In the December 2024 edition of the Cornea Journal, Dr. Antonia Vieira and colleagues published a study about dry eye and vitamin D. They reference the fact that there is an association between Vitamin D deficiency and dry eye disease. There is some evidence that replenishing vitamin D in patients with deficiency can improve the…

Believe it or not, there are some types of cancer that can be treated with eye drops! These are the sorts of cancer that you might expect can be affected by eye drops; cancers of the surface of the eyeball. While there have been recent challenges associated with this practice, including the lack of availability…

In the October 2024 edition of JAMA Ophthalmology, Jason Smith and colleagues published a study about dementia and visual impairment. There are many studies of this type, which leads us to believe that improving vision/preventing vision loss is very important in patients with dementia or at risk for dementia. The most common thing I do…

Some patients have very bad dry eye issues. Some patients have related issues caused by other diseases that affect the surface of the eyeballs. One of the possible treatments for problems on the ocular surface is called “serum tears.” What are serum tears? They are drops made out of the patient’s blood. No, really! The…

There are certain types of tears of the eye for which the term used is “dialysis,” such as retinal dialysis and iridodialysis. These terms are not really related to the bloodstream or the kidney. The Greek word “dialysis” means something akin to separating. When there is a tear in the edge of a tissue, it…

I frequently tell patients with inflammation in the eye that their inflammation can recur, especially if they decrease their anti-inflammatory medications too quickly. Dr. James Brodie and colleagues published an article in the November 2024 edition of the journal Ophthalmology about eye inflammation. They specifically looked at one type of eye inflammation called acute anterior…

Can a cataract grow back? The short answer is “no.” A true cataract will not grow ever again in an eye that has had its cataract removed. We put artificial lenses in the eye after removing cataracts, and it IS possible for a membrane to develop behind the artificial lens. This membrane actually grows on…

One of the most dreaded complications of eye surgery is an infection inside the eye. We do everything we can to prevent such infections, and, thankfully, these types of infections occur very rarely. And the good news is that we are winning! According to a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology by Dr. Brian VanderBeek and…

I have many glaucoma patients, as well as other patients, who wonder about their eye pressure measurements. When the left eye pressure was 13 at the last visit and is 15 at the current visit, they ask, “What happened? Why did my eye pressure go up?” Eye pressure is not static at all times. For…

Some people do procedures and surgeries faster than others. Sometimes the fast surgeons are incredibly gifted and have great outcomes. Sometimes, they do not. While there are reasons not to loiter and extend surgery time in the eye, those reasons have to do with outcomes. At the end of the day, I argue that the…