January is Glaucoma Awareness Month

Hello everyone,

Make sure to pick up your copy of the Hamburg Area Item today. On page A8, there is a wonderfully written article about Glaucoma Awareness Month, which is this month. There is also a photo of your local Bernville Eye Doctor taking a digital photograph of a patient's optic nerve. The practice is offering FREE vision screenings for glaucoma until the end of the month. Each screening will take only 10-15 minutes, but an appointment is necessary to ensure you get the individualized attention that you need. The screening is not a substitute for an eye exam, but will allow me to gauge a few risk factors for developing the disease. Remember though, it's not a complete eye examination, just a screening.

Well, if you are unable to find it online or pick up a hard copy, I copied the article below. Enjoy!

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BERNVILLE, PA – Eat fewer sweets. Watch less television. Quit smoking—the New Year’s resolutions people choose often require subtracting something from their routine.

“We encourage you to add something to your list of resolutions in 2011: schedule an eye exam for yourself and your family,” said Dr. Brendon J. Weaver of Weaver Eye Care Associates in Bernville. “Regular, comprehensive eye exams ensure that patients can see clearly and comfortably, but the exam is also a tool in assuring that no adverse medical conditions are present, such as glaucoma.”

January is a month of resolution-making, but it is also National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Glaucoma is an eye disease labeled as the “sneak thief of sight,” because as much as 40% of vision can be lost before glaucoma symptoms occur.

According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, over 4 million Americans and over 700 million people worldwide have glaucoma. Half of those people are not even aware they have the disease.

Dr. Weaver emphasized the importance of routine care in the case of glaucoma. “Early on in the disease, there are no symptoms or pain present, which is why it is extremely important to have regular eye exams. With glaucoma, vision loss is gradual. By the time a patient may recognize something is wrong, the vision loss cannot be restored. Recognizing the disease and starting early treatment may slow down or halt any future vision loss caused by glaucoma.”

In accordance with National Glaucoma Awareness Month, Dr. Weaver is offering glaucoma screenings at his office in Bernville. These screenings are free and are available to anyone by calling the office phone number to make an appointment.

“Increasing age and a family history of glaucoma are risk factors for developing the disease,” said Dr. Weaver. “The screening will allow me to take a few measurements to calculate a patient's risk level and determine if they would require further testing and evaluation. I hope that many people, in Bernville and the surrounding areas, take advantage of this excellent opportunity to get checked for glaucoma...especially those who may have never had an eye exam.”

Dr. Weaver is a graduate of Elizabethtown College in 1999 and the New England College of Optometry in 2003. He has been providing eye care services to residents of Berks County since 2004. His new practice, Weaver Eye Care Associates, is located at 7185 Bernville Rd. (Rt. 183) in Bernville, across the street from Boyer's Food Market.

To schedule your free glaucoma screening, please call Weaver Eye Care Associates at (610) 488-5315. For more information about Dr. Weaver and the practice, visit www.weavereyecare.com.

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Keep your eyes healthy!

Sincerely,
Dr. Weaver

The Big Deal is Back!!!

Don't pass up on this deal and make Ron mad...he's already glaring at you...

Here's the deal on the Big Deal:

$30 for an eye exam, an $85 value, plus $100 towards glasses for a total $185 value, 65% off eye exam and 84% off overall

More information on the deal, Dr. Weaver and Weaver Eye Care Associates by clicking on the link above...or call the office for more information.

WECA is One Year Old, Daily Aspirin Use & Macular Degeneration

Hello,

Things have been busy at Weaver Eye Care Associates, as of late, which is a good sign. The practice achieved it's One Year Anniversary on January 3rd. So thank you to all of you for your help, support and patronage. The practice is growing...this January is much busier than the first time around, for sure. The word is getting out, so please keep it up...spreading the word about the practice.

Since things have been busy, I haven't had a chance to write an article in a while, so I've been feeling bad about that. I know that many of you look to my blog posts, as well as my Facebook and Twitter updates, to get the latest Weaver Eye Care Associates, optometry and eye care-related news.

So...I came across an article regarding aspirin use and the increased risk of macular degeneration...

A recent article at HealthDay.com reported that "Daily aspirin use among seniors may double their risk of developing" the "wet" form of "age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a significant cause of blindness in seniors."

HealthDay reported the summary of a study published in the January issue of the journal Ophthalmology, which said that, "daily aspirin use was associated with the onset of late-stage wet AMD, and to a lesser degree, the onset of early 'dry' AMD -- even after the researchers took into account age and a history of heart disease, which in itself is a risk factor for AMD." Specifically, late-stage 'wet' AMD was more than 2x more likely among daily aspirin users in a study population of 4,691 European seniors.

If you remember from my previous blog post about Macular Degeneration, you already know that the main risk factors of AMD are: 1) increasing age, 2) having light-hair/light-skin and 3) smoking. Also, AMD is still a leading cause of vision loss and affects over 1.75 million Americans

Also, to review, there are two forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. Dry is the early form, and wet is the advanced/severe form. Dry AMD may never lead to wet AMD. Those with early, dry AMD may be lucky to not have significant vision loss, but blindness can occur in both forms, not just the wet AMD. However, both forms are bad and can cause decreased vision and blindness.


Got all of that?

Anyway, the recommendation from the article suggests doctors to "advise persons who [already] have early or late AMD not to take aspirin as a painkiller," and to "advise people with AMD who take small amounts of aspirin for primary prevention -- this means having no past history of cardiac or vascular problems like stroke, and no elevated risk factors for these diseases -- to discuss with their doctor if it is wise to continue doing so. For secondary prevention -- this means after having these elevated risks or disorders -- the benefits of daily aspirin outweigh the risks."


Older adults take aspirin to "thin the blood" in order to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but here it seems that aspirin is contra-indicated for those with age-related macular degeneration. However, what is peculiar is that a 2004 study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology suggested that the use of statin drugs and aspirin (therapy to reduce risk heart attack and stroke, remember) in patients with AMD actually showed a decrease in likelihood of choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) formation. CNVM is commonly associated with wet AMD.

The 2004 study included only 326 patients, while the most recent study included 4691 participants.

To me, the most recent study seems to make sense. Those on blood-thinning medications, such as aspirin or Coumadin, are more prone to bruising as well as decreased wound healing. The CNVM is a collection of leaky blood vessels in association with the wet form of AMD. So if aspirin "thins the blood," it may have a more advantageous way to escape those leaky blood vessels in CNVM.

I feel the take home message is this: if you have AMD and are taking aspirin just for pain relief, and NOT to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, consider using another analgesic (Motrin, Tylenol, Aleve). If you have AMD and are taking aspirin due to a risk of heart attack and stroke, talk to your family doctor regarding the continued use of aspirin.

Obviously, more studies are needed regarding the relationship of aspirin and macular degeneration.

I hope this gives some guidance for yourself, or others that you may know that suffer from macular degeneration.

Sincerely,
Dr. Weaver