The man who taught himself to see

This is an amazing inspirational story to round off the year. Daniel Kish has been sightless since he was a year old. Yet he can mountain bike. And navigate the wilderness alone. And recognize a building as far away as 1,000 feet. How? The same way bats can see in the dark.

Click here to read the full article. It is a long piece, but well worth your time. 

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

Eylea approved in US

The United States has approved the use of Eylea, a new drug to treat age-related macular degeneration. It adds an important new weapon to the ongoing battle against the eye disease. 

Eylea is similar to the other two main drugs in the market, Lucentis and Macugen. It inhibits a factor that makes unwanted blood vessels grow in the retina. The blood vessels can leak blood and fluid, causing damage to the retina. Eylea blocks all forms of this factor, called VEGF, and also blocks a second similar factor.

But compared to Lucentis and Macugen, Eylea requires fewer injections and is hence cheaper for patients. Lucentis is given once every month, although some patients may need treatment only once every three months. Macugen is given every six weeks. Eylea is given once every two months after three once-a-month injections. All three of these drugs are given by injection into the eye with a tiny needle.

In clinical trials, Eylea has worked as well as Lucentis. But the drug can cause some side effects. In clinical trials, the most common were bleeding in the white part of the eye at the site of injection, eye pain, cataracts, detachment of the gel part of the eye (vitreous) from the retina, floating spots in the vision, and increased pressure within the eye.

Wondrous paths of Botanic Gardens

By Sharon Siddique
MDS President

About 30 of our “regular” MDSers gathered at the Botany Centre, Green Pavilion for our annual outing on Nov 5. At 10am we were offered a fascinating tour of “Edible and Medicinal Plants, which was conducted by Botanic Garden staff.

They were so well informed, that we all picked up numerous bits of information – rather than walking through “trees and bushes”, we actually were introduced to them, and I don’t think any of us will again walk through the garden ignorant of how dependent we are upon these many “edible and medicinal” plants.

To give just a few examples:

We were introduced to a nutmeg tree – fascinating to see the flowers, the fruits, and to actually see the connection to the tree itself. Now nutmeg has much more meaning than powder in a spice bottle! Or the introduction to a kaffir limebush (limau purut in Malay). The pungent leaf is so familiar to anyone who cooks or indulges in Southeast Asian dishes, but to break off a fresh one for a smell was quite an experience.

Question: And did you know the difference between wild and cultivated bananas?

Answer: wild banana bunches grow down, while cultivated ones grow up.

Multiply these insights by 100, and you have some idea of what knowledge we acquired. Our one and a half hour tour wound around the wondrous paths, ending up at the ginger garden, our next-to-last edible stop. We then retired to the benches outside the Orchid Pavilion for a VERY edible, delicious box lunch, and welcome drinks. (Yes, it was HOT!) We wrapped up at 12pm, with loads of good fellowship, and much food for thought.

For those of you who missed this tour, we would highly recommend it. The tours run every first Saturday of each month, - one at 9am and another at 10am.

They are free of charge, and you can sign up on the spot at the Green Pavilion at the Botany Centre, near the main Holland Road entrance. In addition we found lots of other tours and classes offered on the Botanic Garden website, so those of you who would like to follow-up, you can do so.

We will be holding our next MDS meeting in February 2012, after Chinese New Year, which falls on the Jan 23-24. We wish all MDSers a very happy holiday season, and don’t forget to check the website, blog or facebook for updates and informative entries. Look forward to seeing you all next year!

Phone check-ups for cataract

The Straits Times

Nov 5, 2011

By Fiona Low

Patients recovering from cataract surgery could be given follow-up consultations over the telephone under an initiative by Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Its eye centre is exploring ways to cut the number of return visits by those who have had the operation.

The idea is to make life more convenient for patients, who will be spared a journey, and free up doctors to focus on more complicated cases. Only patients whose surgery had gone without a hitch and who are deemed to be at low risk of complications are eligible for phone consultations.

Trained nurses will call them and go through a list of eight questions designed to check they are recovering smoothly and are free of problems such as infections. The initiative follows a successful pilot study in 2009. Phone consultations have been used to follow up cataract surgery in places such as the United States and Europe. However, this is the first time the system has been implemented here.

Patients who undergo the operation normally have to return to the hospital for three follow-up visits. The first is the day after surgery, the next is a week later and the third is a month after that. The phone consultations replace only the first visit. Dr Wong Hon Tym, head of the hospital’s ophthalmology department, said the questionnaire used by nurses is a safe way to pick up complications because they are usually easy to identify. Signs include obvious pain, blurry vision and redness in the eye.

Cataracts occur when the crystalline lens in the eye becomes cloudy, blurring the patient’s vision. The surgery involves removing it and replacing it with an artificial lens. Seven of the hospital’s 26 consultants routinely use phone consultations with their patients, and there are plans for all to do so eventually. Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed operation in the department. It is carried out on between 4,000 and 6,000 patients a year.

By the time the programme is implemented fully, about 1,000 10-minute clinic slots will be saved in a year. The eye centre is also looking into using telemedicine to reduce the number of follow-up visits by cataract patients. 

