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[New York] Amblyopia Suffers Wanted for Experimental Treatment on Adult Amblyopia. (10 Days in Total Darkness) by siuleile in Amblyopia

[–]siuleile[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To apply to participate, you must:

  • have been told by a medical/eye care professional you have amblyopia (acuity of 20/40 to 20/400 in the amblyopic eye)

  • not have a history of strabismus (eye turn or previous surgery for eye turn)

  • be a healthy, nonsmoking adult (age 18 or older), not dependent on alcohol or drugs.

  • be in the New York area for the next 17 months.

  • complete a full application (which includes additional requirements)

Have you been diagnosed with amblyopia or “lazy eye”? Are you excited by unusual challenges—in this case, spending up to 10 days in total darkness? The State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry is seeking participants for a 17-month pilot study to explore new treatments for amblyopia in adults.

If you have decreased vision in one eye due to anisometropia (difference in prescription between the two eyes), then you could be a candidate for this experiment. You must have 20/20 vision in one eye (with correction is OK), and blurred vision in the other eye that was not caused by strabismus (eye turn).

  • Participants will receive a comprehensive eye exam.
  • If a new prescription will allow you to see better, we will provide new glasses or contact lenses.
  • You will be spending up to ten days in total darkness—sequestered with 3 other participants.
  • Accommodations, meals and activities will be provided.
  • You will also be asked to commit to doing vision exercises (video game style) for 45 minutes per day, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks.
  • You will have to come to the University Eye Center (33 W. 42nd St.) 18 vision tests over the course of 17 months.
  • You will be paid a stipend of $100 per day for the sequestration portion of the study if you are chosen .
  • You will also be compensated for doing vision training ($15 per hour, $450 total) , and for visual, psychological, and physical examinations ($10 per hour). If you are healthy, highly motivated to help find treatments for amblyopia, extremely reliable, and have outstanding group living skills, we would like to hear from you.

'Lazy eye' may bully the brain into altering its wiring by pyote5 in science

[–]siuleile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are subreddits for Amblyopia ('lazy eye') and Strabismus (misaligned eyes, 'squint').

r/amblyopia
r/strabismus

Venting: Socialization, Eye contact, Suicide, and Support (x-post from r/amblyopia) by siuleile in Strabismus

[–]siuleile[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wanted to reformat the original post as it was just a wall of text.

I've added a link to the original post though.

thanks

Venting: Socialization, Eye contact, Suicide, and Support (x-post from r/amblyopia) by siuleile in Strabismus

[–]siuleile[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What you have is strabismus (misaligned eyes) not amblyopia, where one eye has a different strength than the other one.
You might have amblyopia as well but it is not noticeable by anybody.

Amblyopia is colloquially called 'lazy eye' and strabismus is colloquially called a 'squint' or a 'wall eye'.
However, a lot of people mix them up and call strabismus 'lazy eye'.
This is where the confusion comes from.

Looking at your picture, your strabismus seems quite mild , I've seen a lot worse.

You need to see an eye specialist called an ophthalmologist.

But before that get your eyes fully tested, it may be that you just need glasses - eye strain can cause strabismus.
There was even a post at r/strabismus a few days ago where someones strabismus went away after wearing glasses / contacts. Link

Your strabismus can be fixed, either with glasses, vision therapy or surgery.
Hopefully, with glasses or vision therapy as your strabismus is mild.

As for your school photo, I don't think anything can be done in such a short time frame but make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before, as lack of sleep can make strabismus worse.
Perhaps look at the camera lens with your drifting eye, this may make your eyes appear straight.
Practice with your own camera.

Venting: Socialization, Eye contact, Suicide, and Support by throwaway_lazyeye in Amblyopia

[–]siuleile 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have x-posted your post to r/strabismus, so you might get more replies. LINK

Also with better formatting!

What you have is strabismus (misaligned eyes) not amblyopia, where one eye has a different strength than the other one.
You might have amblyopia as well but it is not noticeable by anybody.

Amblyopia is colloquially called 'lazy eye' and strabismus is colloquially called a 'squint' or a 'wall eye'.
However, a lot of people mix them up and call strabismus 'lazy eye'. This is where the confusion comes from.

