By Staff
Friday, August 16, 2019 2:45 PM
Insect eyes are pretty amazing, and some new research shows that we might have more in common with them than we thought. According to the
National Eye Institute and
Phys.org, fossilized flies from 54 million years ago had eyes that captured light in the same way as human eyes do today, and this new discovery has potential to tell us a lot about the evolution of sight. Head over to
Phys.org to learn more about this research, which was originally published in
Nature.
By Staff
Friday, August 16, 2019 10:03 AM
PINELLAS PARK, Fla.—There's a new way for patients to experience an augmented reality, virtual try-on experience via a new partnership between Transitions Optical and Facebook, using the Facebook camera. The first-of-its-kind social media experience allows users to see themselves in all 13 Transitions lens colors, including Transitions Signature lenses style colors and Transitions XTRActive style mirrors. Users can tap through the different Transitions lens colors, and switch between indoor and outdoor settings. Users can activate the Transitions Facebook Try-on by clicking on a link that is located on the Transitions Facebook Page or by scanning the QR code with their Facebook app (to find the QR code scanner, simply type “QR code” in the top of the Facebook search bar).
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By Staff
Friday, August 16, 2019 10:00 AM
Maria Briceno Martin, OD, vividly recalls the moment when she decided she would take the leap forward on her dream of practice ownership. It was August 2017, and her second daughter was just one year old. As she was feeding the baby on a Friday afternoon, Dr. Briceno Martin’s husband Greg poised the question if opening an office was still her plan. “I was happy and stable, and I had a great job,” Dr. Briceno Martin says of the position she’d held for the past decade with an OD/MD group. “It was an ideal experience but I always felt like something was missing.” By Monday morning, she was ready to have a conversation with her employers about her future plans. And six months later she opened Lakes Family Eye Care.
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By Staff
Friday, August 16, 2019 9:30 AM
NEW YORK—With the year 2020 on the horizon, ECPs are quickly approaching a period filled with new opportunities and challenges. An aging population, higher incidences of diseases that impact eye health and new areas of practice focus may herald an era of continued growth for the profession. Advances in telehealth, industry consolidation, the digital revolution and broad changes across retail in general are creating tough challenges. Consolidation—involving both big corporate players and private equity-backed groups—is seen by some as the most pressing issue facing the independent optometrist. In its cover topic this month,
VM looks at options the independent ODs are evaluating today.
By Staff
Thursday, August 15, 2019 1:19 PM
R+R. We talk about it a lot, but how much time do we really dedicate to rest and relaxation? For many people, the answer is the same: not nearly enough. Yesterday was
National Relaxation Day, a day dedicated both to relaxation and education about how and why recuperation is so vital for our mental and physical health. Our stress levels take a toll on everything our bodies do—including our physical health, which includes our eye health. Head over to the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to learn more about how relaxation can change your health, and to pick up some new tips, tricks, and relaxation techniques.
By Staff
Thursday, August 15, 2019 7:00 AM
This week’s #WeShareIt is the sweetest opti-themed kids' sweatshirt from indie boutique Star & Bean. Check out their
website to pick it up for the little ones in your life.
By Gwendolyn Plummer
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 4:01 PM
NEW YORK—Remember the feeling of starting a new school year? Kissing summer goodbye was always a bit of a drag, but there’s something about the crisp, fresh start of a brand new school year that still makes me excited. There’s so much potential in a new year—so many classes to enroll in, friends to make, lockers to decorate, stuff to learn—that it feels impossible not to associate the start of the semester with a bright, lively future. As parents, kids, teachers, and the rest of us gear up for the back to school season, the optical community is getting involved as well. A new year means new books, new sneakers, new glasses, and an ever-important reminder about children’s eye health, and how their eyes affect their performance in school.
By Staff
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 10:42 AM
Blink twice, zoom in. Shengqiang Cai, a professor of engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and his team, have began filing patents for
a new contact lens that allows the wearer to change the focal length of the lens with a double blink. It's still early days for this new technology, which
The Smithsonian reported on earlier this week, but the potential of this research is an exciting development in the intersection between technology and eyecare. Head over to
The Smithsonian to hear more from Cai about how these contact lenses work, and where they could go in the future.
By Staff
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 10:00 AM
What was causing the gap in reading performance between poor and wealthier Baltimore students? Johns Hopkins University researchers wanted to know and in 2014 began investigating whether the gap might be due to poor students’ need for eyeglasses. As an eyecare professional, it is disturbing to note that studies over the last 10 years indicate that poorly performing students are frequently misdiagnosed with behavioral disorders or special education needs when the root of the problem is uncorrected vision, a comparatively easy fix. To begin, Hopkins researchers initially screened several hundred second- and third-grade students for vision deficiencies and gave two free pairs of eyeglasses to about 60 percent of them, as needed. Researchers then tracked the school performance of those students for one year. They found that reading performance improvement for the group that received glasses was significant when compared to students who did not need glasses.
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By Staff
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 4:25 PM
Stem cell
research has been a focus for doctors and health care researchers for more than 30 years now. While the research is generally complicated and sometimes slow-moving, there's one area of work where stem cells excel: eyecare. In fact, when it comes to eyecare, stem cell treatments have even helped some patients, like Anna Kuehl, who is profiled in a
WebMD article about the treatments for macular degeneration. Head over to
WebMD to learn more about stem cell research, how it's changing the world of eyecare, and what changes it might make to other areas of health care.
By Staff
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 10:03 AM
Dr. Maryann Youssef may be a novice to the social media game but judging by her page, she’s got the formula figured out. A graduate of the Western University of Health Sciences, this Florida native created
Doctor.Maryann eight months ago in an effort to connect with patients outside the exam room. Since then, the page has garnered over 1,000 followers and counting. “I started my Instagram page as a way to share my passion with patients outside of the exam room,” she explained. “At least once a day, I have a patient say, ‘Wow, I never knew you could check all of that in an eye exam!’ Optometry is undervalued, and that is in part due to the lack of education we provide to our patients. I'm trying to do my small part in changing that.”
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By Staff
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 10:03 AM
What are you reading this summer? Well, in some circumstances, this can be a loaded question. If a work colleague or even your boss asks you about your beach reading list, it’s probably best to avoid talking up anything from the science fiction, romance or sports categories on Amazon. Better to choose one of The New York Times’ bestsellers in the business category, something like “Dare to Lead” or even Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers.” But if it’s a good friend who is asking, it’s easier to be honest (mostly honest) with your response, mentioning a book like “The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” by Amy Schumer or one of the Daniel Silva thrillers. I always find that it’s a good idea to have a couple of different lists top of mind just in case you get the dreaded “what-books-are-on-your-nightstand” question. Here’s what a few people in the optical industry are reading this summer.
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