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Management of proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness in the working-age population. Due to the worsening global epidemic of diabetes, the incidence of morbidity caused by the disease is set to increase [1]. The prevalence of diabetes in the UK...

100 years of insulin

*Joint first authors The centenary of the discovery of insulin is a time to celebrate one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century. Background Before 1923, Type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] resulted in death from severe ketoacidosis...

Dr Glaucomflecken: Stayin’ Alive

Peter Cackett spoke to ophthalmologist and social media sensation Dr Glaucomflecken about his early days in comedy, the role satire can play in impacting medical governance, and where he might take his brand of medical comedy next. It was towards...

The ROP Network: a south-south collaboration to improve care for premature babies

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disorder of the immature preterm retina and a leading cause of preventable, irreversible blindness in children. There are 15 million preterm births annually, and over 32,000 neonates became blind from ROP in 2010 [1]....

Strabismus and ocular motility, demystified

I am a former orthoptist, now trained in medicine and working as a foundation doctor. In my previous work, I was frequently approached by ophthalmology trainees eager for guidance with strabismus and ocular motility. Drawing on my clinical experience, I...

Part 2: the Arclight Device: frugal imaging for eyecare

In this three-part series (Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 3) Andrew Blaikie and his team explore the role and application of the Arclight Device in Imaging of the Eye. There are many different types of ophthalmic...

Charity work in Cambodia: Culture, cataracts, and cruelty

Cambodia has one of the lowest numbers of eye specialist doctors per capita in the world, and Bita Manzouri takes us on a journey into the charitable work of the Khmer Sight Foundation who are working to combat this. “Ut...

A comparison of light sources in retinal imaging

Before starting to talk about the light sources present in retinal imaging, it is necessary to start from the base: the light. Light is an electromagnetic wave whose smallest part is the photon (or quantum of light). A high frequency...

The ‘theatre of the mind’: Charles Bonnet Syndrome and Esme’s Umbrella

The founder of Esme’s Umbrella shares her experience with the poorly understood condition Charles Bonnet Syndrome and the creation of the campaign. Many years ago, when I was a young actress, I was in an American play called ‘Butterflies are...

‘Phaco-plus’ procedures at forefront of modern glaucoma management

Glaucoma and cataract increasingly present as a ‘two-in-one’ surgical opportunity. In the UK, new modelling suggests ~1 million adults aged ≥40 may currently have glaucoma, with a projected rise to ~1.6 million by 2060 as the population ages and demographics...

My experience of the transition into a specialist orthoptist role

Michelle Dent discusses the process of transitioning into a new role and the pros and cons along the way. An opportunity arose for a permanent, full time, band 7 specialist role in the medical retina (MR) team in the Newcastle...

Cementing a VISION 2020 LINK partnership between Blantyre and Liverpool – building capacity for DR services alongside research

Malawi is a small land-locked country in eastern Africa with a growing population of over 17 million people. About 45% of the population is aged 14 or under; only 5% are aged 60 or over. The gross national income per...