Sad Consequences of Low Vision

A study reported in the British Journal of Ophthalmology brings up another possible consequence of vision loss, suicidal thoughts or attempts.  The online newsletter of the American Optometric Association, AOA First Look, contained the following brief article with link to an article in Reuters which you can read if you wish.
This study highlights a whole new possible consequence of low vision.  While I have not heard of possible suicide, I have been told by patients or their family that they've  suffered from depression since losing vision.  It is not surprising.  When vision decreases to the level where someone can no longer drive, read or recognize faces they have lost independence.  That can be devastating.  It is a very difficult adjustment to go from life long good vision to dealing with the consequences of macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma.
Reading the Reuters article may give you a bit more insight into the issues faced by a person with low vision.  Happily, some of these people can regain independence through the use of special low vision devices, microscopic or telescopic glasses as well as other types of devices.  You can read of the successes of some of my patients on my Facebook page.  www.Facebook.com/VirginiaLowVisionOptometrist

Study: As Vision Worsens, Suicidal Thoughts, Attempts May Increase.

Reuters  (3/28, Lehman) reported that a study  (3/30) published online March 2 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that people with vision loss were often prone to suffer psycho-social issues and were more likely to have suicidal thoughts and make suicide attempts compared to those with normal vision. The study, which included nearly 30,000 adults followed between 2008-2012, also revealed that deteriorating vision was tied to a worsening in quality of life.

Keep Your Eyes Healthy

Today's issue of AOA First Look includes the following synopsis of a US News & World Report article about protecting your eyes from some of the main causes of low vision.  Click the link to read this helpful information.  For people who have lost vision from eye disease or some other cause a low vision optometrist may be able to help.
I speak with all low vision patients before scheduling an appointment.  By asking a few questions about your remaining vision and your goals I will be able to tell you if low vision glasses will help you.  There is no charge for the telephone consultation or the toll free call.  Call me at 1 866 321-2030.  More information on my website www.VirginiaLowVision.com

National Eye Institute Offers Advice To Keep Eyes Healthy.

US News & World Report  (3/20, Woodham) says a recent report from The Vision Council notes that 1 in 28 Americans over the age of 40 are suffering from “low vision, a visual impairment that cannot be repaired by glasses, contact lenses, medicine or surgery.” But Dr. Rachel Bishop, chief of the consult services section at the National Eye Institute, says there are steps that can be taken to reduce eye problems such as cataracts: “The first is not smoking. The second is protecting their eyes from sunlight by wearing sunglasses. UV light exposure is associated with cataract but also with other problems in the eye, so we recommend people wear UV-protection sunglasses when out in the bright daylight.”

Woman with Diabetes, Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration helped to read

The three greatest causes of vision loss and blindness are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration. Any one of them can have devastating effects on a person's eyesight and their life. This past week I had the opportunity to perform a low vision evaluation on a lady (GW) who had all three conditions and was asking for help in seeing better for some of the day to day activities that she had given up.

The top 4 things on GW's wish list were to be able to read her Bible, read her mail, use her checkbook and use her computer. Following a thorough low vision evaluation using low vision glasses she was able to do all of these things.

GW had no prescription glasses. Her doctor had recommended that she go to the store and find a pair of readers, telling her that nothing else could be done to help. She also had a low power hand magnifier. Her distance visual acuity with the right eye was 20/240 and 20/700 with the left. When I measured the power of her eyes I found that there was a moderate amount of astigmatism in each eye. Correcting that alone did not improve her vision very much.

A 4X Clear Image microscopic lens combined with the astigmatism correction allowed GW to read a large print Bible easily. With that lens she read letters one third the size that she could with the readers.

When the astigmatism correction was used along with a 2.2X bioptic telescopic lens for distance vision GW was able to read 20/60 letters, one fourth the size that she was able to read with no lenses. She was able to see her husband's face well from about 20 feet and saw the cars and people well when she tested the bioptics outdoors.

GW has ordered the Clear Image microscopic glasses for reading, the bioptic telescopic glasses for television and to recognize faces when she is at church or shopping. In addition, she will have a lens cap for the telescopic glasses that will allow her to use her computer with them.

Although this nice lady has the three most damaging eye diseases she responded very well to low vision glasses and I expect her to enjoy them.

You might think that someone with this combination of eye diseases could not find help. The reason that I accepted her as a patient and is that I'd interviewed her by phone and was sure in advance of her appointment that I could help. I do not accept low vision patients until we have talked by phone and I feel that they have sufficient vision that I can help them achieve their goals.

