Eyes Apart: Living with strabismus

Drugs for strabismus and amblyopia: Connecting our eyes again

[See end of article for photo credit.]
Wouldn’t it be super if we could just pop a pill and it would do something in our brains to connect our eyes properly again? Recent comments on our January 5, 2006, post shared a brief personal experience regarding an antidepressant that seemed to help, as well as a link to a research article related to drug treatment for strabismus and amblyopia.

The research article mentions three classes of drugs that might have a role in the treatment. Most of us have heard of Botox injections (botulinum toxin) which is the first class the article lists. The second class is the “autonomic agents (atropine, miotics).” These drugs are said to help by “by altering the refractive state of the treated eye” as an alternative to optical correction (miotics) and patching (atropine). For help in understanding the “refractive state” mentioned in the article, I found this item:
Eye Anatomy - Refractive.

The third class is “the neurotransmitter precursor levodopa and the related compound citicoline” which the article says, “have been demonstrated to improve vision in amblyopic eyes.” The item goes on to say that the “therapeutic role of these centrally acting agents in the clinical management of amblyopia remains unproven.” You can read the entire article on Pub Med:
The role of drug treatment in children with strabismus and amblyopia.

In several interesting comments to our item posted to Eyes Apart on January 5, 2006, entitled New treatment for adults with amblyopia, “david” has been sharing his search for help with amblyopia. Recently “david” commented that he had been taking an antidepressant, Wellbutrin SR 150mg for 2 weeks and that he did a search because the Wellbutrin seemed to be helping his drifting eye. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Medications | 2 Comments »

Famous people with strabismus: Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame is a new category at Eyes Apart. I’ve already featured several famous people with strabismus on the site. I’m adding them to this category, and I plan to add more from time to time.

The photo on this page is a Rembrandt painting. I have featured him in the past using a self portrait that showed his strabismus. But I wanted to include a piece of his art in the Hall of Fame, so I thought it fitting to use it for the introduction to the new category. I’ve got several famous people in the lineup for the hall of fame already, but if you’d like to suggest a name or write a piece for the Strabismus Hall of Fame, you can email me here.

Many of you deserve special recognition also, and I’m glad to publish stories of non-famous people with strabismus. If you have an inspirational story to share about strabismus, you can email me also. But the Hall of Fame is reserved for famous people with strabismus. Those who have made it to fame in spite of their strabismus inspire us all to push for the top in whatever area we’re in. We may never be famous, and we may not even want to be, but we can be achievers and do our best, and that is what counts.

Photo Credit: Web Museum, Paris.

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A lesson from Monet: His vision developed his art

Monet’s vision reached a lot deeper than his eyes could see.

Professor Michael Marmor, an Ophthalmologist who led a team of researchers at Stanford University, has been quoted in Times Online as saying that the beloved artist Monet “derided the developing abstraction in art.” Yet as he aged, Monet’s paintings became increasingly abstract. According to this article, it’s thought that Monet sometimes added more blue tones to compensate for his yellow vision as cataracts stole his colors. Or perhaps he just remembered the blue hues that he saw before his vision failed.

Monet “wrote letters to friends, how colors were getting dull, and it was hard to tell them apart, and how he had to label tubes of paint,” according to Marmor as quoted in LiveScience. According to this article, it is thought that his vision gradually became more brownish or monotone, and that as his vision worsened, red-orange tones and blue-green tones appeared almost the same to him. The LiveScience article also provides an excellent vision simulator of how cataracts may have changed Monet’s vision.

An article from the Evening Standard, London, calls Monet’s failing eyesight “the secret behind” his work. An article by Phyllis Tuchman, published in The Lancet, April 13, 2002, is aptly entitled “The Monet Who Wasn’t.” Tuchman writes, “We watch him evolve from a somewhat traditional painter to a master…. Before Monet was finished, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism were invented.”

Monet’s vision problems were due to cataracts. Whether we have Strabismus or cataracts or both, what can we learn from Monet? We can learn that even the masters at their craft sometimes feel inadequate in the face of physical loss. Monet expressed frustration (see the LiveScience article), but he didn’t quit. He missed his colors, no doubt. But he used what he had.

Monet has been called a visionary painter. His failing physical vision developed his abstract art. But more importantly, because he had the vision to move forward in spite of “what wasn’t,” he was able to develop what was.

That’s a lesson all of us could take to heart!

Claude Oscar Monet, also known as Oscar-Claude Monet, (Nov. 14, 1840 - Dec. 5, 1926) was one of the founders of the French Impressionist style of painting.

I have selected Monet’s lovely painting of his nympheas (lilies) as a Featured Photo.

References:
How Monet lost his colour vision and invented a new way of seeing, Ben Hoyle, Times Online, May 16, 2007.

The Blurry World of Claude Monet Recreated, Andrea Thompson, LiveScience, May 11, 2007.

Monet’s secret style: His poor eyesight Mark Prigg, the Evening Standard, London.

The Monet Who Wasn’t, Phyllis Tuchman, The Lancet, April 13, 2002.

Photo Credit:Claude Monet, WebMuseum, Paris.

