Eye Health Archives

Diabetes and Dry Eyes: What is the Connection?

Written By Michael Healy

Diabetes is one of the most serious contributors to vision issues. In fact, medical experts believe nearly everyone with diabetes will experience some form of diabetes-related vision issue. While diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic-related eye-health condition, an increasing number of people with diabetes are experiencing serious vision issues as a result of a condition known as dry eye syndrome. It turns out there’s a strong connection between diabetes and dry eyes.

Although dry eye syndrome is not considered a significant health issue, when left untreated in people with diabetes, it has been shown to contribute to permanent vision damage and even blindness.

Monovision vs Multifocal Contacts: Which Is Best for You?

Written By Courtney Dryer

When it comes to monovision vs multifocal contacts, which should you choose? It all depends on your eye needs. Multifocal contact lenses have different powers within a single lens to allow you to see at various distances. Typically, multifocal lenses allow the patient to see at distant, intermediate, and near ranges with the same lens.

Multifocal contact lenses are designed with a gradual transition between the powers and perform similarly to progressive addition lenses (PAL). Multifocal lenses are available in soft and hard lens designs and different modalities, from daily to monthly options.

Blepharitis Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment Options

Written By Courtney Dryer

Do your eyelids ever look red, feel sticky, or sore? Do you have a constant itch in the corner of the eye that you just can’t scratch? Maybe it feels even worse when you wake up in the morning. You may be one of the estimated 25 million Americans who suffer from blepharitis. Here’s what to know about blepharitis symptoms, causes, and treatment options.

What Is Visual Agnosia? How It Happens and How to Treat It

Written By Michael Healy

Agnosia is a rare condition that affects the senses. Imagine smelling a rose and not being able to place the smell. Imagine eating mom’s chocolate chip cookies, but finding out you don’t recognize the taste.

While it’s likely you know someone who temporarily lost his or her sense of smell or taste as a result of Covid, it seems almost impossible for someone to no longer be able to look at a common object, word, or even face, and be unable to tell what or who it is. However, that’s exactly what happens when someone is afflicted by a rare condition known as visual agnosia.

Defining visual agnosia

According to the United Brain Association, agnosia is a communication disorder that disrupts and impairs the brain’s ability to process sensory cues, most commonly visual and auditory cues.

Visual agnosia specifically disrupts your brain’s ability to process and understand what you are seeing with your eyes. In other words, your eyes are working correctly and as they normally would, but your brain is not.

As the medical community learns more about visual agnosia, they have come to understand there are actually several different types of the condition, including types that specifically affect your ability to recognize common objects (akinetopsia), words (alexia), colors (achromatopsia), and even familiar faces (prosopagnosia).

Gritty Eyes: What Are the Top Causes and Treatment Options?

Written By Courtney Dryer

Do you ever feel like you have gritty eyes? Or, do they feel sandy? Do they burn? Does it feel like a foreign body or an eyelash is in them at the end of the day? These symptoms are often due to dry eye disease.

It is estimated that dry eye affects nearly 1 in 5 Americans.