If you would like to talk about your low vision problem and your goals please give me a call. We can quickly determine if I will be able to help you. Call me toll free 1 866 321-2030. #maculardegeneration

Microscopic Glasses to Help Control Diabetes Better

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness. Studies have shown that people who control their diabetes well are less likely to develop diabetic eye disease. Therefore, well controlled diabetics are at less risk of blindness. A nice, 85 year old man came to me last week. He has lost some vision due to diabetic retinopathy. Laser surgery has helped control the vision loss but many visual activities are difficult for him. Insulin injections are required to control his diabetes and he was having trouble reading the markings on the syringe. A few times he's given himself too much or to little insulin. His family is concerned about him. I asked him to set a syringe at 15 units, a task he does a couple times each day. Both times he tried, wearing his regular eyeglasses, he missed the mark. One time he was off by 5 units and the other by 10 units. His family's concern is well founded. I evaluated his vision with Clear Image microscopic glasses and he was able to set the syringe correctly each time he tried. I have prescribed the Clear Image glasses. They will help him with other close activities but most importantly, he will be keeping his diabetes in better control.

#diabeticretinopathy

Some things can't be rushed

I have had a couple of low vision patients recently who both commented on the length of time that I spent with them doing the low vision evaluation.  One came to me from Maryland.  Over the 5 years that he has had macular degeneration his vision has reached the point that he requires someone to do his driving and has given up some of the very detailed work that he has done in his hobby of making reproductions of antique furniture.  His occupation requires that he use blueprints often.  His, off the shelf, hand magnifier was not helping him much with the blueprints.  He had been seen many times by the doctors at Johns Hopkins and at the National Retina Institute.  One had recommended that he begin to learn braile.

I spent well over an hour with him, carefully evaluating his vision with various low vision devices.  The end result was that when he receives his low vision glasses in a few weeks he will be able to easily read his blue prints, see TV better and be able to drive safer.  The same glasses that help with the blueprints will help him with the fine details of furniture making.

The earlier patient, a lady from West Virginia,  was also suffering from macular degeneration.  She had traveled to Germany where she underwent a stem cell procedure intended to improve vision.  The results of that were very shortlived.  Later she received acupuncture in New Mexico at a clinic that helps people with reduced vision.  When she discovered that she would have to continue going there every month or so she discontinued her treatment.

As always, I spent well over an hour with her ,evaluating her vision, with a variety of devices.  My goal was to help her with the activities most important to her, reading and watching TV.  For reading I prescribed a handheld electronic magnifier.  She was able to read newspaper or magazine print with it.  Help for the TV was provided by telescopic glasses that magnified the picture.  An additional lens that she can easily add to the telescopic glasses helps her read from the screen of her computer.

Both of these people had been seen by many doctors in many different locations.  Both had been told that nothing further could be done to help them.  Neither of them had a low vision evaluation until coming to me.  Helping people with low vision takes time as well as skill.  It is not something that can be done in a 10 minute exam or delegated to a member of the staff.  A doctor, almost always an optometrist, who is serious about helping patients with low vision will arrange his/her schedule to allow enough time for the evaluation.

If you have macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt's disease or any other condition that has reduced your vision call me.  I will return your call and spend a few minutes with you discussing your present condition, your goals and will give you an honest opinion of whether I can help you.  Only if I feel that I can help you will I schedule you for a low vision evaluation.  Because I have had lots of experience with these phone interviews I am able to help over 90% of the low vision  patients who I see for an evaluation.   The call and the telephone interview are free.  Call me toll free at 1 866 321-2030.  I look forward to speaking with you.

New lens technology helps correct a basic problem experienced by those with macular degeneration.

(NAPS)—There is new hope for people whose vision has been compromised by macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
  Many patients with these diseases have heard that nothing more can be done for them, but pioneering changes in recent months may offer them new options.
  Special types of highly sophisticated glasses prescribed by low vision physicians are quickly emer­g­ing as the answer to vision loss due to macular degeneration or other conditions that lead to limited vision.
  For example, member doctors in the International Academy of Low Vision Specialists (IALVS) use telescopic, microscopic and prismatic glasses to help those with vision deficiencies to perform daily activities such as reading, writing, playing cards, watching TV and even driving.

New Lens Technology
  Recently developed E-Scoop lenses from Holland now enable doctors to help patients with one of the chief complaints associated with macular degeneration—cloudy vision.
  “Macular degeneration not only causes central blind spots but reduces clarity,” says Dr. Richard Shuldiner, low vision optometrist and IALVS founder. “Most of my patients ask me for clearer vision.”
  Glasses that use the new E-Scoop technology bridge the gap between standard eyeglasses and spectacle head-borne telescopes. Whether your difficulty is night driving, bright light, sunlight or simply seeing clearly into the distance, the E-Scoop lens placed over a standard eyeglass prescription can help.
  The lens has four distinct properties that make vision clearer and sharper, with reduced glare:
  • The yellow tint improves contrast.
  • The prism moves the image away from the damaged macular area.
  • The thickness of the lens, combined with its special “base” curve, makes objects appear slightly larger.
  • The anti-reflection coating allows more light through the lens.
For more information, call 866 321-2030 or visit www.IALVS.com.

