. However, conjunctival hyperemia secondary to tear deficiency and evaporative dry eye may predispose to poor wound healing. Serious complications including necrotizing scleritis may result from cosmetic eye whitening procedures and the use of topical mitomycin C.

J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2013 Feb 22;3(1):39. doi: 10.1186/1869-5760-3-39.
Leung TG, Dunn JP, Akpek EK, Thorne JE.
Source
The Division of Ocular Immunology, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Woods Building, Room 476, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. tgan1@jhmi.edu.

Abstract: PROSE

It's really good to see a study spanning a variety of indications for PROSE.


PURPOSE:
To determine the type and distribution of ocular conditions cared for in a clinic dedicated to scleral devices and to report the clinical outcomes afforded by this approach.
METHODS:
Fifty-one charts of patients fitted unilaterally or bilaterally with a scleral device (Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem - PROSE) in a two year period were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, ocular diagnoses, associated systemic conditions, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before and after fitting, Visual Function Questionnaire score (VFQ-25), and ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score were collected.
RESULTS:
All 51 patients were successfully wearing the PROSE device for a period of anywhere from weeks to years. The most common reasons for fitting were to relieve symptoms of moderate to severe dry eye syndrome ("DES", n = 25), management of refractive problems ("refractive", n = 23) with keratoconus being the most common (n = 14), and to manage other anomalies ("other", n = 3). Best corrected visual acuity (logMAR) improved with the wearing of the PROSE device for both the DES (17 letters) and the refractive group (10 letters), but not the "other" group. No serious complications were recorded for any of the patients.
CONCLUSIONS:
The PROSE device is a useful option not only for the management of ocular surface disease and optical imperfections, but also for other ophthalmic conditions. Moderate to severe dry eye was the most common anomaly managed, followed by eyes with irregular corneal astigmatism. DES and refractive patients experienced improvement in visual acuity with wearing of the PROSE device.

Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2013 Mar 14. pii: S1367-0484(13)00031-3. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2013.02.004. [Epub ahead of print]
Dimit R, Gire A, Pflugfelder SC, Bergmanson JP.
Source
Alkek Eye Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: dimit@bcm.edu.

Abstract: GvHD

Nice to see more progressive treatments increasingly mentioned in literature on GvHD.

Graft versus H\host disease (GVHD) can be a devastating complication following bone marrow transplantation. Acute or chronic systemic GVHD can be lethal, and severe damage of different organs and tissues can occur with both types of GVHD. Ocular involvement, either in an acute or chronic presentation, may range from mild to severe with accompanying vision loss present in 60-90 % of patients. Chronic ocular GVHD, the most common form of GVHD, affects mainly the lacrimal gland, meibomian glands, cornea and conjunctiva, mimicking other immunologically mediated inflammatory diseases of the ocular surface without specific symptoms or signs. However, dry eye disease is the main manifestation of GVHD. The long-term treatment of ocular GVHD continues to be challenging and involves a multidisciplinary approach wherein the ophthalmologist plays a major role. Besides systemic immunosuppression and ocular lubricants, topical steroids and topical cyclosporine are commonly prescribed. Newer therapeutic interventions for moderate and severe ocular GVHD include the use of serum eye drops and scleral contact lenses. In this manuscript, we review the mechanisms, clinical findings, and treatment of ocular GVHD.

Espana EMShah SSanthiago MRSingh AD.
Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2013 Mar 17. [Epub ahead of print]
Source
Department of Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery, Department of Ophthalmology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.

Abstract: Impact of LED timer device on blink rate


PURPOSE:
To evaluate blink rate effects by a novel light-emitting diode (LED) timer device (PISC) on non-dry eye (DE) subjects and DE patients during a reading task on liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, in different environmental conditions.
METHODS:
This was a case-control study that included 15 DE patients and 15 non-DE subjects as controls. Participants had their blink rates measured while they read an electronic format text. These tasks were performed in four different conditions: with and without a LED timer device in two visits, and with and without air conditioning. All participants completed the Ocular Surface Disease Index and were examined by best spectacle-corrected visual acuity exam, biomicroscopy, Schirmer test 1, fluorescein staining and break-up time and lissamine green staining (Oxford scale grading).
RESULTS:
Outcomes between reading tasks conditions were compared independently for each group and blink rate frequency was higher in tasks with LED timer device, with and without air conditioning, for the DE group (p < 0.0001), and with air conditioning for the control group (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS:
An LED timer device increased blink frequency for DE and control groups. Further studies need to be carried out in order to evaluate long-term effects of this new device, as well as its assessment with different reading scenarios.

Br J Ophthalmol. 2013 Mar 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Miura DL, Hazarbassanov RM, Yamasato CK, E Silva FB, Godinho CJ, Gomes JA.
Source
School of Medicine, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract: OCT in measuring tear film meniscus

Funny, I see abstracts about OCT in dry eye diagnosis pretty frequently. I dutifully post some of them. But unlike most other diagnostics covered so prolifically in the literature I hardly seem to hear about this one at all in 'real life'. Am I just out of touch? Who's using this?




