Live cooking demonstration!

Join us for a talk and a live demonstration on healthy cooking for the eyes!

Dr Kumari Neelam, a registrar and senior research fellow at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Alexandra Hospital, will give a talk on the “do’s and don’t’s” of our Asian diets. A senior dietitian of the hospital will then perform a live cooking demonstration, showing how to preserve nutrition while cooking food.

Speaker: Dr Kumari Neelam
Date: Sept 26, 2009 (Sat)
Time: 2 - 4pm
Venue: Auditorium, Alexandra Hospital

This MDS talk is held in conjunction with the national AMD Awareness Week, continuing the society's support for the annual event.

Please note that this event is held at the hospital's Auditorium and NOT the Seminar Room which MDS usually uses for its events. See you there!

Space is limited, so please reserve your seats soon. Call Anne at 6238-7387 or e-mail Sharon at alleyes@singnet.com.sg.

The Battle Against MMD

By Peh Shing Huei
MDS Secretary

The numbers were sobering. 20 per cent of Singapore children are myopic when they walk through the gates of school for the first time. 70 per cent would be wearing glasses or contact lenses before university. And 80 per cent of the military men of this country have less than perfect vision, leading to an ever shrinking pool of pilots for the Singapore Armed Forces.

Singapore, said Dr Adrian Koh (above) in a talk at the Macular Degeneration Society last Saturday, has the "dubious honour" of being the Myopia Capital of the World. The country's short-sighted population is three times higher than the United States.

That's not the worst bit, he added in a 30-minute long presentation titled The Battle Against MMD (Myopic Macular Degeneration). Singaporeans also has a higher proportion of people with high myopia (over 600 degrees). This high myopia group makes up 10 per cent of those wearing spectacles in Singapore, compared to just 2 per cent in the West.

Unfortunately, with high myopia, more problems arise as the eyeball stretches. Instead of a round ball as a normal eye should be, it becomes elongated, not unlike a rugby ball, for example.

There are three main complications from high myopia, said Dr Koh, who is a founding partner and senior consultant at the Eye and Retina Surgeons, Camden Medical Centre. They are: Myopic Macular Degeneration (MMD), Macular Schisis and Retinal Detachment. They can all lead to blindness, if not treated promptly.

Thankfully, treatment has been improving, in particular for the growing threat of MMD. The new Anti-VEGF injections, such as Macugen, Avastin and Lucentis, have been able to prevent 95 per cent of patients from losing further vision and helped 70 per cent gained vision. For 40 per cent of the patients, they even enjoy a doubling of the vision lost, said Dr Koh, who is also the director of the Retinal Centre International and vice-president of the International Retinal Foundation.

But ultimately, prevention is better than cure. He gave four tips to the 35 MDS members present at the Alexandra Hospital - UV protection; Daily Supplements; Stub out the cigarettes; and an antioxidant rich diet.

Online patients' forum

Check out this online patients' forum, for people suffering from various ailments. It is a free forum that serves as a channel for patients to come together, support and encourage one another through their ailments.

There's one on Macular Degeneration too. Take a look! http://medicalhub.com.sg/patients_forum.html

Have a lovely Sunday everyone. :)

MDS' second AGM

Dear MDS members,

We will be holding our 2nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, 15 August 2009 (see details below). MDS will review its activities during the past year. Members are encouraged to attend the AGM to share your views on what you liked about the 2008/09 MDS activities and how you want the society to proceed.

For catering purposes, please indicate your attendance by either telephoning Anne (62387387), or sending an email to alleyes@singnet.com.sg.

AGENDA OF THE 2nd AGM
MACULAR DEGENERATION SOCIETY (MDS), SINGAPORE
Date: August 15, 2009 (Sat)
Time: 3.30pm – 4.30pm

Directly after MDS talk by Dr Adrian Koh
“The Battle against MMD”
Time: 2.00pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Alexandra Hospital Seminar Room

Welcome address by MDS President, Sharon Siddique
Membership Status 2008/09
Annual Report 2008/09
Financial Report 2008/09
Discussion of future activities 2009-2010

We look forward to seeing you at the MDS AGM on Saturday, 15 August, 2009!

Tidbits that make tables groan

By Sharon Siddique
MDS President

Pity to those who missed our fantastic MDS Makan get-together on July 18! We had about 20 members, who had a great time catching up, exchanging experiences and information, and…..EATING!


In GREAT SINGAPORE style, everyone outdid themselves in terms of tasty offerings. Thanks to MDS Exco member, Doreen Heng, we were treated to a very “balanced diet” of wonderful olive rice, vegetarian mee, char siew rice, chicken wings, curry puffs, fruits, doughnuts, cream puffs, and many types of nonya kueh. And I’m sure I have forgotten some tidbits that made the tables groan.

