eye care

What are some of the common paediatric eye problems ?

Children are commonly seen with problems like refractive error and lazy eye, squint (crossed eye) and infections of the external eye (style).

Can a squint be treated and when?
Squints can be treated by wearing glasses, surgery or both and or eye exercises. the use of glasses can commence as early as a few months in life. squint surgery can be done at any stage even during infancy.
Surgeries for squint, surgery for congenital cataract in the form of cataract

Cost of treatment and duration
Squint surgery can cost from anything from Rs 9000 to 11,000. it is a day-case procedure (no hospital stay required). The child can return to school within a week. The patient needs a few visits in a year as follow ups.

Can one have preventive health check ups for children?
Children with family history of squint or wearing glasses at a earlier age need to be screened during early childhood. Pre-school screening really helps in identifying children who need glasses (refractive error) and children with squint and lazy eye. Earlier treatment can correct lazy eye as treatment beyond a certain age (usually after eight years) does not work so it is important that these patients are identified earlier.

Facts about Cataract
The Human eye is much like a camera. Your eye has a clear lens through which light passes for you to see. Like a camera, when the lens of the eye is cloudy, not as much light can pass through lens. Clouding of the human eye lens is called a cataract. Cataract cause a progressive , painless loss of vision. what causes cataract? The lens clouds naturally as we age, so people over age 65 usually see a gradual reduction of vision. Cataract can also can be caused by complications of other diseases such as diabetes, side effects of certain medications, such as steroids, infection, trauma or hereditary disorder.	How do I know if cataract is developing? One of the first noticeable symptoms of a cataract is a glair. other symptoms include reduce vision specially at night, hallows around light, light sensitivity, double vision in one eye or temporarily near vision. When do I need surgery? Earlier doctor's advised one to wait till the cataract matured but now when cataracts adversely effect the functional way a patient chooses to live, it is time for treatment. How is it treated? For an early cataract , vision may improve by using different eyeglasses, magnifying lenses or stronger lighting. If these majors don't help, surgery is the only effective treatment. This treatment involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with a substitute artificial plastic called intraocular lens implant.	Sometime, a cataract should be remove even it doesn't cause problem with your vision. For example, a cataract should be removed if it prevents examination or treatment of another eye problem, such as age related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. A surgical procedure called 'phacoemulcification' or 'phaco' is now used. Your doctor makes a small incision adjacent or on the side of the side of the cornea-the clear, dome shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. The doctor then insert a tiny probe into the eye. This device emits ultrasound waves that soften and break up the cloudy center of the lens so it can be removed by suction in this small incision is cataract surgery. Is cataract surgery effective? Cataract removal is most common operation performed. It is also one of the safes and most effective. In more than 99 percent of cases, people who have cataract have better vision afterward, provided they have followed safe procedures.
Facts about Glaucoma
The optic nerve is a bundle of more than one million nerve fibers. It connects the retina, the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye, with the brain. In many people, increased pressure inside the eye causes glaucoma causes irreversible damage. Who is at risk? Although anyone can get glaucoma, some people are at higher risk than others. They include: Everyone over age 60. People with a family history of glaucoma. It is important to have your eyes examined regularly. Your eyes should be tested at: Age 35 and 40 After age 40, every two to four years After age 60, every one to two years Those with any high risk factors, every one to two years after age 35What are the symptoms of glaucoma? At first most types of have no symptoms. Vision stays normal, and there is no pain.	As glaucoma remains untreated, people may notice that although they see things clearly in front of them, they miss objects on the side and out of the corner of their eye. Without treatment, people with glaucoma may find that they suddenly have no side vision. It may seem as though they are looking though a tunnel. Over time, the remaining forward vision may decrease until there is no vision left. How is glaucoma detected? A diagnosis of glaucoma is made by detecting the presence of nerve damage related to the IOP. there are two main types of glaucoma: open angle and angle closure. The size of the optic cup is definitely related to the presence or absence of glaucoma. The larger the cup size, the greater is the likelihood of developing glaucoma. A thoughtful and through examined that takes into account a patient's family background (as glaucoma is hereditary), intraocular pressure, visual field testing and the condition of the optic nerve	will allow the eye doctor in most cases to determine whether the person has glaucoma. Most people think that they have glaucoma if the pressure on their eye is increased. This is not always true. High pressure puts you at risk for glaucoma. It may ease. Whether or not you get glaucoma depends on the level of pressure that your optic nerve can tolerate without being damaged. This level is different for each person. Can glaucoma be treated? Yes. Treatment can control glaucoma. Early diagnosis and treatment is important to protect your sight. Medication from the first line of treatment for glaucoma. In advanced cases, surgery is recommended. Surgery? Laser surgery (also called laser trabeculoplasty) is often dine after trying treatment with medicines. Laser (trabeculectomy) helps fluid drain out of the eye. You need to make several follow-up visits to have your pressure monitored.
