Source: medscape .com

Hello, and welcome. I am Seth Bilazarian. I wanted to address physician burnout, something that has been in the news lately. Information on physician burnout came chiefly from an article [1] in the Archives of Internal Medicine that was written by the Mayo Group, in which they showed that 46% of 7000 physicians who were surveyed felt at least 1 aspect of burnout.

http://bit.ly/Sus9fS

Source: visionhelp.wordpress .com

At the end of Part 1 I included a link to a list of iPad Apps recently updated by our colleague Dr. Carole Hong and her staff. A special thanks to Dr. Michael Margaretten who frequently shares information about sites of interest, and one that increasingly focuses on iPad Apps is Paths to Literacy, a joint project between Perkins School for the Blind and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

http://bit.ly/X7L1oa

Source: citeulike .org

Abstract
To identify the best treatment option for intermittent exotropia. A retrospective analysis of the progress of 150 treated intermittent exotropia patients was performed. Treatment forms considered are: (i) surgery combined with orthoptic/occlusion therapy; (ii) surgery; (iii) orthoptic/occlusion therapy; and (iv) observation. Pearson's chi(2)-analysis of association of therapy form with success was performed. Reduction of exodeviation in prism dioptres between groups and subgroups were compared at 6 months, 1, 2 and 5 years follow up and the "within group" variations were compared. Exodeviation reduction in prism dioptres per millimetre of horizontal rectus surgery performed in the "surgery with orthoptic/occlusion therapy" and "surgery only" groups were compared. Chi(2)-analysis revealed a significantly highest (P

http://bit.ly/Tw2wYU

Source: imedicalapps .com

Purpose of App Review
To evaluate the CataractSurgery and CataractMobile app as a fun way to increase knowledge about cataract surgery.

http://bit.ly/TkG4SU

Source: mobihealthnews .com

Based on the more rigorous surveys and reports, it’s still true that clinicians are generally more eager adopters of both mobile devices and the medical apps that run on them. The persistent challenge for many iPad-toting physicians, however, is where to turn for medical app recommendations. In its efforts to be at least somewhat helpful on that front, Apple has slightly reworked and beefed up its now more visible section of “Apps For Healthcare Professionals”, which appears to be consistently featured in the AppStore’s medical section now.

http://bit.ly/SsAyPp

Source: healio .com

TearLab reported a net loss of $4.6 million in the third quarter, compared to a net gain of $1.1 million in the same quarter last year, according to a press release.

http://bit.ly/Sd7iwd

Source: facebook .com

Guess who is playing at Philips Arena during SECO 2013?! Wednesday, February 27th...BON JOVI!

http://on.fb.me/UrksaW

Source: biomedcentral .com

Background
To date, studies on the role played by cigarette smoking in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) remains controversial. The current study evaluated cigarette smoking as a risk factor of POAG and its relationships with vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR), central corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) in a Chinese cohort.

http://bit.ly/10TTkE1

Source: scoop .co.nz

The iPhone and smartphones alike are increasingly becoming a vital tool in treating eye diseases. From having access to the latest medical research at the point of care, to being able to communicate at a moment's notice with physicians and colleagues around the world, medicine is being practiced in a technological age.

http://bit.ly/V5ypIb

Source: gizmodo .com

The advent of cochlear implants in the 1970s and ocular implants in the early 2000s revolutionized hearing and vision loss treatment by circumventing damaged organs with digital prostheses that directly stimulated neural pathways. But these devices have been poor substitutes for the real thing. That is, until now.

http://bit.ly/TsxrJq

Source: technologyreview .com

Of all the diet tricks out there, Tokyo researchers may have hit upon the most devious: just lie to your brain.
A group at the University of Tokyo is developing an augmented reality system that will alter a diner’s perception of the size of food on their plate, and in turn influence how much they eat.

http://bit.ly/UsrTg5

Source: revophth .com

The importance of detecting a relative afferent pupillary defect has been known for some time. Conditions that have been associated with RAPD include glaucoma, macular degeneration, ischemic retinal disease, retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, optic neuritis and radiation damage. In the past, the swinging flashlight test was often performed in the clinic in an attempt to observe this sign, but the test is difficult to perform manually, not standardized and not easily quantifiable. Today, it’s less-often performed.

