Eye exercises - Holistic recommendations for body and mind revitalization
Holistic recommendations for body and mind revitalization
To look beautiful, one should feel beautiful from within. Here are a few sure-to-work distress treatments which are more like a luxurious spa experience, after which, one can emerge feeling totally revitalized. An Aromatherapy massage is a gentle, nurturing treatment, which is done using pure essential plant and flower oils, while also rendering good physical and […]
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Herbs for combating Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis
Most common ailments can be cured by nature. Here are a few herbs that could help you maintain healthy bones, by keeping osteoporosis and osteoarthritis at bay. Yucca: Is used in treating arthritis, as its anti-inflammatory properties reduce pain, stiffness and swelling. Resveratrol, an antioxidant, present in Yucca, stimulates the immune system in the body. Boswellia: Is […]
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[Original articles - Clinical science] Validation of a computerised logMAR visual acuity measurement system (COMPlog): comparison with ETDRS and the electronic ETDRS testing algorithm in adults and amblyopic children
Background/Aim: The COMPlog clinical visual acuity measuring system is being developed for both routine and research use. This study aimed to validate its performance in amblyopic children and both normal and diseased adults against the gold standard ETDRS chart and the E-ETDRS computerised acuity measurement algorithm. Method: Timed test and retest fully interpolated five letters per line logMAR visual acuity measurements were taken for 70 adults and 59 amblyopic children using the ETDRS chart and the COMPlog visual acuity measurement system. 39 of the adults also underwent computerised acuity testing using the E-ETDRS testing algorithm. The tested adults included normals as well as subjects with a range of ocular diseases. The methods of Bland and Altman were employed with test–retest variability (TRV) expressed as 95% confidence limits for agreement. Results: No significant bias was observed between the gold standard ETDRS acuity measurements and those taken with either COMPlog or E-ETDRS. TRVs of ±0.12 logMAR and ±0.10 logMAR were respectively found for COMPlog measurements in the amblyopic children and adult groups compared with ±0.12 logMAR for the ETDRS chart in both groups. The TRV of the E-ETDRS system was slightly greater at ±0.16 logMAR. Median testing times for COMPlog and ETDRS were 95 and 85 s and 66 and 56 s respectively in the paediatric and adult groups and 120 s for the E-ETDRS measurements on adults. Discussion: COMPlog measurements agree well with and are similarly reliable to the gold standard ETDRS chart with comparable test times. E-ETDRS algorithm measurements took approximately twice as long.
Source: bjo.bmj.com
[Original articles - Clinical science] Results of surgery on macular holes that develop after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment
Aims: To evaluate the characterics and surgical prognosis of macular holes that develop after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair. Design: Retrospective, interventional, consecutive case series. Methods: The case records of nine patients who developed a new full-thickness macular hole after prior RD repair were reviewed over 6 years. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) confirmed these holes. They were offered surgical repair with a median follow-up of 13.3 months (1–63 months). Main outcomes included preoperative vitreo-macular status, OCT evaluation and postoperative visual acuity. Results: 1007 eyes underwent surgery for prior retinal detachment between August 1999 and September 2005. Nine eyes developed a full-thickness macular hole (prevalence 0.9%): five developed after scleral buckling surgery, one after pneumatic retinopexy and three after primary vitrectomy. The mean time to macular hole diagnosis after RD was 2.9 months (0.5–18). All patients underwent macular hole surgery by the same surgeon. At 1 month, macular hole repair was noticed in eight eyes. In this group, visual acuity at a median of 11.9 months of follow-up was 20/125 (20/400 – 20/63). Three eyes had an improvement of more than three Snellen lines. Conclusions: Macular holes developing after RD repair is a rare complication (less than 1%). Its physiopathological mechanisms are not well known. Conventional macular hole surgery including pars plana vitrectomy, inconstant internal limiting membrane delamination and long-acting gas tamponade seems to achieve to macular reattachment (89%). The visual outcome seems conditioned by the macular status noticed during the RD.
Source: bjo.bmj.com
[Original articles - Clinical science] Nystagmus characteristics in congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB)
Aim: To analyse nystagmus characteristics in patients with congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) for differentiation from other forms of early childhood nystagmus. Methods: Horizontal and vertical eye movements of 10 patients (6–46 years, mean 17.1 years, median 12.5 years) with CSNB (eight with CSNB1, two with CSNB2) were recorded with the scleral magnetic search coil technique or by electro-oculography. Nystagmus characteristics such as the amplitude, frequency, conjugacy and intermittency were analysed. Results: All patients had continuous, pendular, oblique and mostly dysconjugate nystagmus of high frequency and low amplitude. In seven cases, a large horizontal or vertical jerk nystagmus with increasing, decreasing or constant velocity was superimposed. Jerk nystagmus was mostly intermittent and conjugate. Head nodding was found not to be compensatory. Conclusions: Eye-movement recordings of CSNB patients disclosed specific nystagmus characteristics, such as an oblique direction, superimposed waveforms and dysconjugate eye movements. These features may help to distinct nystagmus in CSNB from other forms of early infancy nystagmus, such as congenital idiopathic nystagmus, latent nystagmus and spasmus nutans. We found nystagmus in CSNB to be similar to the nystagmus reported in blue-cone monochromatism and rod monochromatism, and in patients with a severe sensory defect. The nystagmus characteristics described should prompt electroretinographic investigation in cases of uncertain diagnosis.
Source: bjo.bmj.com
Avocados may prevent oral cancer
Creamy rich Avocados could help in preventing mouth cancer, and may reduce the growth of pre-cancerous cells, reveals new research. The scientists at Ohio State University stated that the high levels of phytochemicals in the fruit contain health-protecting qualities, which either stop the growth of pre-cancerous cells or kill the pre-cancerous cells leaving the normal cells […]
Source: www.ayurvedictalk.com
[Original articles - Laboratory science] Methylation of CpG island promoters in uveal melanoma
Background: Inactivation of tumour-related genes by promoter hypermethylation is a common epigenetic event in the development of a variety of tumours. Aim: To investigate in primary uveal melanoma the status of promoter methylation of genes thought to be involved in tumour development: p16, TIMP3, RASSF1, RARB, FHIT, hTERT and APC. Methods: Gene promoter methylation was studied by methylation-sensitive single-strand conformation analysis and dot-blot assay in a series of 23 primary uveal melanomas. All DNA samples were obtained from paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tissue blocks. Results: hTERT promoter methylation was found with a relatively high frequency (52%). Promoter methylation of p16, TIMP3, RASSF1, RARB, FHIT and APC was a rare event. For none of these genes did promoter methylation exceed 15% of tumour samples, and, for some genes (FHIT and APC), no methylation was found at all. Furthermore, promoter methylation was absent in 39% (9/23) of cases. In only 22% (5/23) of cases was hypermethylation of at least two promoters observed. Conclusions: Promoter methylation of hTERT is a regular event in uveal melanoma. Hypermethylation of the other genes studied does not seem to be an essential element in the development of this tumour. As promoter methylation of APC, RASSF1 and RARB is often observed in cutaneous melanoma, these results suggest that different epigenetic events occur in the development of cutaneous and uveal melanoma.
Source: bjo.bmj.com