Nick Lee presents at International Myopia Conference

We have been following Nick's progress since he won our McDonald Adams Science Scholarship in 2013 in his final year at Mahurangi College. He succeeded in gaining entry to the Optometry course at Auckland University and Nick has one year left to complete his degree. 

Nick recently attended the International Myopia Conference in Birmingham to present the results of his research. The project was titled "Effect of Atropine on Human Multifocal Electroretinogram Responses to Defocus."

Myopia (short-sightedness) is a growing epidemic across the globe. It is predicted that 50% of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050. The optometric community has employed several strategies to slow progression of myopia - myopia control.

One myopia control option is Atropine eye drops. Atropine usually acts as a muscarinic receptor blocker, forcing the eye's focussing system to relax. Its mechanism of slowing myopia progression is not known. 

Previous studies have shown electrical responses from the retina. Nick's study measured these to find out if this is where atropine is acting.

Compared to eyes with clear focus (know as emmetropia) positive defocus increases the signal; negative defocus decreases the signal. A positive defocus is protective against myopia progression; negative defocus accelerates myopia progression.

This study found atropine to enhance only the positive (protective) component of this electrical response in the peripheral retina. Although a full model is still not able to be formed, this finding is very interesting and  fits in well with other literature presented at the International Myopia Conference.

Nick's scientific poster presented at the International Myopia Conference (Birmingham, 2017) by Nick Lee, Safal Khanal, Phillip Turnbull and John Phillips. For more information please contact: nlee785@aucklanduni.ac.nz.

Book Seat - a low vision reading helper

Recently we discovered these novel Book Seats at Matakana Village Bookshop. These will be brilliant for anyone who loves reading. The seat can be on your lap or on a table. Books and tablets sit propped at an ideal reading angle and reading distance.

For someone with low vision, who reads with stronger glasses, books usually need to be held at closer range. Large print books help people with low vision continue to enjoy reading, but these are often heavy. Often someone who has reduced vision will find they struggle to read for extended periods of time, say half an hour. The challenge is to keep everything in optimum postion. This Book Seat will support books and help keep them at an ideal reading distance.

These are available in a range of colours. Call in to see our demo or visit Matakana Village Books to see the full range.

Contact www.matakanavillagebooks.co.nz for more information.

Research into Digital Artifical Light

A new study* highlights the disruption to sleep patterns which can be caused by blue light emitted from digital devices. 

The study, at the University of Houston College of Optometry, had people wearing blue blocking filters before bed. Participants still performed their usual nightly digital routine. Results showed a 58% increase in night-time melatonin levels. Melatonin is the chemical that signals your body its time to sleep. These melatonin levels were higher than would be achieved taking over-the-counter melatonin supplements.

“The most important takeaway is that blue light at night time really does decrease sleep quality. Sleep is very important for the regeneration of many functions in our body,” said Dr. Ostrin, from University of Houston College of Optometry.

The 22 study participants wore sleep monitors 24 hours a day. They reported sleeping better, falling asleep faster, and even increased their sleep duration by 24 minutes a night.

The largest source of blue light is sunlight, but it's also found in most LED-based devices. Blue light boosts alertness and regulates our internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, that tells our bodies when to sleep. This light activates photoreceptors, called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which suppresses melatonin.

Dr. Ostrin recommended limiting screen time, applying screen filters, wearing computer glasses that block blue light, or using anti-reflective lenses to offset the effects of artificial light at night time. Some devices have night mode settings that limit blue light exposure.

“By using blue filtering lenses we are decreasing input to the photoreceptors, so we can improve sleep and still continue to use our devices" she said.

Closer to home we are dispensing blue coating on lenses. This coating improves comfort looking at screens. Wearers also find the blue coat is good for driving. Blue light causes light scatter so in daylight conditions blocking this reduces glare. Please contact us if you have any questions about lens coating options.

*Study published in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics.

Are your glasses insured?

We arrange replacement glasses following all number of 'events'. Glasses are left in buses overseas, on the plane and who knows where. Closer to home they go through the mulcher, are run over by the mower and chewed by the dog. Believe me, we hear many colourful tales.

Most household contents insurance policies will cover your glasses. Depending on your excess it can be a relief to have cover for new glasses. If you lose your glasses travelling overseas your travel insurance will probably cover that loss.  Ask us how we can help.

International Myopia Conference Updates - Spend Time Outside

Updates are filtering through from the International Myopia Conference, Aston University, Birmingham, UK. Some of the studies are confirming our gut instincts - more outside time is beneficial to preventing myopia (short-sight), as well as slowing myopia progression.

In Taiwan, 20% of 7 year olds are myopic, increasing to 85% by age 18. Pei-Chang Wu presented the results of a school based intervention trialled across Taiwan called the ROC (recess outside classroom). ROC involved spending breaks outside (an extra 40+ min / day), educating parents about the risks of myopia and importance of outside time, along with outdoor diaries and sticker reward systems to encourage outdoor time and breaks from near work at home. A total of nearly 700 Grade 1 children across 16 schools participated. There were two groups, one was a control.

The results? Over a year, this intervention inhibited myopia progression by about 30%. 

This is important as previous data has indicated that outdoor time may only be beneficial to non myopic children, and not once myopia has onset. The ROC program showed a benefit for all children, both myopes and in the incidence of onset of new myopes - 8% in the ROC group compared to 18% in the control group.

The conclusion? This outdoor time stuff really works; for the at-risk pre-myope and the myope. Early interventions matter, provided they result in a change in behaviour.

We look forward to more information coming out of this meeting. If you have any questions regarding myopia please don't hesitate to contact us.

New Daylight Halo Table Magnifier

We have just received this new magnifier - it is a beauty. With a sleek, modern design it is light and compact. It is set up in our workshop - helpful for all those small optical screws. The magnifier is a useful 2.25x, with an insert giving extra magnification for very small details. The light is a daylight LED for high contrast and accurate colour matching. We know these will be popular for handwork and reading, The stand can tilt forward which makes it easy to set up over any task. Come in and see a demo.