Post by Ms. Kathy on May 19, 2008 10:24:00 GMT -6
Filters prevent blindness of eyes that won’t openNigel Hawkes, Health EditorSource Link: The TimesMay 19, 2008 www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3959456.ece
A British surgeon has hit upon a cure for people who suffer from a rare condition in which their eyes are tight closed.
They can see, but are blind, because a rogue nerve triggers the muscles that control the eyelids, causing either compulsive blinking or total closure.
Raman Malhotra, consultant ophthalmologist at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, has found a simple method that helps about 40 per cent of those affected — putting a filter, mounted in an ordinary pair of glasses, in front of one of the eyes.
He does not understand why, but the filter seems to prevent the nerve signals that cause the condition. “It’s amazing but it actually works,” Mr Malhotra said. “We’ve found that if we filter light to one eye — either the worst-affected one, or the other — it reduces the symptoms.”
He has completed a trial of the method and will be presenting the results to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists this week.
Blepharospasm is a poorly understood condition that remains underdiagnosed, Mr Malhotra said. There may be as many as 5,000 patients in Britain with this or closely related conditions. They can be treated successfully with Botox, which paralyses the nerves and stops the constant blinking. Other alternatives include surgery or drugs.
But Mr Malhotra’s new treatment is much simpler. Thin translucent plastic filters known as Bangerter occlusion foils are fitted on to spectacle lenses, and have the effect of slightly reducing the sharpness of vision in the eye they cover. He had decided to try the technique after a patient told him that her condition improved when she put her hand in front of her eye.
Patients at his clinic were divided into two groups — those who found that blocking one eye reduced symptoms completely, and those who did not. All suffered from nervous twitches that either affected the eyleids or one side of the face, a condition called hemifacial spasm, and all were being treated with Botox.
They were then fitted with glasses containing a filter. A total of fifteen patients were treated and six — all of whom had found that blocking an eye improved symptoms — benefited.
A British surgeon has hit upon a cure for people who suffer from a rare condition in which their eyes are tight closed.
They can see, but are blind, because a rogue nerve triggers the muscles that control the eyelids, causing either compulsive blinking or total closure.
Raman Malhotra, consultant ophthalmologist at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, has found a simple method that helps about 40 per cent of those affected — putting a filter, mounted in an ordinary pair of glasses, in front of one of the eyes.
He does not understand why, but the filter seems to prevent the nerve signals that cause the condition. “It’s amazing but it actually works,” Mr Malhotra said. “We’ve found that if we filter light to one eye — either the worst-affected one, or the other — it reduces the symptoms.”
He has completed a trial of the method and will be presenting the results to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists this week.
Blepharospasm is a poorly understood condition that remains underdiagnosed, Mr Malhotra said. There may be as many as 5,000 patients in Britain with this or closely related conditions. They can be treated successfully with Botox, which paralyses the nerves and stops the constant blinking. Other alternatives include surgery or drugs.
But Mr Malhotra’s new treatment is much simpler. Thin translucent plastic filters known as Bangerter occlusion foils are fitted on to spectacle lenses, and have the effect of slightly reducing the sharpness of vision in the eye they cover. He had decided to try the technique after a patient told him that her condition improved when she put her hand in front of her eye.
Patients at his clinic were divided into two groups — those who found that blocking one eye reduced symptoms completely, and those who did not. All suffered from nervous twitches that either affected the eyleids or one side of the face, a condition called hemifacial spasm, and all were being treated with Botox.
They were then fitted with glasses containing a filter. A total of fifteen patients were treated and six — all of whom had found that blocking an eye improved symptoms — benefited.