ralehmann's blog

Does anyone know which iCare self-tonometer is being used in the Duke trials?  Here's a link to a video of it being used:

http://www.king5.com/health/DIY-glaucoma-test-114737874.html

Richelle

In the last several months, the following articles appeared:

My cataract surgery is scheduled for November. After doing much research online, I decided not to have the cataract surgery at the same time as glaucoma surgery.  And I chose the doctor in my University ophthalmology department who performs the most cataract surgeries. I will see her in October and will discuss IOL choices with her.  I prefer to do monovision (near vision in one eye and far vision in the other) with monofocal aspheric lenses.

My cataracts have progressed lately, and at today's appointment with my glaucoma specialist, he said that I have a choice of either cataract surgery alone, because my glaucoma (POAG) appears to be stable, or a combined cataract/glaucoma surgery, which he prefers, although he admits that many glaucoma experts are currently recommending the cataract surgery first, as long as the glaucoma and IOP are stable, because it may be beneficial for the glaucoma.

I am copying below part of a message I wrote under the CSF subject earlier. Some might have missed it.  Yawning, as practiced by Olympic champion Apollo Ohno before competing, has a very practical and powerful neurological benefit, as it turns out. The brain and/or CSF response to yawning may be very good re: lowering IOP.  I am hoping that several of you with tonometers will give it a thorough test.  Here is the earlier message I wrote, and then I will describe the procedure for the conscious yawning exercise, which is not just one simple yawn:

About a year or so ago, there was a research finding that I think is most interesting: cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) pressure was found to be inversely related to IOP.  I can't imagine how one would change CSF pressure, and it might be a bad thing to do so.  But I have wondered if CSF pressure changes when an epidural or other spinal is administered pre-surgery, and if there is a change (ie. a drop in CSF pressure) and if so, if the lower CSF change would remain afterwards along with higher IOP?  I cannot find anything about CSF/IOP and administration of an epidural.

Has anyone tried Can-C eye drops (N-acetylcarnosine, or NAC) for cataract, and, if so, did it help?  The Russian scientist who developed the drops also hints that  NAC is also beneficial for glaucoma (results not yet published), and I read one testimonial claim that floaters went away along with the cataract.  Dr. Ritch discusses NAC in his complementary medicine article, and provides footnotes for the Russian research. ???

Richelle

Interesting new study showing benefits of drinking green tea.  So if it works for lab rats, will it work for us?

Eggplant has some interesting properties, including reducing intraocular pressure and ... reducing cholesterol!

http://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Health_Lifestyle/Health_Diet/Garden_Egg_a...

I found several articles by researchers in Nigeria that describe eggplant's effects.  What we call eggplant, they call garden egg ... same vegetable, though. 

For the past several months I have increased my consumption of eggplant but I don't measure my intraocular pressure as many of you here do.  I wonder if someone might want to try a plate of eggplant for lunch and then measure your IOP and report back to the rest of us. 

I suspect that the effect lasts 3-4 hours, but perhaps longer???  I take three different eyedrops: two in the morning, one in mid-afternoon, and three at bedtime.  I figured that eating the eggplant at lunchtime would possibly fill the gap at that time of day, but perhaps dinnertime would be best since IOP rises during the night for most of us.  Having actual measurement results would be useful.

Richelle

EDIT:

See the abstract here: Effects of Solanum melongena (garden egg) on some visual functio

Also, be sure to see this comment: Some News: My Eye Pressure Results After Eating Eggplant

For several months I have been consuming coconut oil as an experiment to see if it can energize stressed retinal ganglion cells.  My vision has improved, and the improvement came about very quickly.  The impetus for my experiment was the success experienced by Dr.