Woman with Diabetes, Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration helped to read

The three leading causes of vision loss and blindness are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration. Any one of them can have devastating effects on a person's eyesight and their life. I had the opportunity to perform a low vision evaluation on a lady (GW) who had all three conditions. She asked for help in seeing better for some of the day to day activities that she had given up.


The top 4 things on GW's wish list were to be able to read her Bible, read her mail, use her checkbook and use her computer. Following a thorough low vision evaluation using low vision glasses she was able to do all of these things.

GW had no prescription glasses. Her doctor had recommended that she go to the store and find a pair of readers, telling her that nothing else could be done to help. She also had a low power hand magnifier. Her distance visual acuity with the right eye was 20/240 and 20/700 with the left. When I measured the power of her eyes I found that there was a moderate amount of astigmatism in each eye. Correcting that alone did not improve her vision very much.

A 4X Clear Image microscopic lens combined with the astigmatism correction allowed GW to read a large print Bible easily. With that lens she read letters one third the size that she could with the readers.

When the astigmatism correction was used along with a 2.2X bioptic telescopic lens for distance vision GW was able to read 20/60 letters, one fourth the size that she was able to read with no lenses. She was able to see her husband's face well from about 20 feet and saw the cars and people well when she tested the bioptics outdoors.

GW ordered the Clear Image microscopic glasses for reading, the bioptic telescopic glasses for television and to recognize faces when she is at church or shopping. In addition, she has a lens cap for the telescopic glasses that allows her to use her computer with them.

Although this nice lady has the three most damaging eye diseases she responded very well to low vision glasses and is enjoying them.

You might think that someone with this combination of eye diseases could not find help. The reason that I accepted her as a patient and is that I'd interviewed her by phone and was sure in advance of her appointment that I could help. I do not accept low vision patients until we have talked by phone and I feel that they have sufficient vision that I can help them achieve their goals.

If you would like to talk about your low vision problem and your goals please give me a call. We can quickly determine if I will be able to help you. Call me toll free 1 866 321-2030.

Study: Alcohol consumption in diabetics causes vision loss

AOA First Look, December 6, 2010 reports on a study which shows that alcohol comsumption are at increased risk of blurry vision.  Among patients with type 2 diabetes, those with even moderate alcohol consumption (1 to 14 drinks/week) had significant visual acuity loss over five years of follow-up but no difference in development or progression of retinopathy.

People With Type 2 Diabetes Who Drink Alcohol At Increased Risk For Blurry Vision.

MedPage Today (12/3, Gever) reported, "People with type 2 diabetes who drink alcohol are at increased risk for blurry vision unrelated to retinopathy," according to a study published in the journal Diabetic Medicine. While "moderate drinking did not increase the risk for or progression of retinopathy in a study of more than 1,200 diabetics...it nearly doubled the risk of losing two eye-chart lines of visual acuity over an average of five years." The study authors theorized, "Alcohol is known for its neurotoxic properties, which could induce oxidative damage to the retina and the optic nerve, leading to visual loss."

An Interesting Patient With Diabetic Retinopathy

This week a patient with a vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy came to me for help. She had completely lost the vision of one eye and the vision in the other was damaged also. She was having problems with both her distance and near vision. There were several very different tasks that she wanted help with. The solutions to these problems illustrate some of the many ways that low vision patients can be helped.

Her vision goals and the solutions that I recommended to her are listed below:

1. She has trouble reading signs when driving. I prescribed a bioptic telescopic lens for her better eye which resulted in her reading 20/25 letters. When we took the testing lens outdoors she was able to read distant signs much better.

2. She has trouble using her computer. It is blurred and hazy. I prescribed a convex lens cap for the bioptic lens to make the driving telescope focus at the computer screen. An amber tint in that lens improved contrast on the screen making it much easier for her to see.

3. She wanted to be able to read, use her checkbook, etc and previous strong reading glasses focused too close to her face. She wanted to hold her books at a more normal distance. I prescribed a telemicroscope that focused at 16 inches from her face allowing her to hold her book in her lap and read easily.

4. She wanted to be able to read her insulin pump and glucose meter. Both of them had small screens with black letters and numbers on a gray background. Not very much contrast and very difficult for her to read. I prescribed a hand magnifier with an LED light and she had no trouble reading those small screens.

There are many ways that people with low vision can be helped to see better. Often they have several different requirements like this lady had. A low vision doctor with a thorough knowledge of the various devices available can often make life much easier and more enjoyable for them.

If you have low vision and some specific tasks that you'd like help with give me a call. I'll talk it over with you and tell you if I will be able to help. Call me toll free 866 321-2030 for a free phone consultation.