http://bit.ly/Qd5m8c

Source: ubergizmo .com

The Nihon University has come up with a spanking new kind of blood pressure meter which is capable of measuring one’s blood pressure simply by touching it with a finger. First displayed at Medica 2012 in Dusseldorf, Germany, this particular blood pressure monitor will measure your blood pressure sans the traditional cuff, meaning it is a whole lot easier to deliver readings of blood pressures of babies and elderly people. All it requires is for one to touch a button-shaped small area on the meter, where embedded LEDs and photo transistors in the area will get to work – the former emits light that is then reflected on a finger, where the photo transistors will take over from there and detect whatever reflected light.

http://bit.ly/UVkZOM

Source: pr-inside .com

Dr. David Allamby, Director of FOCUS Clinics, an eye surgery clinic in London, announced that he has performed KAMRA Vision surgery, the proven solution to reading glasses, on two distinguished ophthalmologists. The two surgeons: Dr. Julián Cezón at Clínica Cimo in Seville, Spain, and Dr. Dean Smith at TLC Laser Eye Centers in Toronto, Canada chose KAMRA Vision for their own eyes to treat presbyopia, which is the need for reading glasses. Today, Drs. Cezón and Smith now enjoy quality, natural near vision without the need for reading glasses or contact lenses.

http://bit.ly/SgNAPG

Source: newsfromaoa .org

In a leap forward for AOA and affiliate advocacy efforts designed to make healthy vision a top national health care priority and to expand inclusion of optometrists on medical panels, the Federal Government today released its implementation plan for the new health care law’s pediatric essential eye health benefit. Here’s an overview of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ special regulatory announcement and its expected impact on optometry:

http://bit.ly/RX0QZU

Source: engadget .com

Jetlag and disrupted sleep patterns are conditions we're all too familiar with, right along with flashing lights that claim to remedy them. A new wearable device, tagged Re-Timer, also promises to be of help by mimicking sunlight and resetting the body clock. Reportedly the result of 25 years of sleep research at Australia's Flinders University, it's worn like a pair of glasses and emits soft green light, fooling the part of the brain that regulates your circadian rhythms. When used at different times of the day for specified durations, it claims to advance or delay the clock as desired -- countering the effects of frequent air travel and improving alertness levels. The rechargeable, portable device is safer and more effective than medication, according to its chief inventor Professor Leon Lack. If nothing else, the $260 visor is a bold fashion statement, although it may not be as cool as having robots convert your dreams into art.

http://engt.co/10l0HE6

Source: bmj .com

Accumulating evidence suggests an association between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and diabetic retinopathy.1 The mechanism for this is unclear but a previous study suggested that hypertension and high body mass index are strongly implicated.2 Increases in serum vascular endothelial growth factor and other biomarkers3–5 have also recently been shown to be independently predictive for retinopathy. Their role in mediating OSA induced retinopathy, independent of conventional risk factors, is not known. We therefore performed an exploratory study to corroborate the link between OSA with diabetic retinopathy and the association of novel serum biomarkers on OSA induced diabetic retinopathy.

http://bit.ly/10BkJcF

Source: bmj .com

This may seem to be an odd question to be asking, but please hear me out. Back in the early 1970s, when studying General Physiology 101, I was taught that the five cardinal signs of inflammation, expressed classically in Latin, were dolor (pain), calor (heat), rubor (redness), tumor (swelling) and functio laesa (loss of function). This ‘rule of thumb’ worked fine when considering inflammatory reactions of the skin, but I soon learnt that it was of less assistance when considering ocular inflammation. For example, being avascular, the cornea cannot display rubor. Further to this, in Ocular Physiology 101, I was taught that the eye enjoys ‘immune privilege’—an evolutionary adaptation that provides protection from the potentially damaging effects of an inflammatory immune response.

http://bit.ly/QxBXan

Source: gizmag .com

Five years ago, Amazon released one of the most important mobile gadgets of the decade. E-books had been around for years, but few cared until the arrival of the Kindle. Today Amazon's digital reader is now an entire product line.

http://bit.ly/TiE2Fv

Source: facebook .com

Over the past three weeks we have randomly selected a fan to receive FREE registration to attend SECO 2013 (Feb. 27 - Mar. 3.) Be sure to check your messages...we are waiting to hear from the lucky 3! We have 11 more FREE registrations to give away...

http://on.fb.me/UiZJnQ

Source: covdblog.wordpress .com

Today’s guest blogger is Dr. Robin Price. Dr. Price practices in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He and his associate, Dr. Jarrod Davies, are the only Board Certified Fellows of COVD in Utah! In fact, Dr. Price just completed a term on the Board of Directors of COVD. He enjoys working with patients of all ages to help them overcome their visual problems but especially children with learning problems.

