Contributor Rebecca Banovic writes at Forbes (4/20, Banovic) about “a smart glove prototype called Anora” developed by Nikola Krstic, a graduate from the Electrical Engineering School in Belgrade, to help “the blind and visually impaired move unaided without a service dog or white cane.” The glove has “ultrasonic sensors that explore the surroundings: it provides vibrotactile feedback on the position of the closest obstacles in range and lets users know by a vibrating motor and voice app.” It also includes a “Panic Button” that allows the user to “send the location via text message to a guardian or friend.” So far, it “has been tested on 30 blind individuals in Serbia- and the reception has been positive.”

Medscape  (7/23, Brown, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found that people who eat “at least one orange per day have a 60% lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) 15 years later compared with those who do not eat oranges.” The findings  were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

They “report independent associations between dietary intakes of total flavonoids, and some of the common flavonoid classes (e.g., flavonols and flavanones), and AMD among older adults. Furthermore, the consumption of oranges and orange juice, one of the main foods and beverages contributing to total flavanone intake, is also likely to independently influence the risk of AMD,” the authors write.

“Bamini Gopinath, PhD, from the Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Australia, and colleagues published their findings online July 6 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.”

“The researchers conducted a population-based cohort study of data from the Blue Mountains Eye Study. They included 2856 adults aged 49 years or older at baseline who provided dietary information for prevalence analyses, 2037 of whom were followed up 15 years later and were included in incidence analyses.”

“The study also may have been underpowered to detect modest associations between flavonoid intake and the development of incident AMD, as the number of participants who developed incident AMD was small.”

The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Healthy vision offers patients more than good eyesight; for many, their quality of life is greatly diminished if their vision is less than adequate. For example, needing help reading a menu or being nervous to drive at night can limit patients’ independence, but nutritional support can help maintain long- term eye health. Perhaps some of the most talked-about antioxidants necessary for healthy vision are zeaxanthin and lutein, but why all the excitement around these two nutrients?

What’s all the hype about Zeaxanthin and Lutein?

Zeaxanthin (pronounced zee-aZAN-thin)

Zeaxanthin is a member of a group of compounds known as carotenoids.1  In the Zeaxanthin and Visual Function (ZVF) Study, researchers refer to this carotenoid as a “superior antioxidant” because of its chemical structure.2  In the same study, authors remark that “the macula selectively places [zeaxanthin] in its foveal center where the greatest protection is needed, which is last to degenerate.” This means that zeaxanthin is responsible for protecting the crisp, clear central vision needed for reading, seeing faces, and other daily tasks. While this antioxidant can be found in orange peppers, corn, and spinach, many Americans do not consume enough of these foods in their diet. 

Lutein (pronounced LOO- teen)

Like zeaxanthin, lutein is also classified as a carotenoid. Accumulated by the retina in the peripheral aspect of the macula, this antioxidant protects peripheral vision and low-contrast visual acuity.2 Lutein can be found in dark, leafy greens like kale, spinach, broccoli, and collard greens. While most patients know that these foods are beneficial, Americans sadly have moved toward a diet lacking in leafy greens. 

Macular Pigment 

Zeaxanthin and lutein work together to protect the sensitive tissues in the retina and form what is called the xanthophyll macular pigment. Found in the center of the macula, this protective pigment works like internal sunglasses, filtering harmful wavelengths of light before they reach the photoreceptors. Healthy, or dense, macular pigment may improve visual functions such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, light sensitivity, and glare recovery. 

From Review of Optometry Online May 10, 2018.

Sources: 

1. Heiting, Gary. “Lutein and Zeaxanthin – Eye and Vision Benefits.” All About Vision, AAV Media, LLC., Dec. 2017, www.allaboutvision.com/nutrit ion/lutein.htm. 

2. Richer SP, Stiles W, Graham-Hoffman K, et al. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of zeaxanthin and visual function in patients with atrophic age-related macular degeneration: the Zeaxanthin and Visual Function Study (ZVF) FDA IND #78, 973. Optometry. 2011 Nov;82(11):667-680.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.optm.2011.08.008. 

3. Herman JP, Kleiner-Goudey SJ, Davis RL (2017) Case Report of Dietary Supplements Improving Macular Pigment and Visual Function. Adv Oph thalmol Vis Syst 6(1): 00166. DOI: 10.15406/aovs.2017.06.00166. 

OrCam is an intuitive wearable device with a smart camera designed to assist people who are visually impaired. OrCam gives independence and enhances quality of life. It’s a powerful low vision tool when all other options are exhausted.

OrCam is a smart camera mounted on your eye glasses and process visual input in real time. Orcam reads text on signs, books and your phone instantly. You can enter products you use everyday and it will recognize and read aloud what it is you are looking at. It even recognizes faces and announces people you know.

Inside the home, it allows users to read their morning papers and books without asking for assistance or searching for audiobooks. It reads text on computer and smartphone screens without needing to learn new software or use new tools.