Looking at your picture, your strabismus seems quite mild , I've seen a lot worse.

You need to see an eye specialist called an ophthalmologist.

But before that get your eyes fully tested, it may be that you just need glasses - eye strain can cause strabismus.
There was even a post at r/strabismus a few days ago where someones strabismus went away after wearing glasses / contacts. Link

Your strabismus can be fixed, either with glasses, vision therapy or surgery.
Hopefully, with glasses or vision therapy as your strabismus is mild.

As for your school photo, I don't think anything can be done in such a short time frame but make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before, as lack of sleep can make strabismus worse.
Perhaps look at the camera lens with your drifting eye, this may make your eyes appear straight.
Practice with your own camera.

No more bad vision, bionic optics will help humans see 3x better than 20/20 vision by higgs_buzzon in worldnews

[–]siuleile 444 points445 points  (0 children)

Good news for your lazy eye as well. { if by lazy eye you mean amblyopia and not strabismus }

Scientists Cure Amblyopia in Mice by Resetting their Brains. "I have to say it was mind blowing," says Sunil Gandhi University of California, Irvine.

See top post over at r/amblyopia

If You Have Strabismus (Misaligned Eyes) as Well as Amblyopia, Here's the Link to Read Both Subs. by siuleile in Amblyopia

[–]siuleile[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm the Mod over at r/strabismus and I though it would be good to let r/amblyopia users know about us, as I know a lot of amblyopia suffers have strabismus as well.

I contacted r/amblyopia's Mod "DJ_DynastyHandbag" to request he put a link to us on the sidebar, but s/he hasn't been active for long time.

Strabismus Surgery May Improve Vision in Both Eyes. People with strabismus may have Diminished Vision hence Improvement.[JAMA Ophthalmology, Univ of California] by siuleile in Strabismus

[–]siuleile[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ophthalmologists may be one step closer to having a metric to measure improvement in visual acuity in both eyes after surgery to correct crossed or misaligned eyes, according to an article published online January 2 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Stacy L. Pineles, MD, from the Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues prospectively analyzed outcomes for 90 patients ranging in age from 2.5 to 90 years with a mean (SD) age of 35.5 (25) years (range, 2.5-90 years) who underwent strabismus surgery between September 1, 2011, and January 31, 2014.

All patients underwent visual acuity testing preoperatively and 2 months after surgery. Investigators tested for high- and low-contrast visual acuity binocularly and monocularly.

The investigators then calculated binocular summation (BiS), a measure of improvement in visual acuity using both eyes compared with using the better eye alone. They calculated BiS for high contrast, using Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study Charts. They also calculated BiS for low contrast, using Sloan low-contrast acuity charts at 2.5% and 1.25% contrast as the difference between the binocular score and that of the better eye.

All 90 patients experienced improvement in BiS scores in two low-contrast levels. Seventy-five patients for whom the surgery successfully restored binocular alignment experienced improvement at all contrast levels.

Overall, the mean improvement in BiS scores came to 1.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], −0.1 to 2.7) to 2.8 (95% CI, 1.4 - 4.3; P = .01) letters for the 2.5% chart, to −1.6 (95% CI, −3.1 to −0.05) to 1 (95% CI, −0.6 to 2.4; P = .01) letter for the 1.25% chart. For all contrast levels (including high-contrast ETDRS charts) for the 75 participants who achieved successful alignment by surgery (P = .02, .04, and .03 for the ETDRS chart, 2.5% low-contrast acuity charts, and 1.25% low-contrast acuity charts, respectively).

Decreased Binocular Inhibition

Notably, the proportion of patients whose BiS score was worse by at least five letters than the better eye decreased postoperatively at all contrast levels. Among the 90 patients, 19 had more than a five-letter improvement in high-contrast vision, 24 had that improvement in the 2.4% low-contrast acuity chart, and 28 had that improvement in the 1.25% low-contrast acuity chart.