Facts about corneal transplants
A transplant is necessary if your cornea has been damaged due to diseases, injury, infection, previous eye surgery, or other problem. Three common problems that may be treated with a corneal transplant include: Keratoconus- This causes the cornea to change shape and actually protrude outward like a cone. This distorts the light as it enters the eye. Keratoconus usually affects young adults and its causes is unknown. An injured cornea- These injuries could occur due to an infection, chemicals or sharp objects. When any of these happen, he eye instinctively creates scar tissue to heal the injury.	This scar tissue inhibits the transmission of light. This means that images may be very faint or distorted, or you may be able to see light and shadows. Previous eye surgery- In some cases, you may develop problems with your cornea, if you have had a previous eye surgery. At times, this can cause your cornea, to become cloudy and swollen, making images appear faint or washed-out. It is possible glare and develop painful blisters. Among all surgical transplant including kidney, skin, heart etc., the cornea transplant is likely to be the most successful.
Understanding diabetic retinopathy
If you have been suffering from diabetes for more than five years, it is time you started yearly check-ups for diabetic retinopathy to avoid vision loss Our eye function like a camera. The front part of which is like a focusing system and the back- the retina- is like a film. The retina captures image and sends them to the brain in codes for processing. The center of the retina is called the macula, which is responsible for 90 percent of our sight including reading and writing. Diabetes can affect the entire eye resulting in cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. within the urban population the sight-threatening problem is diabetic retinopathy. when you suffer from diabetic retinopathy, small blood vessels that carry oxygen to the eye, gets affected. They do not supply enough oxygen to the retina. Some of these blood vessels cells also turn leaky. This combination leads to changes in the eye. This causes the retina to swell and forms deposits. The reduced supply of oxygen causes starves the retina. New blood vessels grow out of the retina, which can be dangerous to the eye since they bleed and can pull out the retina and cause irreversible damage. Types and severity Diabetic retinopathy is classified as either, background, preproliferative or proliferative. Background retinopathy is the early stage, where small retinal blood vessels break and leak.	In preliferative retinopathy, new blood vessels grow abnormally within the retina. This new growth can cause scarring or retinal detachment, which can lead to vision loss. The new blood vessels may also grow or breed into the vitreous humour, the transparent gel filling the eyeball in front of the retina. Proliferative retinopathy is much more serious than the background from and can lead to total blindness. In some eyes to Macular Oedema. Often the eye gets filled with blood. Warning signs Unfortunately diabetic retinopathy is often not detected. By the time the patient realises it is too late to reserve the damage. the treatment is then undertaken to prevent further loss. One of the reasons for this is that often diabetes itself goes unnoticed in people. Fifty to sixty percent have been suffering from diabetic retinopathy. The percentage increases in people who have been suffering from diabetes for 20 years to 80 percent. Floaters can be a sign if diabetic retinopathy. Sometimes difficulty reading or doing close work can indicate that fluid is collecting in the macula, the mist light-sensitive part of the retina. This fluid build-up is called macular oedema. Another sign is double vision, which occurs when the nerves controlling the eye muscles are affected. If you experience any of these signs, see your eye care practitioner immediately.	Prevention and tests One of the key things in prevention is early detection. it is important to check your eyes every six months or a year if you have been suffering from diabetes more than five years. With the help of an opthalmoscope get your vision and retina checked. If the doctor suspects leakage there might be the need of test called FFA ( Fundus Fluoresencein Angiography). In this test the doctor injects a dye into the blood and when the dye reaches the eye photographically examines it. Treatment Diabetic retinopathy can be treated by a laser treatment, which is a simple yet precise OPD procedure that does not require anaesthesia. The best treatment is to keep your doctor may decide on laser photocoagulation to seal leaking blood vessels and destroy new blood vessels growth. If blood gets into the vitreous humour, your doctor might want to perform a surgical procedure called a vitrectomy. There are select centres in the city of Mumbai that have the high-tech equipment necessary for checking Macular Oedema. A test called OCT (Optical Coherence Tomogram) is done on the computer generated histological section of the macula. You may need a total of four to five sittings to complete the treatment programme, which costs about Rs 4,000-5,000.