Abstract Purpose: To compare tear meniscus height (TMH) and area (TMA) values obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT) with the Schirmer test and tear-film break-up time (TBUT) values. Materials and methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, the right eyes of 300 consecutive patients were studied. All patients underwent routine ophthalmologic examination. Schirmer and TBUT measurements were taken, and tear-film OCT images were obtained. Using OCT, the TMH (i.e. the line connecting the intersection of the meniscus with the cornea and eyelid) and cross-sectional TMA were calculated. Patients were divided into Groups 1 (Schirmer values ≤ 5mm) and 2 (Schirmer values > 5mm). Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 software. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for the comparison of groups. Correlations between tear parameters were analyzed. Results: There were no significant differences in age, logMAR, or IOP values (p=0.480, 0.077 and 0.146, respectively) between the two groups. Mean TBUTs were 5.1±2.9 and 9.5±4.2s for Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). Mean TMHs were 237.9±108.9 and 324.3±158.9μm for Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). Mean TMAs were significantly lower in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p<0.001; 0.027±0.028 versus 0.055±0.059mm2, respectively). Correlations between Schirmer values and TMH, and between Schirmer values and TMA, were significant (p=0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: OCT values were significantly lower in patients with Schirmer values of < 5mm. Tear meniscus measurements obtained by OCT are reliable for establishing a diagnosis of dry eye.

Curr Eye Res. 2013 Mar 14. [Epub ahead of print]
Altan-Yaycioglu R, Sizmaz S, Canan H, Coban-Karatas M.
Source
Faculty of Medicine, Adana Teaching & Medical Research Center, Baskent University , 01250 Adana , Turkey.

Abstract: Rebamipide + sodium hyaluronate


OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the efficacy of 2% rebamipide ophthalmic suspension compared with 0.1% sodium hyaluronate ophthalmic solution for the treatment of patients with dry eye.
DESIGN:
Randomized, multicenter, active-controlled parallel-group study.
PARTICIPANTS:
One hundred eighty-eight patients with dry eye.
METHODS:
Following a 2-week screening period, patients were allocated randomly to receive 2% rebamipide or 0.1% sodium hyaluronate, administered as 1 drop in each eye 4 or 6 times daily, respectively, for 4 weeks.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
There were 2 primary end points: changes in the fluorescein corneal staining (FCS) score to determine noninferiority of 2% rebamipide and changes in the lissamine green conjunctival staining (LGCS) score to determine superiority. Secondary objective end points were Schirmer's test results and tear film breakup time (TBUT). Secondary subjective end points were dry eye-related ocular symptoms (foreign body sensation, dryness, photophobia, eye pain, and blurred vision) score and the patients' overall treatment impression score.
RESULTS:
In the primary analysis, the mean change from baseline in FCS scores verified noninferiority, indicated significant improvement, and, in LGCS scores, verified the superiority of 2% rebamipide to 0.1% sodium hyaluronate. Values for the Schirmer's test and TBUT were comparable between the 2 groups. For 2 dry eye-related ocular symptoms-foreign body sensation and eye pain-2% rebamipide showed significant improvements over 0.1% sodium hyaluronate. Patients had a significantly more favorable impression of 2% rebamipide than of 0.1% sodium hyaluronate; 64.5% rated treatment as improved or markedly improved versus 34.7%, respectively. No serious adverse events were observed.
CONCLUSIONS:
Administration of 2% rebamipide was effective in improving both the objective signs and subjective symptoms of dry eye. Those findings, in addition to the well-tolerated profile of 2% rebamipide, clearly show that it is an effective therapeutic method for dry eye.

Ophthalmology. 2013 Mar 12. pii: S0161-6420(12)01203-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2012.12.022. [Epub ahead of print]
Kinoshita S, Oshiden K, Awamura S, Suzuki H, Nakamichi N, Yokoi N; Rebamipide Ophthalmic Suspension Phase 3 Study Group().
Source
Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. Electronic address: shigeruk@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.

Abstract: Detection of meibomian glands and classification of meibography images


SWEET!


Computational methods are presented that can automatically detect the length and width of meibomian glands imaged by infrared meibography without requiring any input from the user. The images are then automatically classified. The length of the glands are detected by first normalizing the pixel intensity, extracting stationary points, and then applying morphological operations. Gland widths are detected using scale invariant feature transform and analyzed using Shannon entropy. Features based on the gland lengths and widths are then used to train a linear classifier to accurately differentiate between healthy (specificity 96.1%) and unhealthy (sensitivity 97.9%) meibography images. The user-free computational method is fast, does not suffer from inter-observer variability, and can be useful in clinical studies where large number of images needs to be analyzed efficiently.

J Biomed Opt. 2012 Aug;17(8):086008. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.17.8.086008.
Koh YW, Celik T, Lee HK, Petznick A, Tong L.
Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, 07-01, Matrix, Singapore 138671. patrickk@bii.a-star.edu.sg

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Eyewear special... 15% off!

Get ready for summer with protective moisture retaining eyewear at a discount...

15% off anything in the Eyewear category, for one week (April 5 to 11).

If you've been saving up for some 7Eyes or Wileys, or need a spare pair of something you already have, or need spare eyecups, now's the time :)

Click on the link above to activate, or type "Eyewear2013" in the coupon box.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

PROSE & scleral users: Hydrogen peroxide system now available in the shop

At long last I've got a hydrogen peroxide system available in the shop. It's not Clear Care but it's similar.

Ocusoft Lens Care System $9.75

Contains 12 oz bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide plus lens case with catalyst. As with the Clear Care system, this case is NOT suitable for PROSE or other scleral lenses so you have to remove the catalyst and install it in a PROSE case (sold separately).

In the case in this kit, the catalyst disc is attached to the bottom of the case rather than the bottom of the unit that holds the lenses, so removing it is a little different but can still be done. The disc fits the receptacle on the PROSE case but you have to put it on the right direction - if it's backwards, you'll know because it slides off.