Review of Optometry articles from December 2005

Review of Optometry archives from December 2005

1-800 Contacts sees a growing threat: 'doctors only' lenses eat into its business, says its CEO. This, after an FTC warning.
December 15, 2005... Contact lenses sold only through eye doctors are a loophole in the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA) and are "taking an ever increasing toll on consumers and our business," says Jonathan Coon, CEO of 1-800 Contacts, in a lengthy...

Chlamydia may be a factor in AMD, study says.(News Review)
December 15, 2005... Chlamydia pneumoniae infection may be associated with age-related macular degeneration, according to a study in the November issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear...

Who is selling the most contact lenses?(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 15, 2005... 04/05 12ME Jun03 12ME Jun04 12ME Jun05 % change $1931.4M $2039.5M $2100.7M +3.0% Independents 43.9% 42.4% 41.6% ...

Half of Glaucoma patients soon stop their drops.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... Approximately half of patients who had filled a glaucoma prescription discontinued therapy within six months. Also, only 37% of patients refilled their initial medication at three years. These are the findings of a new study in October's...

Eye test measures fetal alcohol syndrome.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... Up to now, clinicians trying to diagnose fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) had no objective diagnostic tools to distinguish this syndrome from other developmental disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. But researchers...

Businessman's alert: coffee, neckties and high IOP.
December 15, 2005... Raise your morning cup of joe and you'll raise your intraocular pressure? Cinch up your tie too high and you'll push up your IOP too high as well? Two new studies refine what we know about coffee intake, tight neckties and elevated IOP. *...

This holiday, think outside the box: looking for that perfect gift? The best ones you can offer can't be found at the mall or online but in the everyday practice of optometry.
December 15, 2005... By the time you read this, only nine shopping days remain until the holidays. As you fret about finding that perfect gift for your spouse, children... whomever, take stock of this fact: As a member of the optometric profession, you have...

Wake me up before you logo: every company needs a logo. Think of the Kellogg's K. the Michelin Man. Nike's 'swoop.' Or, Review of Optometry's sloppy 'Chairside' guy.
December 15, 2005... Do you have a logo? Is there something special at the top of your letterhead, your business card or your advertising that somehow defines who you are and what your office is all about? I see the AOA logo (or "the Startling Blue Pizza...

Introducing a Monty Vickers wanna-be.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
December 15, 2005... Have you noticed that some patients just don't want to cooperate? We all talk about patients who ask to see previous lenses and those who tell you that both lenses are blurry. However, I have discovered a few very specific patient types that...

Marketing vs. advertising.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
December 15, 2005... I enjoyed the article, "Promote Your Practice More Effectively," in the August issue. I was wondering if Dr. Shaw-McMinn would explain the difference, if there is one, between marketing and advertising? --Randall S. Bernstein, O.D. ...

Practice profiles Part 3: see, yo hablo Espanol! This O.D. learned Spanish to be more accessible to his growing community.
December 15, 2005... As of June 2005, Hispanics comprised 41.3 million of the 294 million total U.S. population--one-seventh of all those living in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Also, Hispanics accounted for about one-half of the national...

Reward your staff to build your practice: by setting financial goals for your practice, scheduling productive staff meetings and offering staff-incentive programs, you'll retain your current employees and grow financially.
December 15, 2005... Two years ago, our firm took on an optometrist who practiced in a medium-sized community on the out-skirts of a large Midwestern city. When this O.D. first became a client, his practice was open only two-and-a-half days a week and was supported...

Put your patients on the pyramid: nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Use the new food pyramid to significantly impact your patients' overall health, including their ocular health.(Cover Story)
December 15, 2005... A picture is worth 1,000 words. This simple truism can save you a lot of time in the exam room. When you show the patient a picture, you can drive home the preventative eye care message, benefiting the patient and establishing your role as a...

Sixth annual presbyopia report: four solutions for problematic presbyopes; These four cases illustrate the importance of selecting the appropriate treatment for each of your presbyopic patients on an individual basis.
December 15, 2005... By the time your patients become presbyopic, most probably have a good idea of the type of treatment they want. They've talked to friends and searched the Internet. Hopefully, the type of correction they want will be appropriate for them. Then...

The low vision cases I'll never forget: these four memorable cases had successful outcomes thanks to a simple but comprehensive six-step approach.
December 15, 2005... Low vision optometry is not about handing patients magnifier after magnifier until they can see. Rather, it is a series of crucial assessments and decisions based on these assessments to offer patients functional solutions to their visual...

Filamentary, dear optometrist: there are at least five elementary alternatives to using a bandage contact lens to treat filamentary keratitis.
December 15, 2005... Q A patient who has persistent filamentary keratitis following a severe head trauma has responded well to a bandage contact lens, but I don't want him to have to rely on a bandage lens forever. What are the alternatives? [ILLUSTRATION...

Psolutions for pseudotumor: controversy surrounds the use of drugs to manage this condition. Yet, a few drugs can ameliorate the symptoms.(Therapeutic Review)
December 15, 2005... Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is a neurologic disorder that typically manifests with ocular signs and symptoms. Although PTC is a relatively rare condition, we have consistently seen one or two cases annually throughout our careers. ...

Exam equipment.(Product Review)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... The Laser Fixation Target, from Gulden Ophthalmics, is a laser beam used for changing gaze during indirect ophthalmoscopy and other fixation tests. The instrument contains five interchangeable tips, including one with generic cartoon characters...

Lab equipment rimless designer.(Product Review)
December 15, 2005... The RD-100, from Santinelli International, is a rimless designer that allows the operator to capture the lens image via an integrated, high-resolution camera. The device features a 10.5-inch, color touch screen for user-friendly operation. ...

Finishing system.(Product Review)
December 15, 2005... The Kappa CTD finishing system, from Gerber Coburn, features the Kappa CT tracer and blocker and the Kappa CTD edger and drill. The Kappa CT tracer and blocker has automatic centering technology that locates the optical center of the lens,...

Dry-eye blog.(What's New On The Web?)
December 15, 2005... Dryeyeblog.com, from Advanced Vision Research, maker of the TheraTears dry eye products, is a blog dedicated to dry eye. The blog is designed to keep patients and doctors up to date on the latest thoughts, news, research and information on dry...

Low vision reading peripheral device.(Product Review)
December 15, 2005... Book Reader, from Plustek Inc., is a book-reading peripheral device designed for the visually impaired. It features optical character recognition, which converts characters into text, and text-to-speech software, which reads documents scanned...

Wavefront Guided Spectacle Lens.(Product Review)
December 15, 2005... iZon Wavefront Guided Spectacle Lenses, from Ophthonix, are customized to each patient's optical needs. The Ophthonix Z-View Aberrometer maps the patient's refractive error, then creates a prescription that matches the patient's unique optical...

Office design.(Product Review)
December 15, 2005... Expressions, from Eye Designs, is a collection of freestanding wood displays that feature elegant curves and stylish details, the company says. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Call 1-800-346-8890, or go to www.eyedesigns.com.

Meetings + conferences.(Calendar)
December 15, 2005... January 2006 * 11-15. Contact Lens and Eyecare Symposium, Orlando, Fla. CE hours: 80. Contact Barbara Colburn, 8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 850, Landover, MD 20785; call 1-866-515-2537; fax (301) 459-1802; e-mail CLES@cles.info; or go to...

What can stop 'little people'?(Diagnostic Quiz)
December 15, 2005... History A 67-year-old Haitian female was referred to our office by her primary-care physician after she reported that the floating spots she had been seeing for the last 10 years had turned into "little people." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...