This means that instead of returning to the hospital, they can go to an optometrist at a polyclinic instead. Pictures and videos are taken of the eye and sent to the consultant at the hospital, who then conducts the check remotely.

Findings from a pilot study of the technique this year have been encouraging. It found that advances in technology mean the transmitted images are nearly as clear as if the doctor was examining the patient in the flesh. Telemonitoring is intended to be used with the patient’s third follow-up visit. Dr Wong said that although larger studies are needed, the promising data indicates that in future, post-operation visits will be carried out in a non-hospital setting.

fionalow@sph.com.sg

Blindness is avoidable

Press release by WHO

Oct 13, 2011

MANILA - The World Health Organization (WHO) today said that blindness could be avoided in eight out of 10 cases with appropriate treatment or early prevention.

Worldwide, WHO estimates that 246 million people have low vision and 39 million are blind, with cataracts as the leading cause of avoidable blindness, particularly in developing countries.

At the same time, cataract blindness in most cases can be treated by a 15-minute medical intervention. Other preventable causes of blindness include diabetic retinopathy and uncorrected refractive error. Trachoma remains the main infectious cause of avoidable blindness and is still common in parts of the Western Pacific Region, including Australia and the Pacific islands.

On 13 October, the international community marks World Sight Day to raise awareness of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. World Sight Day is held annually on the second Thursday of October.

Aside from the substantial impact that blindness or low vision has on a person’s quality of life, there is also a strong economic impact, not only for the person affected but also for the family and community giving support, said WHO. Reducing blindness, therefore, alleviates household, community and national poverty and is linked to improving access to educational and employment opportunities.

Surveys indicate that 90% of people with blindness or low vision live in low-income countries. In the Philippines, for example, an estimated half a million people are blind.

In more developed countries, however, there has been a reduction in visual impairment and blindness as a result of investment and the work of governments and international partners in developing national eye-health systems, including the improvement in the quality and quantity of eye-care services.

WHO is coordinating international efforts in reducing visual impairment, with a focus on building and strengthening health systems:

• strengthening country-level efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness;
• helping national health-care providers treat eye diseases;
• expanding access to eye-health services; and
• increasing rehabilitation for people with residual visual impairment.

In response to the increasing burden of chronic eye disease, WHO is now developing policies and guidelines for diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and refractive errors.

In the last 10 years, WHO has been working with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in the global initiative "Vision 2020: the Right to Sight". WHO, in partnership with Lions Clubs International, also established in 2004 a global network of 35 childhood blindness centres in 30 countries for the preservation, restoration or rehabilitation of sight in children. Fifteen million fewer people are blind today compared with projections made when the initiative was launched in 1999.

MDS Outing - Botanic Gardens

After our successful maiden outdoor event last year at the Hort Park, we are heading out to the sun again! This year, we are visiting the Botanic Gardens, on a guided "Edible and Medicinal Tour" led by the park's official staff. The tour will explain how edible and medicinal plants can contribute to our daily lifestyle. 

 

Participants will be exposed to some of the edible and medicinal plants in Singapore Botanic Gardens. The mission of this tour is to increase awareness of food as medicine as well as a source of nutrients & to increase awareness of the rich biodiversity of our tropical plants.

 
Lunch will be served after the tour, so please sign up now so that we can cater for you. You can take the Circle Line MRT to the new Botanic Gardens station.  

Please be punctual because the tour will start on time. This is our last event of the year, so please join us!

Date: Nov 5, 2011 (Sat)
Time: 9.45am - 11.30am
Venue: Botany Centre, Green Pavilion  (near Tanglin Gate, by Holland Road)

Attire: Light clothes in anticipation of hot weather, please bring a hat or an umbrella for shade if necessary.

Click here for a map of Botanic Gardens.

Call Anne at 6238-7387, or e-mail alleyes@singnet.com.sg to reserve your places now! This event is free for all MDS members.

Getting the message

The annual AMD Awareness Week was held from 24 – 30 September 2011.  Dr Amy Khor, Minister of State for Health, was Guest of Honour at the launch last Saturday morning.

MDS Singapore was one of the joint sponsors of the event, and as our contribution to the AMD Awareness exhibition, we had a computer with an extra-large screen monitor to introduce visitors to the online MDS sites – our website, blog and facebook page.   Some “got the message”, as we have been enjoying a larger volume of visitors since then!

MDS, together with the AMD Awareness Week organising committee, put together a very interesting afternoon session, with speakers covering several topics. These included “The Role of Vitamin Supplements in AMD”, “Coping with Vision Loss”,  “Advances in Management of AMD” and a “Healthy Cooking Demonstration”.  For some interesting and creative healthy recipes, check out the hospital website.

Narinder Sharma, CEO of AMD Alliance International, based in London, gave an interesting introduction to the organisation, as well as to the topic of coping with vision loss from a patient’s perspective. MDS is a member of the AMD Alliance International.  Those of you who would like further information on the Alliance and its activities, please visit their website.