Let me remain a child

Happy Birthday Navika

A

Old habits die hard!

Mothers can still be seen applying `kaajal' to both eyes of a child or the eyes of several children with the same `suramchu' (oblivious of the chance of the passage of a disease from one eye to the other).

Innumerable persons can still be found waiting for deterioration of their vision to `counting fingers' level in the mistaken belief of the ripening of their `cataract', as many-a-times they may be suffering from an entirely different ocular ailment (otherwise, too, cataract surgery can now safely be done at any stage of the opacification of the lens inside the eye...in replacement with an intra ocular lens - IOL), and

Almost daily you can come across a person borrowing near vision glasses from someone else who may be a family-member, a friend, or even a co-worker or passer-by (forgetting that refractions mostly differ in two individuals and even in two eyes of the same individual).

Dr. Narendra Kumar

Ophthacare Eye Centre

OptometryToday@gmail.com

Assistive devices

Naki’o, a US dog, who lost all four feet to frostbite, with four prosthetic devices, goes for a run, reports Times of India, April 27, 2013.

Prosthetic assistive devices transform the lives of those suffering from disabilities.

It’s now widely known that the wheel-chair-bound former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Ajit Jogi, is soon likely to walk again with the help of the scientific marvel, the robotic e-legs.

In the case of ocular conditions, the artificial intra ocular lens (IOL) implanted at the time of phakoemulsification procedure of the surgical removal of the cataractous lens negates the use of post-operative unsightly heavy thick plus glasses of yesteryear.

The cosmetic brown soft contact lens provides beautiful matching look to the eye with an opaque/disfigured cornea.

The red X-chrom soft contact lens helps the red-green-colour-deficient person score better on the colour-blindness Ishihara’s book test.

And, the Ptosis Spectacles, with comfortable non-conspicuous nylon thread support/s, effectively lift the drooping upper lid/s in patients suffering from the disease called Ptosis (in cases where the oculo-plastic surgeon decides/advises against surgical intervention).

Dr. Narendra Kumar

OptometryToday@gmail.com

Is this dispensing up to the mark?

While no one disputes the importance of precision fitting of lenses, especially the progressives (with optical centres of lenses matching the patient's monocular PD), I seek advice of experts about the shortcomings, if any, in dispensing lenses based on markings of pupil centres on demo lenses of selected and adjusted frame, as depicted in the following illustration (by innumerable practitioners in developing countries including India who do not own a pupillometer).

Dr. Narendra Kumar
Editor, Optometry Today
OptometryToday@gmail.com

Old visiting cards as bookmarks!

What do you do with your old visiting cards when there is change in particulars like telephone numbers and email IDs?

I made use of the picture from my book "Babloo goes for an eye test", and along with the tag "I care for eye care", affixed it on the front side of obsolete cards...to be given away to children and older adults as bookmarks!

Dr. Narendra Kumar
Ophthacare Eye Centre
C4F/216 Janakpuri, New Delhi 110058
Phone No.011-25599839, ophthacare@gmail.com

`Amarphal’ – the fruit of immortality

Long ago there was a king named Bharathrahari who was very kind and popular. One day a `sadhu’ came and gifted him a rare fruit `amarphal’ (that continues to ripen even after it is cut off the plant and is considered immortal). The king gave it to his beloved queen Bhanumathi. She was in love with someone else and gave it to him. This man was in love with a “woman of the night” and gave it to her. This lady, on introspection, felt that she really didn’t deserve such a rare fruit and presented it to the king! The king got the shock of his life on receiving `amarphal’ back and on discovering his wife’s infidelity. Thoroughly disgusted, he gave up his throne and became a `sadhu’^*.

There are two types of persimmons (`amarphal’); they are different in shape and the way they ripen.  Hachiya persimmons are large and need to ripen to the point where they are almost bursting out of their skins.  If you eat them before they ripen fully, they are astringent but when ripe are so much tastier than the small Fuyu persimmons.

The picture, taken by me at the estate of Ch. Mahabir Singh near Saharanpur, shows `amarphal’ and little cute Vanshika, the granddaughter of Optom B S Rathore.

Late Dr Mohan Lal of Gandhi Eye Hospital, Aligarh was instrumental in getting optometry introduced in India by way of the two-year diploma course in 1958. Late Dr L P Agarwal of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi worked towards the transformation of the discipline into a clinical technology by way of the three-year degree course in ophthalmic techniques (which is now a 3+1 year course). And Dr S S Badrinath started the four-year degree course in optometry that has been well received not only in India but also in other countries. But some vested interests in ophthalmology do keep on playing with optometry by introducing different nomenclature with a view that it be perceived as a subordinate discipline…and this goes against its rightful development as an independent profession.

It’s important that optometry (the highly placed primary eye care profession in overseas countries like Australia, USA and UK) be treated as such in India by making it a broad-based discipline of four-year degree course at all institutions across the country so as to enable it to effectively serve the community as the first line of defence against blindness in true sense. Let Government cultivate optometry as the sacred `amarphal’ to look after the visual welfare of its massing millions!

Dr Narendra Kumar

Editor, Optometry Today

OptometryToday@gmail.com

* www.diversekitchen.com

Deep frying of potatoes

A study has shown that soaking potatoes in water before frying cuts down on the formation of the suspected carcinogen acrylamide, says Dr. K. K. Aggarwal.

Acrylamide is created when starch-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures, (120⁰C) such as frying, baking, grilling, broiling or roasting. Raw or even boiled potatoes test negative for the chemical. Boiling and microwaving appear less likely to form acrylamide as the coking does not involve very high temperatures. Longer cooking times increase the amount of acrylamide produced when the temperature is high enough.

Potato chips and French fries contain high levels of acrylamide compared to other foods, with lower levels also present in bread and cereals.

Acrylamide, is harmful to health and may cause cancer in animals.

In a study published in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture it has been found that simply soaking potatoes before frying can significantly reduce the formation of acrylamide.

Soaking of cut potatoes in water before putting these on fire to make vegetable or some other dish has been the usual practice in earlier days. Our parents certainly used to follow the old traditions even if sometimes there was a question mark on the justification to follow a certain ritual!

Dr. Narendra Kumar

OptometryToday@gmail.com