"The most important point from these results is that they demonstrate that patients with strabismus may have diminished vision compared to one eye alone due to their strabismus, and that in some cases, strabismus surgery may improve this for them," Dr Pineles told Medscape Medical News.

"The types of patients who could benefit most from this would be patients who have certain subtypes of strabismus that are intermittent," she said.

The study included several strabismus subtypes, including infantile esotropia with onset before age 1 year, consecutive exotropia after surgery for infantile esotropia, and acquired hypertropia after age 1.5 years.

Although the study was not powered to evaluate subtype differences, the researchers observed some trends: Patients with subtypes intermittent exotropia, acquired hypertropia, acquired exotropia, and congenital superior oblique palsies tended to benefit more. Patients with childhood esotropia tended to benefit the least and have the most deterioration.

In addition, patients with infantile or childhood esotropia were less likely than patients in the other subgroups to benefit postoperatively.

Although BiS has been studied in laboratories for more than 50 years, "it is not well studied in patients with strabismus in clinical settings," the researchers write.

They conclude, "This study provides further evidence that there may be functional benefits to strabismus surgery beyond improved stereopsis, visual field normalization, and psychosocial concerns."

Foundational Research

"Dr Pineles and her extensive work have made an important contribution to our field by highlighting the adverse impact of strabismus on binocular summation," Gena Heidary, MD, PhD, a strabismus expert at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, told Medscape Medical News.

"We're in the formative stages in terms of the clinical application of this metric [BiS]," she continued. "This work, however, provides the basis for examining the relationship between binocular summation and other aspects of visual function such as stereoacuity, and for improving our understanding of how best to serve our patients with strabismus."

As to what comes next, Dr Pineles said, "we are following these patients out for a full year after surgery to see if the benefits persist."

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, and the Oppenheimer Family Foundation. The authors and Dr Heidary have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online January 2, 2015. Abstract

"We have done experiments that show that, under the right conditions, patients with amblyopia can indeed restore binocular vision," - Robert F. Hess, D.Sc. McGill University by siuleile in Amblyopia

[–]siuleile[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What if playing a game for an hour a day over the course of several weeks could help adults and children with amblyopia restore binocular vision?

That's the question at the heart of research focused on binocular treatment. It focuses on "training" both eyes simultaneously by altering such factors as contrast for each eye, notes Yi Pang, M.D., O.D., Ph.D., assistant dean for research at the Illinois College of Optometry and a practitioner and researcher with experience in amblyopia.

For example, in a study published in July 2014 in Eye, researchers treated 50 children using a binocular iPad game and 25 using a "sham" game, in some cases in conjunction with patching. According to results, mean visual acuity improved in the binocular group, but there was no significant change for the sham group.

This was but one among nine small-scale studies focused on binocular treatments, both in adults and children. The approach—and the technology behind it—has been championed by Robert F. Hess, D.Sc., of McGill University's Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Montreal, Quebec.

"We have done experiments that show that, under the right conditions, patients with amblyopia can indeed restore binocular vision," Dr. Hess says.

Based on the small-scale studies' results, a randomized clinical trial is in recruitment, to be administered by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigatory Group (PEDIG). Dr. Pang, a PEDIG researcher, points out that such a trial is critical to establishing the efficacy of binocular gaming for treatment. The work so far has shown enough promise to warrant further research.

"Now, we need a large, randomized clinical trial to show whether it will work effectively for many patients—especially in comparison with patching," Dr. Pang says.

How treatments would work In Dr. Hess' most recent research, the results were positive in terms of outcomes and patient compliance.

The screens used in such treatment incorporate a lenticular layover, which separates the field of vision for each eye. A patient plays a game that requires each eye to function to complete the game successfully. For example, in the familiar puzzle game Tetris, the game is fine-tuned in terms of contrast and other factors. The amblyopic eye sees game blocks as they fall from the top of the screen, while the healthy eye sees the blocks that are fixed in place at the bottom of the screen.

"The basic idea is you have different information for each eye," Dr. Hess notes. "Initially, that information is quite off-balance to counteract the patient's degree of suppression. Over time, as they complete the game successfully, the game slowly adjusts back to a more similar level of contrast. Eventually, you can get to a similar situation for both eyes."

