tedjohnson's blog

Interesting article today about how CCSVI ("Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency") is being used as a  new and surprisingly effective treatement for MS.  The description of the problem, "strictures or blockages in the veins that drain blood from the brain and spinal cord, the blood backs up in the brain" makes it sound like it may be a viable treatment for high IOP as well.

The treatment is venoplasty, using a balloon to free up the blockage in the veins. 

I came across an article about rolfing which makes it sound quite useful/healthy.

Ref:www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/fashion/07rolfing.html

But the pain issue makes me suspicious that it may increase IOP.  Has anyone measured their IOP before/during/after rolfing?   And if you have and the results were positive, do you have any recommendations for those of us who have not rolfed?  Eg, are there any precautions, techniques to avoid, or techniques to request?

An interesting article from Ebert ( www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/why-i-hate-3-d-and-you-should-too.html ) which contained comments from two opthalmologists regarding the impact of 3-D on vision. 

I've snipped the relevant excerpts (see below).

---- cut here ----

"Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too)" - Roger Ebert, May 10, 2010

....

My opth. recently added Trusopt (dorzolamide) to my standard regime of Lumigan.  The Rx says 2x/day, however the tiny print insert explicitly states that the FDA testing was done with 3x/day (not 2x/day) dosage.

It's common knowledge that steroids (eg, Flonase) taken for allergies can present a problem for those predisposed to glaucoma.

But... I'm wondering if the allergy itself (the immune system response, and/or the inflammatory reaction) could tend to cause (or worsen) glaucoma?  This URL (http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/cam/hn-1022006.htm ) is the best I could find, but it cites quite old studies:

There's a fascinating discussion of the tradeoffs b/n these three "equivalent" medications, in the Review of Ophthalmology journal, at: http://www.revophth.com/index.asp?page=1_25.htm

The Zeo ($250, amazon.com) sleep analysis device has turned out to be entertaining, but I can't say that it has turned up any info useful for glaucoma management, with the exception that it has encouraged me to get more sleep.  In particular , for every night they compute a "Z score" (1..100) to rate the quality of your sleep - since I'm competitive, I've been trying to beat my Z-score each night.  Kind of silly, but on the other hand getting more/better sleep is good for overall health...

For normal tension glaucoma, one of the theories is that most of the damage occurs while sleeping.  While looking into this I came across a book which got quite positive reader feedback on amazon.com:  "Sound Sleep, Sound Mind - 7 Keys to Sleeping through the Night" , 2007, Barry Krakow, MD,   www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471650641/ref=oss_T15_product )

Any thoughts on the safety (IOP-wise) of riding a roller coaster, or bungee jumping, or sky diving?  I've been googling but so far have only come across relatively anecdotal comments, such as this: www.willsglaucoma.org/supportgroup/chat06072000.html

Some of the newer roller coasters pull significant g's (and look quite fun!), but I'm wondering if that could raise IOP's to a dangerous level.  Either from the direct physical g force, or from the adrenalin rush (excitement) of riding the roller coaster...?

One of the books on the fiteyes.com reading list, "The Heartmath solution", contained a very interesting graph (p164) from a 1995 experiment where they measured the immune system response (as determined by IgA concentrations) after a 5-minute "anger' episode vs. a 5-minute "care" episode.  

The research paper is entitled "The physiological and psychological effects of compassion and anger", and was published in the "Journal of Advancement in Medicine".  A copy of the paper is available here www.aipro.info/drive/File/228.pdf

Consider the following two series of AT555 IOP measurements (both taken from the same eye):

   a) 8:51am:  12,12,17 --- avg. 13.7  

  b) 9:00am:  13,14,14  -- avg: 13.7

The first reading shows a much wider variation in IOP (5 points) than the second, however both have the exact same average (13.7).  

Q#1: would a Goldman Applanation Tonomoter (which reports average IOP, I believe) have reported 13.7 in both cases?