Ophthalmology
Stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease: researching for an effective cure
Neurodegenerative diseases are characterised by the chronic and progressive loss of neurons, which in turn results in loss of cognitive and physical functions. The World Health Organization has estimated that the disability-adjusted life years lost from neurological disease was about...
Blind Veterans UK calls on eye health professionals to direct blind and vision impaired veterans to vital support
A national charity is asking ophthalmologists and eye health professionals to help them reach out to the tens of thousands of blind and vision impaired ex-service men and women who are currently missing out on vital support to help them...
Ophthalmology in ancient india, Sushruta’s time and the modern era
While reading an article related to the history of Indian ophthalmology, I came across this description of a surgical procedure: “The doctor warmed the patient’s eye with the breath of his mouth. He rubbed the closed eye of the patient...
Open source and tele-manufacturing for ophthalmology
Open source or crowd-sourcing and crowd-collaboration are concepts almost always associated with software and public online projects such as Wiki project. Never had I imagined that my team would apply the same principle in ophthalmology. Just less than a month...
Refractionist’s shoulder?
After hearing the letter-box, I walked to the front door and stooped down to collect my latest edition of Eye News. I winced. Still, at least it would give me something to pass the time on this, my first day...
The ophthalmologist’s elbow: a potentially painful point of contact
Three months ago I leant, in the customary manner, on the box of my indirect lens at the slit lamp to examine a patient’s fundus. An acute and severe pain in the tip of my elbow immediately interrupted me. I...
Patient and public participation shapes biomedical research and access priorities in eye health
Patients, clinicians and clinician-scientists play a valuable role in shaping the future of vision research. Limited funding demands targeted research initiatives that ultimately will shape health policy and practice to secure progress in improving patient outcomes in eye health. This...
Complex Biometry Clinics: a new service development
In this article we describe a new local service development, the ‘Complex Biometry Clinic’ at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Retrospective data analysis of patients referred between October 2012 and October 2013 was performed. The aim was to provide a one-stop service...
Comic leaflets: an innovative method of patient education
Nowadays almost everyone has been exposed to comics, especially during childhood. In a way, this is a natural form of progression from children’s story books, which also contain words and pictures. This exposure has helped us to develop the graphic...
An eyeful of independence
Scots will decide this September whether or not Scotland should be an independent sovereign state. “As all key areas of our business are already fully devolved, it’s very much business as usual for us,” noted a spokesperson for Healthcare Improvement...
What to expect when meeting a statistician
There are a growing number of statisticians working closely with ophthalmologists. They have different training but they are driven by the same goal: to perform high quality evidence based clinical research [1,2]. In a perfect world we would simply conduct...
NICE drugs: an update on what’s good to go
Treatment options recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must be readily available for use in the NHS of England and Wales. This article provides an overview of recent guidance from NICE and summary advice issued...