This ingenious device is appropriate for all ages, and can be used with external speakers or earphones. Outside the home, it enables independence by reading at restaurants and other public places, identifying money note denominations and products pre-entered in it’s memory for shopping, and it does much more!

For a free demonstration contact:

Gabe DeLeon, Technology Sales Consultant and Training
Toll Free 1-800-770-8474 x 108
Email: gabe@adaptivetr.com

What can a person with low vision really see? That question is not an easy one to answer because every person with a visual impairment truly has a unique pattern of vision loss.  No two people have the same exact vision loss!

Macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and congenital eye disease, among the hundreds of other conditions that can cause us to lose some of our vision, all result in slightly different ways for a person to see.

Macular Degeneration Progression

Some eye diseases cause us to lose our central vision fibers, creating a sort of ‘Swiss cheese’ pattern of blindspots. People experience this type of sight loss as things looking dim, wavy, distorted, blurry, or irregular. When our central retinal vision is damaged, it’s hard to see faces and small details, or even to read printed words like mail, street signs, and TV captions.

Other eye problems, like retinal detachment and glaucoma can affect our side vision, or peripheral vision. Blind spots in our peripheral vision make getting around more difficult. People with loss of side vision, like after a brain stroke or serious head trauma, are more likely to trip over things, loose balance, feel disorientated, and have more confusion with regards to motion in their environment.

Vision is our primary and most important sense, so losing any vision can be frightening. Knowing how our amazing eyes work and how we actually see and what can be done, can reduce the stress of vision loss.  Acceptance, understanding and moving forward allows benefits from low vision rehabilitation.

Here’s a very brief overview of our basic vision function: each of our eyes has over one million vision fibers coming down from the brain, which when bundled together are called the optic nerve. Those nerve fibers spread out and line the inside of the eye to form a thin film of nervous system tissue that we call the retina. The retina is responsible for “catching” everything that our eyes look at, and then our retinas send that captured information back to the brain for processing, learning, and storing.

If any of those neural fibers responsible for seeing, including photoreceptors, nuclei, and other cells, get damaged, then we have what’s called low vision. The reason it’s highly unlikely that two eyes, let alone two people, have the exact same level of damage to the exact same fibers is because there are so many fibers and cells to begin with!

The good news here is that something can be done to help a person with loss of vision see better. Low vision specialists, like Dr. Christina Petrou, work with your ophthalmologist, retina surgeon, and other eye doctors. The role of a low vision optometrist is not to replace your primary eye doctor, but to help identify where and how a person sees their best, and to maximize that vision.

At Petrou Eye Care, a low vision examination and consultation allows time to create a plan of educating, training, and bringing awareness to new ways of improving the function of a person’s remaining vision. Initial low vision consultations can last up to 3 hours, and may be spread over multiple office visits. Contrast enhancement, magnification and lighting evaluation, blind spot mapping, and many other vision function tests are introduced for each person’s unique vision loss and daily life skill requirements.

If you know someone who would benefit from low vision rehab, have him or her call Dr. Christina Petrou at 414-247-2020.  She and her team of low vision professionals are available by appointment to guide and offer resources for patients needing help in the metro Milwaukee area.

AMD usually develops gradually and painlessly, and good vision in one eye can mask vision loss in the other eye. As AMD progresses, signs may become obvious.

Warning Signs for AMD:

Macular degeneration occurs in the center of the retina

• Difficulty reading or doing close work
• Distorted or wavy lines, borders, words, or details
• Blurry or faded faces, print, TV
• Blind spots, dark spots, or missing areas of straight-ahead vision

Know the risk factors…and if you notice any sudden or gradual change in your vision, don’t assume you need new glasses or contact lenses, make sure you have a complete eye exam. See your eye doctor as soon as possible.

Risk Factors for AMD:

• Aging – AMD affects one-third of adults over 75
• Heredity – A family history of AMD increases risk
• Gender – Women are more likely to develop AMD
• Race – Whites are at greater risk of AMD
• Smoking – increases risk by 2-5 times
• Poor diet, poor circulation, obesity, and inactivity
• Prolonged UV exposure
• Less overall body pigment and light-colored eyes

If you’ve been told you have high risk macular degeneration, ask your eye doctor about using a home Amsler Grid to monitor your central retina for distortion from advancing macular degeneration.

Amsler Grid Home Eye Test

Smartphone apps technology is quickly becoming a big part of our everyday lives, and it seems as though there is an app for everything, including eye care!  Whether you own a smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch, apps that help you keep track of your healthcare needs can be extremely beneficial.  Below are descriptions of a few apps that can make your life easier.  

Mag Light App

Name: Mag Light

Cost: Free

This app is a very simple (although, very useful) magnifying glass with a light.  It operates through the device’s camera and LED light.  The user can view small objects or words with up to 5.0x magnification and can alter the light brightness.  A Pro version is available for $1.99 and offers a feature to freeze the frame, an option that is particularly useful for those with unsteady hands.  The Pro version also has a built-in photo album and allows the user to change the contrast of the image.