Posted in Cataracts, Featured photos, Hall of Fame, Inspirations, Senior vision, The way we see, Vision simulators | No Comments »

Be a winner a la Mode’s ‘Ugly Betty!’

The popular tv series Ugly Betty challenges all of us who have felt excluded or different in any way to stand up and be proud of who we are. The star of Ugly Betty, America Ferrera, plays Betty Suarez, a homely but hardworking young woman who dreams of being a magazine publisher. A turn of events lands her a job at the high society fashion magazine Mode.

At home, Betty steps forward to be the major breadwinner as well as health advocate for her ailing father who is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Because he murdered his wife’s abusive ex-husband in self defense, he is afraid to come forward for legal status lest he be deported to Mexico. Betty’s unstylish appearance, impoverished background, and unrefined manner make her an unlikely candidate for the job at Mode. But her integrity and winning spirit make her a the perfect choice.

Betty is frequently the subject of pranks and sometimes downright cruelty at Mode. Though her naïveté is often taken advantage of, she refuses to succumb to their dishonorable ways. Her loyal and positive attitude proves to be one of her greatest assets. Betty dawns her red frames confidently and presents herself to the world. Her unpretentious sincerity and honesty shine like gems amidst the fake socialites all around her.

Her role in Ugly Betty won America Ferrera a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Comedy or Musical (1997). In her acceptance speech she said, “So many girls have told me how I inspire them to have confidence in who they are.”

Not only did she win the Golden Globe, but America Ferrera won the hearts of many around our globe when she said “It’s such an honor to play a role that I hear from young girls on a daily basis how it makes them feel worthy and lovable and that they have more to offer the world than they thought.” Entertainment Weekly called her the “most real heroine on television.” In her tearful speech at the Golden Globes, America Ferrera seemed as genuine and endearing in real life as she is as Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty.

Parents Television Council warns that “Sexual content is the main concern with this show. With the exception of Betty herself, it seems that every character engages freely in casual sexual relationships.” My personal values do not permit me to condone the show, and I seldom watch it myself, because of this content. However, the fact that Betty works among these people, yet does not participate in their immoral behavior, is definitely another diamond in Betty’s jewel case!

If you are ready to be who you are, honest and true to the values of human dignity regardless of what comes your way, you can be a Betty too!

More about Betty:
“The glasses worn by TV’s Ugly Betty spark an unlikely craze” — Telegraph.co.uk

Official Ugly Betty Glasses — Berkshire Chase

Ugly Betty is based on the Columbian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea

Photo credits: Red Frames by laughingmonk; Ugly Betty Channel 4 4OD by Chegs; America Ferrera at the Golden Globes on Wikipedia

Posted in Inspirations, Social trauma | 1 Comment »

Sleep apnea and strabismus

Sleep apnea makes it much harder to control strabismus. If you feel tired most of the time, if you awaken frequently during the night, or if you don’t wake up refreshed, consider the possibility of sleep apnea.

I began to notice a mild sleep apnea at least 3 years ago. I would wake up unable to get my breath when sleeping on my back. That was easily solved by sleeping on my sides. But about a year ago, I began to notice that I sometimes woke up on my sides also. This year (since January) it began getting a lot worse, and in May I had a sleep study which showed a fairly severe sleep apnea.

If you think you may have sleep apnea, start keeping a journal of what time you go to bed and what time you go to sleep. Look at the clock each time you awaken, and try to remember the times. Try to keep up with approximately what time you drift back to sleep, how well you rest through the night, and how many hours of total sleep you got. Record this information the next morning. Do this for two weeks. I was amazed when I had to do this before my sleep study. I knew I woke up a time or two each night. But when I started monitoring it, I realized that I woke up lot more, stayed awake longer, slept fewer total hours, and slept more restlessly than I would have ever known without the journal.

Of course there are things other than sleep apnea that can interfere with sleep. But if you are not able to sleep well, you need to see a physician to help you determine why. Since I’ve been on cpap, I sleep through most nights, awakening an average of maybe 2 to 3 times a week.

Some people have trouble tolerating the cpap for one reason or another. My sleep apnea is related to a car accident which crushed my jaw when I was 18, and my jaw has gradually receded backward toward my throat, compromising my trachea (windpipe). The cpap mask tends to push my jaw back even more, and while I breath fine now at night when on cpap, I am noticing more shortness of breath during the daytime. My doctor is making an oral splint for me to wear at night to stabilize my jaw, and we are hoping this will help the daytime shortness of breath as well.

If you have sleep apnea, do your best to find a way to comply with whatever therapy is offered. It will make a big difference in helping you function better with strabismus. Sometimes surgery is the recommended method to treat sleep apnea. In fact that is recommended for me — bilateral mandibular joint replacements. But I recently lost my job related to these health issues, and along with my job went my health insurance. The mandibular surgery is a very expensive surgery, so I can’t do it now. However, now that I’ve seen how much better things are with cpap, I will do everything within my reach to be able to stay on cpap at night and breathe during the day as well!

Photo Credit: Carolina Foloni

Posted in Eye connections, Lois' story | No Comments »