NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/sci/med/20977

Text File | 1992-11-14 | 3.5 KB | 72 lines

Newsgroups: sci.med
Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!menudo.uh.edu!Jane.UH.EDU!KATTAN
From: [e-mail] (Mike Kattan)
Subject: Re: Contact lenses and blood vessels in the eye!?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (USENET News System)
Nntp-Posting-Host: jane.uh.edu
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Organization: University of Houston
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>,<[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 19:41:30 GMT
Lines: 58

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dick King) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ralph Yozzo) writes:
>>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>>
>>>I've been a soft contact lense wearer for 12 years.  At my last checkup, I was
>>>told I had a little bit of neovascularization, which is what I think you are
>>>talking about.  My eye doctor suggested I switch to gas permeable hard lenses,
>>>but they didn't fit right.  I went back to soft lenses, but must buy new lenses
>>>every year even if they don't appear to be dirty.  If the neo worsens, I have
>>>to go to disposable lenses.
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>Mike Kattan // Decision and Information Sciences // University of Houston
>>>Houston, TX  77204-6282 // [phone] // Fax: -4693 // kattan@uhupvm1
>>>=========================================================================
>>
>>I am curious.  Is it standard procedure for eye doctors to
>>warn new soft contact customers about neovascularization?
>>
>>If so, I wonder what the conversation would be:
>>Doctor: Why do want contact lenses?
>>Patient: Because I want to look good.
>>Doctor: I must warn you that soft contact lenses can cause
>>neovascularization.  This means that you can go blind.
>>Patient: Are there any alternative?
>>Doctor: Yes, eyeglasses are very safe.
>>Patient: Oh no, I would not look good.
>>
>>When presented with a choice between putting a foreign substance in
>>my eye that can possibly cause blindness and "good looks"
>>versus  eyeglasses.  I choose the latter.
>>(But to each his/her own.)
>>
>
>Neovascularization can be caught before any damage is done if you go in for the
>checkups that the program calls for; once a week for the first month, tapering
>off to every six months.

This is exactly what my doctor told me.

>In my particular case i wear lenses because my bike is my basic transportation.

I do some form of exercise everyday.  When I run, my glasses bounce off my
nose.  With basketball, my glasses get broken.  In tennis, they get sweaty, and
I can't see through them.

>It looks like Mike's eye doctor is on top of things, and that the problem was
>caught before it got serious.  Please don't condemn all contact lens wearers as
>self-destructively vain.  Do go in for your regular checkups, even when you've
>been stable for years.

I echo his plea.  In fact, I've been told I look better in glasses; but since
I don't care, I wear my contacts anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Kattan // Decision and Information Sciences // University of Houston
Houston, TX  77204-6282 // [phone] // Fax: -4693 // kattan@uhupvm1
=========================================================================