Where have the footpaths gone?

Sometimes, you do wish to take a stroll in the market with your spouse, or take an outing on foot. But, you have to walk on the road as the footpath is simply disappearing (due to varied reasons, eg, encroachment, `thelewallas’, piling garbage, or construction material etc). Authorities do widen roads to accommodate increased presence of cars, scooters and mo-bikes, but do so by keeping their eyes closed towards the convenience of pedestrians. While mentioning The New Indian Express (June 18, 2013) as the source of accompanying picture, I wish to reiterate that footpaths are an essential walking ground for pedestrians, and authorities would do well to ensure their proper up-keep!

Dr Narendra Kumar

Thanks to Deepika Padukone for starting `chashma’ fever among students

Thanks to Deepika Padukone for starting `chashma’ fever, among new college students, following her `scholar Naina’ role in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Alas, students are doing it just as a fashion statement; it would be great if those who actually need spects because of their weak sight, do it too. In any case, whether glasses are used as a fashion accessory or as corrective eyewearm these need to be selected with care (and your optometrist/ophthalmologist or the dispensing optician can help you out with the proper selection), and need to be properly cared for thereafter…as scratches on lenses not only disturb your vision but also mar the entire look!

Dr. Narendra Kumar

Ophthacare Eye Centre

OptometryToday@gmail.com

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