The relaxed atmosphere was very congenial, and I think it can safely be said that no one went home hungry (and some of us went home with some new recipes to try). Hopefully we can make this an annual affair, and attract more dedicated eaters next time round.

* Photographs taken by Judi Ho, daughter of MDS Exco Member Anny Leow. Big thank you to Judi!

Radiation treatment for MD?

Radiation sounds like frightening technique to treat macular degeneration. But scientists are now exploring it as a way to bolster the treatment for MD and so far, the results have been positive.

Judie Janes, for example, is one of those who went through the clinical trials and came out with two thumbs up. Her handiwork used to keep a long list of friends and family in style. Last year, she thought she made her last stitch."I couldn't thread a needle, couldn't see the needle to thread it on my sewing machine," Janes said.

She was diagnosed with wet macular degeneration. Abnormal blood vessels growing under her retina were bleeding. "Vision is not something you can take for granted," she said.

Traditionally, doctors inject a drug into the eye that stops the vessels from growing, but it doesn't last.

"It's a big impact on lifestyle for the patients," said Dr Peter Sonkin, a retina specialist at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. "They have to come in once a month, sometimes for a year or two or longer."

In a clinical trial, doctors use a small probe that delivers targeted low-dose radiation to the eye. The goal -- damage abnormal the blood vessels without affecting the healthy parts of the eye.

"The amount of radiation exposure to the body from going through this procedure is less than one would get flying from New York to Los Angeles in a plane," said Dr Carl Awh, also a retina specialist at Baptist Hospital.

Then surgeons inject a dose of the traditional medication. They say the radiation-drug combo is more powerful, lasts longer and could eliminate the need for monthly injections.

"Nothing's blurry," Janes said. "I passed the eye test, and you know you can't fake an eye test." Janes checks her vision every morning. She went from nearly legally blind - 20/100 - to 20/20 after surgery.

"Every morning after I do my little grid test, I look at that prayer and it lets me know how blessed I really am," she said. A grandma who has too much going on to spend her golden years in the dark.

Patients are sedated for the outpatient surgery which takes about an hour. The technique is in the final stages of approval in Europe and should be available there in August. If the trial is successful in the U.S., the treatment could be available in less than two years.

Foot Tapping Qigong

By Robert Lewanski

Chi Kung Master Huang Runtian, writing in “Treasured Qigong of Traditional Medical School,” states that this “Foot Tapping Technique” can nourish the liver and improve eyesight; curing chronic diseases of the liver, gall bladder and eyesight diseases (near-sighted, far-sighted, and poor-sighted) .

“As a result of conscientious practicing of the Qigong exercise, the liver-wood nourished by sufficient kidney-water and abundant “earth Qi” would be full of vigor and vitality. Thus the Qigong can nourish the liver and make eyes clear.”

Frequency and duration of exercise - slap or clap your feet 50-100 times. For health protection, once a day before going to bed.

How to perform the “Foot Tapping Technique? Take a sitting posture (crossed-legged or simple-sitting…). Close eyes slightly. Rid the mind of all distractions. Relax the whole body. Breathe naturally. Open the eyes.

Put the right foot on the left knee {reverse for females}. Tap [slap] the arch of the right foot with the palm of the left hand. Do the same with the other foot. Slap your foot in a relaxed manner with cupped palm; do not slap your foot with a stiff or rigid hand. Just be relaxed and slightly loose in the wrist area while slapping.

Here are some ailments Chinese Medicine attributes to being helped by foot tapping or slapping: Yin (cold) deficiency, yang (hot) excess, upper body heat excess, lower body deficiency (ungroundedness) , kidney and heart problems, excessive rise of liver yang, seminal emissions, night sweats, heart palpitations, poor memory, insomnia, mental stress, neurasthenia, migraine headaches, knee and back pain, blood deficiency, burning red face, mental depression, poor eyesight, liver and gall bladder problems etc.

In practicing this Chi Kung, you need not believe in it, but you must do the exercise earnestly. You will get benefits from it, whether you believe it or not. While visiting Zen-Taoist Master Hyunoong Sunim, in Washington State several years ago, I was awakened early one morning by a loud clapping.

I found out later that he was slapping his foot. I tested his eyesight a few years later, and found that he has better than 20-20 vision–his eyesight is 40-10–much better than 20-20. He can see and read the 10 foot Snellen Eye Chart at 40 feet away without glasses or contacts! An amazing feat for someone in his 40s. I have found this exercise to be one of the best Chi Kung techniques for improving one’s health and eyesight.

I perform foot slapping 75 times in the morning and before bed. If you have more energy, you can “slap” your feet 200 or 300 times. The goal of this “foot slapping” technique is to open-up the energy points on the foot kidney point and the acupoint on the palm. Once they are opened, slapping 50 times before bed is sufficient. Do not overdo it to exhaustion. Just relax and slap at an even slow tempo, about one second between each slap.