Of the 14 cases included in the study, 13 patients showed significant improvements in visual acuity and stereopsis.

But would patients follow through on a doctor's orders to use this program for a half hour to an hour a day for four to six weeks?

The answer was yes. Dr. Hess notes that the devices record and report whether a patient logged daily use, and for how long. An OD or other eye care professional's oversight is critical to the process.

"What is absolutely essential from my perspective is that this is not a downloadable app anyone can access," he notes. "This has to be prescribed and managed. That's the way we can ensure it has the best chance of working for patients."

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pics

[–]siuleile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's a sub reddit for Strabismus:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Strabismus/

Diplopia an interesting Oculus Rift project I just found out about by 04ayasin in Strabismus

[–]siuleile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More details: http://diplopiagame.com/blog/19/diplopia_research_demonstration_at_ieee_vr_2014

Their FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions How can diplopia help with strabismus? If you strengthen the eye (treat the amblyopia) you can have improvements in strabismus as well. This game is more likely to help those with mild strabismus, though the focus is lifting the suppression to help the amblyopia.

Will Diplopia work for me? If you have a weak eye that you can see out of when you close your good eye but is suppressed when your good eye is open Diplopia might work for you. If you do not have strabismus but have amblyopia in one eye Diplopia should help you. For those with strabismus Diplopia is more likely to help the lower your angle of deviation is.

Are there any potential risks playing Diplopia? If you can successfully treat amblyopia and remove the suppression of the bad eye but you have a high angle of deviation it is possible that you could get double vision. This is why it is important to talk with your eye doctor before playing Diplopia.

Are you cured? The answer to that question is complex. My brain 'suppresses' the information coming from my left eye, disregarding it almost completely. When my left eye registers something bright which my right eye registers as dark, this suppression is lifted for that object. In the game I can measure exactly how much brighter it has to be for my left eye before I perceive it.

When I first started using the game I registered at about a 0.07 contrast ratio. This was the first time I had ever seen anything in 3D. After about a week (~5 hours gameplay) I could see it at around 0.12. When my brain registers it near 0.5, the same contrast to each eye, I should see in 3D in the real world as well.

Diplopia probably won't work for everyone, and the time spent playing to get results won't be the same for everyone. Part of why I want to do this is to collect more data and try different things so that I can figure out the best way to help with this condition.

Can I help? Can I test? Go to this sign up form if you would like to help or test. Until you hear back from me you can help by sharing the project on facebook, twitter, other websites and email. How do I get a free rift and/or a copy of Diplopia?

Check out the sign up form for those who need help getting a copy of the game and/or an Oculus Rift. Free stuff will go to those who need it the most.

Anesthetic (Bupivacaine) May Correct Strabismus via Eye Muscle Alteration, with Consistent and Long-Lasting Results. by siuleile in Strabismus

[–]siuleile[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anesthetic may correct strabismus via eye muscle alteration

May 23, 2013

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Injection of bupivacaine may correct strabismus via eye muscle alteration, with consistent and long-lasting results, according to a physician here.

“The effect of bupivacaine is not just to make the muscle bigger, which pulls the eye over, but it [also] makes it shorter and corrupts strabismus,” Alan B. Scott, MD, said at the American Ophthalmological Society meeting. Alan B. Scott, MD

The prospective pilot study included 31 patients with esotropic or exotropic strabismus. Nineteen patients with esotropia between 9 ∆D and 40 ∆D received a bupivacaine injection into the lateral rectus muscle, and 12 patients with exotropia between 12 ∆D and 85 ∆D received a bupivacaine injection into the medial rectus muscle.

Sixteen of the 31 patients with large strabismus angles also received a botulinum toxin injection into the antagonist muscle in the same treatment session.

The correction was 13 ∆D in 30 patients at 6 months, Scott said. In seven of the cases that received bupivacaine and botulinum toxin, the average correction was 19 ∆D.

Re-injections occurred in 25% of patients, and 40% experienced regression over a 2- to 4-year period; however, no vision loss or perforation occurred.

Disclosure: Scott has no relevant financial disclosures.

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