Why Do Women Need Bifocals Sooner?

Fairfield County eye doctor Leslie Doctor, M.D. commented that over the years many women have seemed to need bifocals, reading glasses or some type of help with near vision before men of the same age. She offered some thoughts based on recent research on why women need bifocals for correcting near vision and presbyopia sooner than men. “Researchers reporting in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS)  actually found that women tend to need bifocals sooner to correct their near vision and the onset of presbyopia-the age related near vision focusing problem,” stated Dr. Doctor. “The studies show that presbyopia, the inability to see at a close distance that occurs with age, is more common in women. While men and women need bifocals as they age, the need is more common among women and tends to hit them at younger ages than men. It is believed that while men and women appeared to actually have the same focusing ability when looking at nearby objects, because women are generally shorter than the men, with proportionally shorter arm lengths, they needed to hold objects closer to their faces when reading and thus required the near vision presbyopia correction of bifocals, reading glasses or even bifocal contact lenses sooner.”

If you have any questions or concerns about near vision problems, presbyopia, close focusing problems or the need for bifocals and reading glasses please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.

Glaucoma Eye Drop Smartphone App

Connecticut Ophthalmologist Leslie Doctor, M.D. shared information about a free smartphone app to remind glaucoma patients to take their eye drops and medications. “One of the biggest glaucoma management problems we have is when patients don’t remember to use their glaucoma eye drops or take their other medications,” explained Dr. Doctor. “The free smartphone EyeDROPS app should help us get better patient compliance and consistency with their glaucoma medications and thus hopefully better control of the eye disease.”

The EyeDROPS app prompts users to enter information about the eye drops they are taking, including dosages and schedules. The app then alerts patients via their phones when it’s time to put in their eye drops. The app keeps a record of medication usage and informs the patient of the next scheduled dosing time. The free EyeDROPS app even allows patients to take a photo of each bottle to avoid confusion when taking more than one kind of eye drop. The EyeDROPS app is available for Android phones through Google Play and for the Apple iPhone through the App Store. “Early detection, diagnosis and consistent treatment is the name of the game in preventing vision loss from glaucoma,” said Dr. Doctor. 

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the EyeDROPS app  for glaucoma please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851

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Avoid Smoking for Best Eye Health

“To maintain the best eye health and vision, avoid smoking if you haven’t started and stop if you are currently a smoker. This may not be as easy as it sounds as it is often difficult for patients to see the long term increased eye health risks of smoking-especially when they are younger,” stated Leslie Doctor, M.D. a Fairfield County eye doctor with offices in Norwalk, Westport & Wilton, CT. “Believe it or not, avoiding smoking, or quitting, is one of the best investments you can make in your long-term eye health. Smoking-even in your teens or twenties when your senior years seem far away- increases your future risks for cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). And the more a person smokes, the higher the risks. The good news is that after people quit smoking, their risks for these eye diseases become almost as low as for people who never smoked,” said Dr. Leslie Doctor.

Smoking also raises the risks for cardiovascular diseases that indirectly influence your eyes’ health. And tobacco smoke, including second-hand smoke, is an irritant that worsens dry eye, a very uncomfortable eye condition that is most common in women after menopause. Smoking increases the risk of serious vision loss in people with other eye diseases. And when women smoke during pregnancy they are more likely to give birth prematurely, putting their babies at higher risk for a potentially blinding disease called retinopathy of prematurity as well as other health problems.

 If you or someone you know want to quit smoking and would like help the American Cancer Society has a resource at www.cancer.org. If you would like to learn more about smoking and eye health problems please feel free to call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.

Best Macular Degeneration Treatment Results

“The best macular degeneration treatment results seem to be dependent on some select predictive factors for success and outcome with Lucentis® injections,” said Dr. Leslie Doctor, a Connecticut eye doctor with Fairfield County offices in Westport, Wilton & Norwalk, CT. “The good news is that by looking at these predictive factors we have been able to establish a number of diagnostic and treatment parameters that can be used to optimize treatment and monitoring regimens in order to help patients get the best possible results,” Dr. Doctor explained.

Here are some important factors and considerations that we know today:

·         The initial visual acuity is not a good indicator for patients treated with monthly injections of Lucentis®. But, a poorer initial visual acuity seems to predict greater overall improvement.

·         Smaller areas of blood vessel growth seem to respond better to treatment.

·         If treatment begins BEFORE any hemorrhage has occurred there is usually a more favorable result.

·         The visual acuity found between the 3 and 5 month visit seems to predict about where the 12 month visit acuity will end up.

·         If there is a recurrence of subretinal fluid there is usually a negative effect on the long term visual recovery and functioning.

While there can be no guarantees, by using this information we can work to hopefully avoid the catastrophic vision loss from Wet Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).  YOUR role is to be consistent in scheduling routine eye exams if you are over 50 years old or even earlier if you have a family history of AMD-and should you notice symptoms including distortion of your vision, waviness or curving of lines or straight surfaces or a sudden change or spots of any kind, please call Doctor & Associates at 203-227-4113 for an immediate appointment. The key to maintaining eye health and vision is early detection, diagnosis and treatment.

