Stephen Pflugfelder, MD provided a number of dry eye pearls in his article, “Tear Dysfunction and the Cornea: LXVIII Edward Jackson Memorial Lecture” published inthe December 2011 issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22019306 Regarding osmolarity and its role in dry eye, Dr. … [Read more...]
Its just Dry Eye Disease, or is it?
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
How many times have we as clinicians initially presumed "a default diagnosis" of Dry Eye Disease just based on symptoms? Dr. Bill Townsend discusses Conjunctivochalasis which is an example of "other causes" we must remember when patients are having symptoms of Dry Eye Disease. Conjunctivochalasis By William Townsend, OD, … [Read more...]
Chronic BAK exposure is associated with an increase in tear osmolarity
January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dr. Eldridge began an interesting thread this past week regarding ocular surface disease in glaucoma patients. He reminded us that dry eye disease can often be silent in patients after chronic administration of BAK preservatives have reduced corneal … [Read more...]
Chronic administration of BAK appears to alter corneal sensitivity
January 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Ocular Surface Disease can be a major problem for glaucoma patients and could result in cell damage, discomfort, loss of quality of vision as well as Quality of Life issues. Patients may not be able to give reliable feedback regarding dry eye disease. In the Dec 2011 Journal of French Ophthalmology, Van Went et al evaluated … [Read more...]
Recent study shows preservative-free tafluprost offers effective treatment with less ocular surface impact for glaucoma patients
January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
We have known for years BAK is often a cause for ocular discomfort for patients. "Effects of preservative-free tafluprost on tear film osmolarity, tolerability, and intraocular pressure in previously treated patients with open-angle glaucoma" in Clinical Ophthalmology Jan 2012 looks at tear osmolarity, corneal staining and OSDI in … [Read more...]
Diurnal variation of tear osmolarity in normal subjects measured by a new microchip system
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Normal subjects showed no variation over a day, confirming that a properly functioning tear film is characterized by its low and stable concentration. This study provides further evidence that eye-to-eye variability is the hallmark of Dry Eye Disease. As shown in Lemp et al. [AJO 2011], dry eye disease subjects showed … [Read more...]
Link Between Ocular Surface Disease and Quality of Life in Glaucoma Patients
January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A link between Quality of Life scores in patients treated for Dry Eye Disease and Glaucoma is documented in the Jan. 2012 American Journal of Ophthalmology publication. As clinicians we need to be aware of the decrease in QOL with increasing Glaucoma severity by monitoring the ocular surface carefully. Link Between Ocular … [Read more...]
Depression and Dry Eye in the Elderly
November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Depression is not uncommon in the average practice and this study shows further evidence of Dry Eye Disease's significant impact on depression. Depression and Dry Eye in the Elderly Korean investigators conducted a population-based cross-sectional study to examine the association between depression and dry eye disease (DED) … [Read more...]
The Effect of Oral Supplementation of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids on a Conjunctival Inflammatory Marker in Dry Eye Patients
September 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Omega 3 & 6 continue to be a major focus in Dry Eye Disease research and this abstract shows a reduction in inflammatory marker HLA-DR in patients using impression cytology. The Effect of Oral Supplementation of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids on a Conjunctival Inflammatory Marker in Dry Eye Patients. This 3-month, … [Read more...]
Dry Eye Syndrome To Become Most Common Eye Disease in Baby Boomers
June 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Dry eye expert Dr. David Kisling reports that Dry Eye Syndrome will be the most prevalent eye disorder the Baby Boomer generation faces in the future. Shifting demographics in an aging population will result in a tidal wave of dry eye problems by 2030. Read on to discover why this epidemic growth of dry eye disease is threatening … [Read more...]