http://bit.ly/QXGEKr

Source: engadget .com

While the humble touchscreen has become the standard interface for most smartphones, and capacitive displays make it a painless experience, the folk at start-up Qeexo think things could still be improved. It's developed a technology called FingerSense that could add even more functionality. Essentially, by using a small acoustic sensor, it measures the vibrations as objects tap the screen, and can tell the difference between them. So, for example, a knuckle tap could be used for "right-click."

http://engt.co/U8feR6

Source: newsfromaoa .org

During American Diabetes Month, the AOA is encouraging Americans with diabetes to schedule at least annual dilated eye examinations, depending on their particular examination findings and their optometrist’s recommendations to help detect and even prevent eye and vision disorders that could lead to blindness.

http://bit.ly/T4ycFj

Source: medpagetoday .com

All but one of 12 patients given injections of contaminated bevacizumab (Avastin) prepared by a compounding pharmacy in Florida permanently lost vision in the affected eye, researchers reported here.

http://bit.ly/U8eZp9

Source: medpagetoday .com

The immunosuppressive sirolimus (Rapamune) may help control non-infectious uveitis in some patients, though it won't improve visual acuity, researchers said here.

http://bit.ly/RLWwMZ

Source: kevinmd .com

There’s a lake in Northern Arizona where I jog. I call it “my” lake. It used to be filled to the brim, a playground for ducks, geese, Monarch butterflies, rabbits and squirrels. Over the years when I’d jog in the cold mornings, my lake dried away from drought, measured by bathtub rings on the boulders which surrounded it. Today, rust-colored grass fills the space where clear water once lay. The rings on the boulders are un-countable. Soon, my lake will be gone.

http://bit.ly/SWkHav

Source: emedicinehealth .com

5-Hour Energy shots are linked to 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations, the FDA confirms.

http://bit.ly/S3rzFG

Source: gigaom .com

By accessing and combining publicly-available datasets, health innovators are letting patients and others view connections between physicians. The so-called “DocGraph,” as one hacktivist calls it, could give patients a valuable window into who their doctors trust.

http://bit.ly/S7g26s

Source: newsfromaoa .org

To coincide with November’s Diabetes Awareness Month, the AOA is proud to announce the launch of its dedicated Diabetes & Eye Health Web page (www.aoa.org/diabetes).

http://bit.ly/SWk0Oq

Source: ubergizmo .com

When it comes to receiving injections, there are two different kinds of people – one who cannot stand pain, while the other kind of person can be prodded in all directions without missing a beat. Well, Fujifilm caters to the former category this time around by working on a micro-needle array which has been touted to be a new drug administration method, where it can actually deliver the drug of choice into the body simply by attaching it onto the skin. There is a micro-needle array which comprises of a sheet arrayed with projections of 100-2000 micrometers. Whenever the sheet itself is placed on the skin surface, the drug will be injected into the skin from the projections, where it will then be delivered into the body.

http://bit.ly/SR7PSO

Source: contactlensjournal .com

Abstract
In addition to improving oxygen permeability, modern silicone-hydrogel (SiHy) soft contact lenses (SCLs) exceed a limiting diffusive ion permeability to aqueous sodium chloride. Below the ion-permeability threshold, siloxane-based SCLs are prone to bind against the corneal epithelium. Salt permeability is argued to reflect indirectly water hydraulic permeability. However, no quantitative explanation is available to date for a threshold salt permeability.

http://bit.ly/SR7krP

Source: healio .com

Accommodation and binocular vergence are the key ophthalmological factors that significantly influence asthenopia after viewing 3-D displays, according to a study.

http://bit.ly/RGUii4

Source: gizmodo .com

If you like to hold your iPad right up by next to your eyeballs because you are basically blind, you might someday have some relief. Apple has a new patent that changes the size of the display based on the distance of your face from the screen.

http://bit.ly/UuoHOY

Source: covdblog.wordpress .com

I have access to various statistics concerning this blog’s performance. One of the more interesting statistics is views by country. Over the last 7 days, the vast majority of the viewers are from the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. But we have also had viewers from Kuwait, Portugal, Lebanon, Botswana, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Latvia, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Norway…….. you get the idea. We are reaching people in all corners of the Earth and all the places in between.

http://bit.ly/XLLa0p

Source: mobihealthnews .com

Epocrates has finally launched a native iPad version of it’s landmark drug information app, up until now a conspicuous and much-discussed omission. The release is part of a larger strategy by CEO Andy Hurd to turn around the struggling company, which posts its second annual loss this year on revenue estimates of about $110 million.

