Dry Eyes and Omega-3 Fatty Acids

While I certainly understand the reasons for it, I think it is silly to create a story touting tuna instead of talking about omega-3 fatty acids.

Not just carrots: Tuna may be what eyes need
There is no known cure for the condition, but a recent study suggests there is some action sufferers can take: Eat tuna.

According to a study published this fall by Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard Medical School, women who reported eating tuna more than five times a week had a 68 percent smaller chance of developing the condition.

Before the study, anecdotal evidence had led doctors and researchers to suspect a link between the inflammation of tissues around the eye that leads to dry eye syndrome and a high ratio in the body of omega 6 fatty acids, which are found in cooking oil, butter and mayonnaise, to omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in the dark flesh of fish.

When eye tissues are inflamed, sufferers are unable to produce the lipids found in regular tears. The lipids help cover the eye in a tear film and keep the water in tears from evaporating too quickly.

Without the lipids, eyes can still water, but the tears are not effective.

Eating more omega 3 fatty acids, like those found in tuna, should help reduce inflammation or prevent the problem from developing in the first place, said Dr. Biljana Miljanovic, lead author of the study.

Tuna isn't necessarily the best source of omega 3 fatty acids, but all species of tuna are very good sources and are more common in the American diet than some other fatty fishes, like mackerel or sardines. Salmon is another good source.

Why not spend a bit more time talking about the well known health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and highlight all of the readily available sources, whether foods or supplements?

Tags: Dry Eyes, Omega3 Fatty Acids

Finally, the Eyes Have Healed!

Time for an update. My three month follow up visit was just the other day.

I now have 20/20 vision. It is probably just a tiny bit better than that, but I'm not going to quibble.

The doctor wrote up a statement that I can take to the drivers license people so that I can get my "corrective eyewear" stipulation removed from my license.

It was strange, but after about a month, when they took me off the steroidal anti-anflammatory, my eyes finally started to heal up. I can't help but wonder if my good nutrition (including anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories) combined with that medicine kept my body from creating enough of an inflammatory response to heal the lenses quickly?

Anyhow, as they had been telling me, different people heal up at different speeds. I'm pretty damned happy these days, though I still reach for my glasses every morning when I wake up.

I'm hoping for just a slight little improvement. Maybe if I'm lucky and my eyesight gets a bit better I'll be able to squint funny and look through womens clothing...

Tags: Vision Correction, Healing Time

When Will it Get Better?

While I can certainly see better now, without correction, than I could ever before, I could certainly see better when I was wearing lenses. This isn't very fun. Apparently everyone heals at different rates, so all I can do is keep putting in the required drops and keep hoping that things get better.

For now, I go to work, stare at my computer screen and slowly develop a headache as the day goes on. It seems the eyes are a bit better in the morning and slowly get a bit worse as they get tired in the afternoon. I'm hating it. However, I just have to be patient and let my eyes heal -- being patient is not what I'm best at!

Tags: Eyes

Snap, Snap Snap Snap, Snap

Anyone who has done the laser surgery procedure will recognize these sounds. As I described in my previous post, the procedure is as follows:

You walk into the laser room and sit back in the chair. An assistant makes sure you are seated comfortably and perhaps a pillow or two are positioned to help keep your head stationary. Some drops are put into your eyes. Soon after, the doctor walks in, makes sure you aren't about to freak out and starts the procedure. Some type of device is used to hold your eyelids open, and then the surface layer of epithelial cells on your eye is removed. You try to keep your eyes focused on a little white light and you hear a lot of snapping or buzzing while the laser is carving. Your eye is indeed frozen while this is going on.

A few days have passed, or I wouldn't be able to look at my screen and type this at all.

The post-op process is interesting. The next day you end up in a waiting room with other miserable victims, all wearing "happy glasses". These are the dorky looking shades which completely cover your eyes. You aren't allowed to shower for several days and you are given drugs to help you get through the pain. Those who've had bad contact lens days probably won't find these three days all that bad.

You wouldn't believe how intense normal things are at this point. Just try looking at a computer screen! It's so bright, your eyes water, you can't see clearly, it's just plain painful. You have to get a whole boatload of drops into your eyes, but it's tough prying them open to do it. It seems the eyes have developed a sense of distrust for some reason, go figure.

Three days after surgery you get your bandage lenses out. Those are contacts worn on the eyes to cover them while the epithelial layer grows back. They give you a quick vision test, and tell you that you can now resume normal activities, which thankfully includes showers. At this point, personally, my eyesight was not very good and I was starting to get concerned.


Tags: Eye Surgery

Tired of Contact Lenses

I've worn contact lenses for almost 20 years. So, not too long ago, on a day when they were particularly irritating, I decided it was time to get rid of them. Just imagine a piece of dry gummy plastic sliding up into your tearing blinking eyeball and you'll get the idea. It wasn't the first time, but this time it was the straw that broke the camels back. Say hello to laser surgery.

The procedure I'm opting for is Wavefront PRK (photorefractive keratectomy). The wavefront concept is simply some measurement which checks the path of light as it goes through your eye combined with a contour map of the surface. Armed with this, they fire up the laser and do some sculpting. Use the force Luke!

Anyway, this involves having your eyelids held open, having the surface layer of epithelial cells on your eye removed, then having to look at a little light while a laser carves away at your cornea. Your eye is frozen while this is going on, so it isn't really that bad, but it is supposed to be quite annoying for several days while your eye is healing.

An alternative precedure, which I was not interested in, involves slicing a flap on your eye, lifting it, then performing laser surgery. Although healing may be a bit quicker and less irritating, I don't like the thought that there is a slight but permanent chance of blindness if for some reason you suffer physical injury and that flap is torn off. Anyhow, given how I like to express my point of view, there is still the chance I'll get punched in the face one of these days, so, no chance of going this route.

So, it's time to ditch the lenses and do the PRK!


Tags: Vision

Yes, I'm Doing Laser Eye Surgery

Who isn't? Okay, perhaps that isn't quite a fair question. Anyhow, what follows will be some thoughts and concerns as I go through the process. I'm sure I'll have friends and family asking me questions, so I'll try to document these as I go along through the process.

Tags: Laser Surgery