Eye Problems and Diabetes

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Laser Locators

If you have diabetes, regular visits to your ophthalmologist for eye exams are important to avoid eye problems. High blood sugar (glucose) increases the risk of diabetes eye problems. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults age 20 to 74. High blood sugar in diabetes causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of eye problem, you need to get your blood sugar back into the target range (90-130 milligrams per deciliter or mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal). It may take as long as three months after your blood sugar is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal. Blurred vision can also be a symptom of more serious eye problem with diabetes. The three major eye problems that people with diabetes may develop and should be aware of are cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

Diabetic Retinopathy

The retina is a group of specialized cells that convert light as it enters though the lens into images. The eye nerve or optic nerve transmits visual information to the brain. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the vascular (blood-vessel related) complications related to diabetes. This diabetes eye problem is due to damage of small vessels and is called a “microvascular complication.” Kidney disease and nerve damage due to diabetes are also microvascular complications. Large blood vessel damage (also called macrovascular complications) includes complications like heart disease and stroke.

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Glaucoma and Trabeculoplasty

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Laser Locators

Glaucoma is not just one eye disease, but a group of eye conditions resulting in optic nerve damage, which causes loss of vision. Abnormally high pressure inside your eye (intraocular pressure) is in most cases the cause of this damage.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness and can damage your vision so gradually you may not notice any loss of vision until the disease is at an advanced stage. The most common type of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, has no noticeable signs or symptoms except gradual vision loss.

Early diagnosis and treatment can minimize or prevent optic nerve damage and limit glaucoma-related vision loss. It’s important to get your eyes examined regularly, and make sure your eye doctor measures your intraocular pressure.

Laser trabeculoplasty uses a very focused beam of light to treat the drainage angle of the eye. This surgery makes it easier for fluid to flow out of the front part of the eye, decreasing pressure in the eye. There are two types of laser trabeculoplasty: Argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) uses a laser to open up the drainage angle of the eye. Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) uses a lower-level laser to open the drainage angle of the eye.

For laser trabeculoplasty eye drops are put in the person’s eye before or after the procedure to decrease the amount of fluid in the eyes and prevent elevation in eye pressure immediately after laser treatment. A special microscope (slit lamp) and lens (goniolens) are then used to guide the laser beam to the canals (trabecular meshwork) where fluid drains from the eye. The doctor makes small burns in the trabecular meshwork. Some people feel a heat sensation in the eye during the laser surgery.

L. Jay Katz, MD, provided an update on the forthcoming randomized clinical trial comparing selective laser trabeculoplasty with topical medical therapy using prostaglandin analogues as initial monotherapy for glaucoma. According to Dr. Katz, he and his fellow researchers found the two treatment options to be similarly efficacious out to 1 year.

Glaucoma can affect any age group including newborns, infants, children and the elderly. According to statistics provided by the Glaucoma Research Foundation, over four million people in the US suffer from glaucoma, of which only 50{0730eed075b45d9e50c00d6cd42dd08773e0164f29a45151808bf89051290974} are aware of their condition. Glaucoma presents a greater public health concern than cataracts because the blindness caused by glaucoma is irreversible. Thus, early detection through comprehensive eye examinations is the key to protect against glaucoma damage.

At Laser Locators we carry the top name surgical and diagnostic ophthalmic equipment manufacturers you can trust, like Acon, Nidek, Lumenis and more for preforming all of your precise ophthalmic procedures. Contact us at www.laserlocators.com or call 1-877-924-2020 and let one of our expert equipment locators help you today.

Laser Locators Helps Out Volunteer Pilots

Laser Locators believes in giving back to the community. When a non-profit reached out for help, we were pleased to step up and get the job done for them. Here is the testimonial from one of the directors.

We are a non-profit group of pilots and volunteers conducting eye-glass clinics in Northern Baja and needed to replace our very outdated auto refractor. After a few emails and calls to Joey Colarulo, he recommended a high quality and slightly used Zeiss 597. The price was well within our budget, we had the 597 within weeks. I should also note that the roads in Baja are sometimes bumpy and pot-holded, by the time we returned the 597 to California it had a calibration error; although slightly out of warranty Joey took this unit back and repaired it for free. I can not say enough about the great service Joey provided to our small organization. Jim McKay – Clinic Coordinator Flying Samaritans.