Amsler Grid Home Eye Test

Name: EyeCare – Amsler Grid Eye Test

Cost: Free

This simple app walks the user through an Amsler Grid test.  The Amsler Grid is a diagnostic tool used to detect visual disturbances caused by changes in the retina, particularly the macula, an area that is altered in a patient with macular degeneration.  The user follows step-by-step instructions in completing the test.  If defects are present on the grid, the user can use their finger to outline the defects’ locations.  The app also connects to the device’s photo album so the test and noted defects in the grid can be saved and reviewed with an optometrist or ophthalmologist.  

Name: LookTel Money Reader

LookTel Money Reader

Cost: $9.99

This app is useful for the visually impaired who need assistance in determining the denominations of money.  Just wave the device’s camera over the bill and the app will announce the denomination (both the numerical amount and the type of currency such as dollars or euros).  It will also display the amount in large, high-contrast font on the screen.  

These are only a few of the great apps that are available for eye care.  Some are available for both Android and iPhone, so check your operating system for availability.  They can be beneficial to a wide variety of people, and can make your life a bit easier.  As the market continues to develop, be on the lookout for many more to come!

We do this by providing extraordinary patient care – one person at a time. We enhance our patients’ quality of life by utilizing only the best lens designs, materials, contact lenses, and technology in eyewear and in eye exam techniques to manage and maintain our patient’s eye health for life.

Here’s more on how we do it:

Our Doctor – Wellness is her top priority. Dr. Christina Petrou strives to meet the visual needs of every patient with the long-term goal in mind of healthier eyes for a lifetime. She is committed to excellence in eye care, and is known for providing detailed and thorough examinations. She believes that great patient care begins with active listening, effective communication and education. Dr. Petrou works closely with, and refers to, other local eye specialists to ensure you receive the finest care in the area if you need surgery, visual therapy, or advanced medical eye care.

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Our Team – You will enjoy being taken care of by our friendly team of optical professionals whose goal is to exceed your needs and make you happy. We want you to have the best experience possible, whether you’re here for a thorough and informative eye exam, or need help selecting fun new eyewear to invigorate your style. One of our team’s specialties is working with unique populations such as seeing children for exams and fitting them with eyewear after being referred by pediatric ophthalmologists, as well as people who have loss of vision (called low vision) sent by their medical eye doctors or retina surgeons.

Our Eyewear – To provide you with excellent vision and perfectly fit spectacles, our skilled opticians scour the globe looking for clearest lenses and the most innovative eyewear. In addition to attending the best continental showcase, New York’s International Vision Expo, our Milwaukee team meets with experts from all over the world to bring you the newest technology for eyes.

Our Patients – We love taking care of you! Because we want to know how we can make your experience better, we encourage you to fill out a survey after each annual exam. We read all of your comments and make changes to improve our service to you. The greatest compliment we receive is your referral of friends and family to us, and we sincerely thank you.

Our Specialty – We are known for integrating vision enhancements, whole body health, and eye care, because it’s all connected. Dr. Christina Petrou pays close attention to how your eyes function, and she is an expert at identifying causes of ocular discomfort and vision loss, whether due to binocular vision disorders, computer eyestrain, or eye disease. If you need glasses or contact lenses, she will prescribe specific lens systems for your vision requirements, and work with the Petrou Eye Care team of opticians to fit you with the best lens design for your eye condition.

Our Office – When you enter Petrou Eye Care, you will feel a sense of relaxation, comfort and trust knowing that you will receive superior service and individualized patient care.

Our Community – Our office is part of this community and a force for positive action. Petrou Eye Care gives back to the community we love in many ways: donating eye wear, eye care, time, and financial support to local organizations including Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Women’s Soccer Club of Wisconsin / Women’s Charities, Inc, and Walker’s Point Community Clinic.

Our World – To support vision and eye care worldwide for people who cannot afford or obtain such care, Petrou Eye Care donates eyewear to Lion’s Club International. We clean, package and catalog glasses for distance, near, and sun protection to be crated and shipped on missions benefiting others in need, often to South and Central America.

This device has the potential for magnifying central visual acuity and holds promise for people with macular degeneration, as well as for other eye diseases which can result in decreased central vision. Low vision specialists and optometrists will be watching and following this interesting device for progress.

For more information check out:

http://www.aoa.org/news/clinical-eye-care/new-tech-holds-promise-for-low-vision-patients?sso=y

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289504.php

Customers can also obtain a free ScripTalk Reader from Envision America that will enable them to listen to the information on the ScripTalk label. Currently, there are many people that have difficulty reading or understanding the contents and instructions of their prescription medications. The small print and look-alike packaging of medicine vials can lead to confusion, non-compliance and mistakes. Envision America has created a solution to this serious issue with ScripTalk Station.

For more information visit EnvisionAmerica.com or CVS.com.