If you or someone you know has a family history of macular degeneration or is concerned about macular degeneration it is important to schedule regular eye exams by calling Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visiting Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.

Diabetic Eye Disease Problems & Prevention

November has been designated National Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month-a time to consider the diabetes related eye problems and their prevention. Connecticut eye physician & surgeon Leslie Doctor, M.D. reviewed information from Prevent Blindness America. “What we know from the most recent Prevent Blindness America Vision Problems in the U.S. report is that diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults 20-74 years of age. This is compounded by the data from the Centers for Disease Control indicating that diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the United States and is really an American epidemic. Although there is no cure for diabetic eye disease, annual eye exams for diabetes patients are essential to help prevent vision loss from diabetic retinopathy and its related complications,” said Dr. Doctor.

The Prevent Blindness America Vision Problems in the U.S. identified that there are almost 8 million people ages 40 and older who have diabetic retinopathy. This represents an 89 percent increase between the years 2000-2012. “While it is not surprising that the incidence of some eye diseases and problems is increasing with the aging of the baby boomer population, it is terribly disturbing to see the dramatic spike in diabetic retinopathy cases, a consequence of the diabetes epidemic that this country is experiencing with no end in sight,” Dr. Doctor explained.

The vision loss from diabetic retinopathy can be prevented if it's caught early and treated in time.

More than one third of those diagnosed with diabetes do not adhere to vision care guidelines recommending a dilated eye exam every year.

As part of Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month we are urging people with diabetes to have a dilated eye exam every year. The longer a person has diabetes, the greater his or her risk for developing diabetic retinopathy. However, diabetic retinopathy does not only affect people who have had diabetes for many years, it can also appear within the first year or two after the onset of the disease. In addition to having regular eye examinations and testing at the direction of your eye doctor, patients can help to reduce the risk of developing diabetic eye disease  by not smoking, controlling their cholesterol and lipid profile and blood pressure, as well as working to eat a heart-healthy diet rich in fish, fruit and green leafy vegetables and exercising. 

If you or someone you know has diabetes or even elevated blood sugar levels they should work to prevent diabetic eye disease and problems with regular eye exams by calling Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visiting Doctor & Associates or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.

Eye Physician on Lucentis® for Diabetes Vision Problems

Lucentis® injections for diabetes vision problems can be very helpful in restoring and preserving sight. For patients with diabetes who are at risk for diabetic macular edema, a significant cause of vision loss and a somewhat common complication of diabetic retinopathy, Lucentis® eye injections work to treat diabetic macular edema, or swelling of the macula. Lucentis® has been used for some time to treat “wet” age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Lucentis® is the first drug FDA approved to treat diabetic macular edema. More than 500,000 people in the U.S. have diabetic eye disease and before Lucentis® had to have laser treatment to address this complication of diabetic retinopathy.

“The use of Lucentis® to treat diabetic macular edema gives us a great tool and a significant advantage is managing vision loss from diabetes,” commented Connecticut eye physician Leslie Doctor, M.D. of Doctor & Associates with Fairfield County offices in Norwalk, Westport & Wilton, CT. “As we well know, the key to preservation of eye health and vision for diabetics is early detection, diagnosis and treatment.”

If you or someone you know has questions or needs an eye exam for diabetic eye disease or the problems from diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema please feel free to call

Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates  or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851

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Corneal Specialist Cautions on Halloween Contact Lenses

Corneal Specialist Leslie Doctor, M.D. cautioned patient considering Halloween contact lenses as part of their costume. “Wearing non prescription decorative contact lenses for Halloween can be really fun if you are trying to have devil eyes or zebra eyes or just change the color of your eyes-BUT-over-the-counter decorative contact lenses can also lead to serious vision-threatening problems,” explained Dr. Doctor, a Fairfield County Ophthalmologist with offices in Westport, Norwalk & Wilton, CT. “Even someone with perfect vision would still require an eye exam and a proper fitting and prescription in order to wear any kind of contacts safely- including cosmetic contact lenses.”

According to the Food and Drug Administration, all contact lenses are regulated medical devices that require a prescription and proper fitting by an eye-care professional. Some websites advertise decorative contacts as if they were fashion accessories or toys with fanciful, playful packaging in order to attract teens and young adults, especially girls. The problem is not that people use decorative, non corrective contact lenses-sometimes called Plano-or zero-powered lenses, but that they buy the devices without a prescription through unlicensed vendors on the Internet or at flea markets and specialty shops.

The buyer of these over-the-counter contact lenses faces a huge risk including scratched corneas, pink eye and more serious types of blinding infection as a result of a corneal ulcer

In 2005, a federal law was passed that classified all contact lenses as medical devices and restricted their distribution to licensed eye-care professionals. Illegal sale of contacts can result in civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation.
 

The safe and effective use of contact lenses-whether decorative or not-requires proper fitting and education about their care to prevent the potential for serious eye  problems from becoming a reality. If you or a friend would like to learn more about contact lenses of any type including decorative contacts please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor &Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851

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