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Near-Sightedness Appears Linked to Excess Sugar in Diet
Studies carried out in hunter-gatherer societies and in recently westernized hunter-gatherer groups indicate that the prevalence of myopia normally occurs in 0-2% of the population, and most refractive errors are less than minor. Moderate to high myopia is either non-existent or occurs in about one person out of a thousand.
Diets high in refined starches such as breads and cereals increase insulin levels. This affects the development of the eyeball, making it abnormally long and causing short-sightedness, suggests a team led by Loren Cordain, an evolutionary biologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
from scientific scrutiny."When these hunter-gatherer societies change their lifestyles and introduce grains and carbohydrates, they rapidly develop (within a single generation) myopia rates that equal or exceed those in western societies.
In Dr. Cordain's study of 229 hunter-gatherer societies, he found that although refined cereals and sugars were rarely if ever consumed by groups living in their traditional manner, these foods quickly became dietary staples following western contact.
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Use Your Major Medical Insurance
(don't settle for EyeMed, Davis Or Cole low quality care)
Even if your company switches you from good routine eye care plans like VSP to low benefit plans like EyeMed, Cole Vision or Davis Vision, we can still accept your MAJOR MEDICAL INSURANCE for an eye exam! In addition, your optical plan may have out of network eye glass benefits.
Click the links below for out of network benefit information.
- Cole Vision
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The reason we do not accept these low paying optical plans is that they force the optometrist to do a rushed eye exam (due to low reimbursement). Recently, Dr. Ross saw a patient with Davis Vision who was not satisfied with a nearby Davis Provider. Her exam there was under 10 minutes, AND the Optometrist was not aware she has Diabetes (and needed a Dilated Diabetic eye exam). Fortunately, Dr. Ross has over 40 minutes to spend with the patient to perform a complete Diabetic eye exam!
To recuperate the losses from low paying optical plans, some eye care providers will tout Optos as a way to eliminate Dilation. The problem with Optos is that it is a poor substitute to diagnose subtle retinal diseases! Please click on this link: to go to the Digital Retinal Imaging Page.
Our fee for Digital Retinal Image Screening is $40, while Optos Providers charge $45. In addition, if there is a medical diagnosis found with Retinal Imaging, from then on, any imaging may be billed to your insurance company. |
Lazy Eye - Amblyopia
How does amblyopia develop? For proper neural wiring connections between the visual cortex of the brain and the eyes to develop , a clear visual image must fall on the retinas of both eyes . Poor vision will develop , in an otherwise normal eye , if the brain is visually-deprived from one of the two eyes while critical wiring connections are developing .There are several situations that can lead to lazy eye syndrome .
Strabismus , commonly known as 'crossed-eyes' , is the most common cause of amblyopia. While parents of a child with strabismus may be able to tell by examining their child that there is something wrong with his eyes, there are other causes of amblyopia which cannot be detected by the parents because the eyes appear to have a straight alignment. For this reason , it is recommended that all children have a first screening eye examination by age 3 by an Eye Doctor Trained in Vision Therapy (Optometrist) and at any time sooner if the parents are concerned about any eye problem .
The second most common cause of amblyopia is anisometropia . A child with anisometropia often has a straight eye alignment despite developing poor visual acuity in one eye. Anisometropia refers to an unequal refraction between the two eyes , i.e., the strength of the glasses prescription between the two eyes is different. Other causes of amblyopia include a droopy eyelid, corneal astigmatism caused by either an eyelid mass lesion or an ocular lesion , or cataracts. Any condition that leads to visual occlusion in a developing eye in childhood for a prolonged period of time can result in amblyopia .
Treatment for amblyopia varies depending on the cause . Eye-patching of the good eye to force visual use of the lazy eye is a time-honored treatment for amblyopia. Sometimes , deliberately blurring the vision of the good eye with cycloplegic ( dilating ) eye drops is used to treat amblyopia . Providing glasses to correct for anisometropia and astigmatism is often necessary as well . Eyelid surgery to correct a droopy eyelid , or surgery to remove a cataract may be necessary before eye- patching therapy can be instituted
The mainstay of treating amblyopia is patching, either full-time during waking hours, or patching the good eye full- or part-time. The younger children are, the shorter the time course required for treatment. Older children, aged six or older, may require months of patching to restore normal levels of vision. Once vision has been restored with therapy, part-time patching or maintenance patching may be required to keep the vision from slipping or deteriorating.
The patching regimen is usually started as close to full time as possible. As the vision begins to improve, the patching may be reduced. Part time patching is usually needed until 9 years of age. Patching can be a trying experience for the family but the vision gained will benefit the child for his or her entire life. The patches are designed to block out as much light as possible. The most effective patches are large "Band-Aid" types that completely cover the eye. Specially designed cloth patches that snugly fit over one lens of a pair of glasses can also be effective.
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