An easy way to stay up-to-date in optometry!

This forum made possible through the generous support of
SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Eyestudy

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
Hi Guys,
I wanted to pass along 20/20 Glance. It's a once a week email, delivered every Monday morning, with a rundown on what's new in optometry for the past week. The email takes less than 5 minutes to read and is an easy way for the busy clinician to keep up-to-date. It distills clinically relevant news and presents it in an easy to read format.
Here is an example from the July 18th issue:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Rundown
Step aside, Restasis. We got options now.
Shire received FDA approval for Xiidra, a new prescription medication to treat the signs and symptoms of dryness.
How do you say it? Zy-dra like Hydra.
Dosing: BID, approved for ages 18 and up.
How does it work? It's a lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) antagonist.

Did you dose off? Me too. Let me try that again in English.
It's a integrin inhibitor. Integrins do a number of things but simply put for the purpose of this explanation, they participate in the inflammatory cascade associated with dry eye. By blocking integrins, it significantly reduces the number of T-cells and TNF (tumor necrosis factor) in the conjunctiva and cornea and therefore decreases inflammation. Want more detail? Read this and this.
What are the side effects? Instillation irritation (18%) and dysgeusia (altered sense of taste, (13%))
How long does it take to work? Studies have shown reduction in signs and symptoms at 2 weeks.
Tell me about the clinical trials. Pretty extensive clinical evaluation. There have been four trials and over 2500 patients involved. The studies assessed the signs and symptoms of dry eye at baseline, 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 12 weeks. There were improvements in dry eye signs and symptoms at 2 weeks but there was a larger reduction in eye dryness score at 6 weeks and 12 weeks. In three of the four studies, a larger reduction in inferior corneal staining score was seen at 12 weeks.
Get ready to learn your Shire reps name.



Are women pickier than men? Apparently they are when it comes to corneal transplants.
A study of over 18,000 patients showed that female corneal transplant recipients were more likely to have a graft failure if their corneal donor was a male. Interestingly, there was no gender difference in the failure rate of men receiving female tissue.

What Your Patient Might Ask You
Can my optic nerve regenerate?
Never say never. A study of mice has shown for the first time that retinal ganglion axons are capable of regenerating. The optic nerves of mice were crushed monocularly and a combination of visual stimuli (showing mice high contrast changing black and white lines), gene therapy, and suturing the good eye to force the bad eye to work, promoted retinal ganglion cell axon regeneration into the brain. The axons also regrew to the correct areas of the brain and visual function was partially restored allowing once blind mice to see.
These results are huge as "this research shows that mammals have a greater capacity for central nervous system regeneration than previously known".


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's completely free and you can sign up at 2020glance.com, read about the writer at jackiegarlich.com, and see the latest glance at facebook.com/2020glance/.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Top