http://bit.ly/Qi3lsL

Source: reuters .com

A breakdown of U.S. diabetes cases shows dramatic increases in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes overall between 1995 and 2010, with especially sharp increases among people in the South and in Appalachian states.

http://reut.rs/UuoiMe

Source: medscape .com

Editor's Note:
Contact lenses are convenient, but their use can present significant ocular risks to those who wear them. Medscape interviewed Bernard P. Lepri, OD, MS, MEd, an optometrist and clinical review scientist, and Michelle Tarver, MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist and epidemiologist, both in the Office of Device Evaluation at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), about the risks associated with contact lenses, including what signs and symptoms to be aware of, as well as the importance of reporting problems related to their use to the FDA, with instructions on how to do so.

http://bit.ly/U3vGCd

Source: medpagetoday .com

The newest anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug in ophthalmology improved eyesight for patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), although efficacy diminished with a move to as-needed dosing, researchers said here.

http://bit.ly/SR61cs

Source: bmj .com

Background Hemianopia commonly complicates stroke and, less frequently, head injury and brain tumours. Patients' activities of daily living are often affected although these can be ameliorated by appropriate behavioural therapy. Identifying a field defect is the first step in the rehabilitation process. An online visual field test (an ‘app’) was developed as part of a free to use web based therapy site for patients with hemianopic alexia, called Read-Right (http://www.readright.ucl.ac.uk). This study is an attempt to validate this test by comparing with a clinical ‘gold standard’—the Humphrey automated visual field analyser.

http://bit.ly/PYnVNu

Source: medgadget .com

Artificial eye lenses are regularly used by ophthalmologists to correct a variety of vision problems. Patients are typically elated after surgery as their vision significantly improves, unveiling the beauty of the world they only remembered before. Yet, modern artificial lenses are imperfect and act more like conventional glasses than the eyes’ surprisingly complicated own lenses.

http://bit.ly/Wa9wf2

Source: visionmonday .com

CooperVision, Inc. (NYSE: COO) plans to launch a new website in partnership with the Armed Forces Optometric Society (AFOS), reinforcing its commitment to serving the U.S. military community, the company said.

http://bit.ly/XK5AXM

Source: eurekalert .org

A tiny medical device no larger than an eyelash may significantly reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients and allow some to stop using eye-drop medications, according to year-one clinical trial results for the device. Results of the HYDRUS I clinical trial, which indicate successful control of eye pressure in all study participants, will be presented today at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, jointly conducted this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

http://bit.ly/Su7WDw

Source: dovepress .com

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate deposit buildup on prosthetic eyes and the implications for conjunctival inflammation and discharge.

http://bit.ly/X2AKco

Source: freerepublic .com

Many veterans of the United States armed forces who have traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder also have undiagnosed, chronic vision problems, according to two studies presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, jointly conducted this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

http://bit.ly/WbQp9i

Source: medicalnewstoday .com

Vision may be less important to "seeing" than is the brain's ability to process points of light into complex images, according to a new study of the fruit fly visual system currently published in the online journal Nature Communications.

http://bit.ly/W7NkHh

Source: medicinenet .com

Playing soothing sounds during cataract surgery reduces patients' anxiety, according to a new study.

http://bit.ly/UHzntS

Source: medicinenet .com

President Barack Obama's victory in Tuesday's election ensures that the health reform law, the signature accomplishment of his first term, will move forward.

http://bit.ly/RDXjzD

Source: ajo .com

Purpose
To present a new complication of persistent corneal edema after collagen cross-linking (CXL) in keratoconus patients.

http://bit.ly/Uqt5OR

Source: nature .com

Purpose
(1) To describe and validate a newly developed, timed performance-based measures of functional vision—the real-life vision test (RLVT).
(2) To determine how RLVT relates to clinical measures and self-report assessment of visual function and the complex interactions among visual impairment, psychosocial status, and demographic factors.

http://bit.ly/W7MTwK

Source: engadget .com

Interactive eyewear maker Vuzix revealed its potential challenger today for Google Glass in the Android-powered world of augmented reality: the company will showcase its Smart Glasses M100 at CES 2013, in hopes of bringing over-the-eye display support to everyday mobile applications. Set for a mid-2013 release, the Ice Cream Sandwich-based eyepatch, features a WQVGA display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, a 1GHz OMAP4430 processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory.

http://engt.co/RYAl65