Suicide Rate Shooting Up In U.K.
The suicide rate in the U.K. drastically shot up in 2011, reaching an all time high since 2004, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics. The 8% increase in the number of suicides from 2010 to 2011 highlights the effects that times of financial hardship can have on the public. In total, there were 6,045 suicides in 2011 which is 437 more than the previous year, translating into a rise from 11.1 to 11.8 deaths per 100,000 people. The number of male suicides increased in 2011 to 4,552, a rate of 18.2 per 100,000 (the highest it's been in 10 years)...  |
|
Hearing Loss Linked To Cognitive Decline
Hearing loss is linked to a faster cognitive decline and cognitive impairment in older adults. The finding came from new research conducted by The John Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Baltimore, and was published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine. The research coincides with a prior study which demonstrated that older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia, and when their hearing loss gets worse, their risk increases. As a result of the aging of the worldwide population, scientists expect the prevalence of dementia to double every twenty years...  |
|
Meningitis Vaccine Approved For Use In Europe
A meningitis B vaccine to prevent the most common and dangerous strand of the disease has been approved for use in Europe. Novartis received a license from the European Union for the marketing of Bexsero, the first vaccine to prevent life-threatening meningitis. The vaccine will be made available for use in humans who are at least two months old. Bexsero is designed to protect all ages including vulnerable infants. Meningitis B disease has a high mortality rate. Even survivors have a serious risk of critical, life-long handicaps...  |
|
Breast Cancer Recurrence Predictable With Blood Test
Using a DNA marker that can be obtained via a blood test, researchers in Canada were able accurately to predict which women were more likely to see a recurrence of their breast cancer years later. Although more studies are needed to confirm their findings, they suggest they could complement current prognosis approaches based on tumor assessment. Sambasivarao Damaraju, a professor with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Canada's University of Alberta, and colleagues, write about their findings in the 16 January issue of the open access online journal PLoS ONE...  |
|
New Test Predicted Presence Of Harmful BRCA Mutations
Profile test demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. Test results could aid in clinical decision making. May provide a quick, affordable alternative to current genetic testing. A new multiple gene expression profile test was able to predict the presence of harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations in otherwise healthy women carrying the mutations, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research...  |
Table of Contents
(Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery) MedWorm Sponsor Message: Find the best Christmas presents and January Sales in the UK with this simple shopping directory. |
|
Visual Acuity Chart
(Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Reply: Intentional anisometropia for diplopic suppression
I am always interested in anything that my brilliant associates are doing or thinking in the operating room. The difference in our experience is that the intentional extreme monovision that was targeted in my study allowed the patient to enjoy both uncorrected distance and near vision with the reduction or disappearance of the preexisting diplopia. (Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Intentional extreme anisometropic pseudophakic monovision
In their article about intentional extreme anisometropia, Osher et al. make the appalling recommendation that patients with strabismus who are experiencing diplopia should not be given the opportunity to have corrective strabismus surgery. Instead, they recommend a procedure that will blur 1 eye and permanently diminish the prospect of ever restoring normal binocular vision. (Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Reply: Intentional extreme anisometropic pseudophakic monovision
To borrow a word used by Dr. Hunter, it is ?appalling? to me when a physician condemns a procedure he may know little about. Dr. Hunter cannot understand how a surgeon would deliberately ?blur one eye and permanently diminish the prospect of ever restoring normal binocular vision.? In fact, this is an accepted contemporary surgical option called pseudophakic monovision, which some patients absolutely love. (Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Intentional monovision for long-standing diplopia
I found the article on cataract surgery as a treatment for longstanding diplopia by Osher et al. troubling. The authors presented a case series of 12 patients over age 62 with longstanding and stable diplopia due to strabismus. Cataract surgery with intentional targeting of one eye for plano and the other eye for ?3.00 was performed to create marked anisometropia. This strategy eliminated diplopia in 9 of 12 patients. Predictably, since the strabismus was not addressed, 9 of 10 patients who had a postoperative sensorimotor examination had negligible stereopsis (of note, 200 to 3000 arc seconds on the Titmus test can be achieved by monocular cues alone). (Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Reply: Intentional monovision for long-standing diplopia
I appreciate the concern expressed by Dr. Rutar regarding our new approach to managing the patient having cataract surgery with longstanding acquired diplopia. I had expected our strabismus colleagues to weigh in with a skeptical and conservative opinion. Having completed 2 neuro-ophthalmology fellowships prior to performing my first cataract operation, I also was unsure that we could eliminate the constant diplopia that was so bothersome to these patients, all of whom had failed or been very unhappy with the traditional approach of using prisms. (Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Masthead
(Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
|
|
Editorial Board
(Source: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery) MedWorm Sponsor Message: Find the best Christmas presents and January Sales in the UK with this simple shopping directory. |
|
Reply: Intracameral antibiotics and endophthalmitis incidence
We did not perform a detailed analysis of each intracameral agent as there was insufficient power to draw conclusions about their comparative effectiveness (). It is possible that intracameral injection of any broad-spectrum antibiotic is sufficient to effectively prevent infection since the agent is placed directly into the anterior chamber at the conclusion of surgery with the result of a high concentration. The safety profile of the intended antibiotic, to the corneal endothelium and to the retina in case of posterior capsule rupture, is an important consideration in the choice of antibiotic. We feel that the 3 agents injected by our group of surgeons have been shown to be safe at the concentrations used. Some of these studies are referenced in our article. (Source: Journal of Cataract ...
|
