Popular Tags
Latest News Blog
Obesity is now hitting critical levels, and affecting every branch of medicine. The Center of Disease control (CDC) now reports obesity affects 4 out of 10 people. Furthermore, 3 out of 10 people are considered overweight, just shy of obese. The effect on eyes is greatest on the small blood vessels of the eye, which can cause bleeding which leads to blindness. This is mostly in association with systemic diabetes or hypertension in which obesity is a leading factor. Obesity has a very real and lasting effect on individuals and families.
Cancer: In some cases, excess fat cells can affect the growth of tumors, according tho the NCI (National Cancer Institute), and thousands of cancer cases are linked directly to obesity.
High blood pressure: Aneurism,stroke, heart failure, and death are the consequences of hypertension. According to the American Heart Institute, obesity is a leading cause of heart disease. Blood pressure is simply the force of the blood pushing against the arteries, and too much pressure weakens those vessels over time. Obesity causes these vessels to strain more than normal.
Diabetes (type 2): Being obese puts extra work and stress on the body’s natural ability to maintain proper glucose levels for the bloodstream, which in turn creates a greater need for insulin. Over time, the body cannot make enough insulin to keep up, thus creating a diabetic state. Over 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, so decreasing obesity can markedly lower your chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
Infertility and premature birth: Overweight women have greater risk in delivery, because too much fat can weaken the cervical membranes. Additionally,overweight women have more trouble getting pregnant because of the effect of obesity on hormonal changes that impact conception.
Insomnia: According to the American Sleep Foundation, obesity is linked to sleep apnea, preventing a restful night sleep. Interruption in sleep patterns due to momentary gasping for breath can have a poor overall effect on all health aspects of life.
Losing weight through daily diet, exercise, and the help of your physician and dietician are viable solutions and treatment for obesity. Eliminating obesity can attribute to a healthier lifestyle and in many cases can extend or save your vision and your life.
Resources:
The content of this blog cannot be reproduced or duplicated without the express written consent of EYEiQ
Many people can recall the 1980s song by Thomas Dolby, that includes the lyrics,
”She blinded me with science! And hit me with technology....”
In the 21st century, it seems that the blind can now “depend” on and anticipate science to restore vision.
Scientific advancement in the arena of neuroscience and medicine have given blind people hope that they never had before. The world of science and technology is providing inroads into greater opportunities in the advancement of sight restoration and retinal prosthetics with measured success.
Global statistics show nearly 40 million people are affected by some sort of blindness, with 15 million debilitated by AMD alone. The advancement of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) has sparked new research options for the blind, paving the way to future bionic eye treatments. Using eyeglasses with a camera that transmits images to an electrode implanted in the retina, images and movement can be detected. The Argus II, a retinal prosthesis device, is already available in the US and European markets with FDA approval in the United States.
Making a bionic eye is trickier than you think. The implant must not only respond to light, but also transmit the light to the neural pathways in the brain in order to process the light and subsequent vision.
The way our vision should work, is that light and images are processed through the, “film of the camera”, per se, called the retina. The retina relies on photoreceptors called rods and cones that take the visual image and transfer it through neural pathways to the brain, which in turn processes the vision causing us to see light, color, and images. The pathways of vision are processed through the second cranial nerve, the optic nerve. Scientists are working to restore those pathways damaged by glaucoma, stroke, head injury, and retinal disease or damage.
Advancements in this technology can lend to improvements in locating or identifying objects, orientation and mobility, detecting light and making certain household tasks easier, like locating utensils.
Although this technology is in its infancy, results are promising......and who knows, maybe in the future the Thomas Dolby song will need to be sung as “She UN-blinded me with science.”
References:
1. “The Bionic Eye” The Scientist, October 2014
2. Jef Akst,”Retinal Film Detects Light” The Scientist, November 13, 2014
3. www.amd.org
The content of this blog cannot be reproduced or duplicated without the express written consent of EYEiQ.
