August 11, 2007

Even though the National Eye Institute, The Academy of Science, the New York Academy of Science, and the Council for Responsible Nutrition all published articles refuting the conclusions of the extremely controversial Vitamin E meta-analysis published a few years ago, we continue to receive weekly phone calls from patients who tell us their doctors are still telling them to stop taking any supplemental Vitamin E.

August 10, 2007

Some uninformed eye care professionals insist on recommending flaxseed oil by itself, or as part of a formulation for dry eye patients, even though the negative science around flaxseed oil continues to mount.

August 03, 2007

Current statistics confirm that at any given time, about fifty percent of us take some form of dietary supplement on a regular basis. Further surveys reveal that the majority of us that do take supplements do so without any real knowledge of what we are doing.

July 27, 2007

A new meta-analysis published in the July 2007 edition of The Lancet suggests that taking the herbal supplement Echinacea could reduce the risk of catching a cold by 58 percent and reduce the duration of colds by an average of 1.4 days. This is fantastic news for Americans who, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, catch 1 billion colds annually.

July 20, 2007

Two recently published studies independently suggest that improving vitamin D and calcium nutritional status through supplementation may substantially reduce women\'s risk of cancer. The studies\' findings closely align with previous research that has pointed to a relationship between intake of these nutrients and reduced risk of cancer, specifically breast cancer.

July 13, 2007

This week’s Pipex pharmaceutical news release would have one think that high intake of a newly patented form of zinc, 'Z-monocys' (a monocysteine complex ), invented by ophthalmologist David Newsome, could be the elixir of life or at the very least, the panacea for the dry AMD patient. Possibly, but more probably not!

July 06, 2007

Carl Djerassi, PhD, father of the birth control pill, developer of antihistamines, developer of environmentally benign pesticides, Stanford teacher of world class chemists, former president of Syntex, novelist, prolific playwright and one of the few Renaissance men in twentieth-century science, acknowledged our mutual interest in tear film chemistry by sending me a lovely inscribed gift of one of his books titled The Futurists and Other Stories. One particularly inventive story from this book, The Dacriologist, is perfect beach reading for our ophthalmic and optometric-focused Friday Pearl subscribers. 

June 29, 2007

"Nearly every ocular disease has a genetic component. That’s why genomics and molecular biology are changing the way eye disease is diagnosed and treated. Gene-based approaches will play a prominent role in disease prevention in the future." Charles Wormington, O.D. PhD, Associate Professor of Biophysics and Optometry, Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

June 22, 2007

"Nearly every ocular disease has a genetic component. That’s why genomics and molecular biology are changing the way eye disease is diagnosed and treated. Gene-based approaches will play a prominent role in disease prevention in the future." Charles Wormington, O.D. PhD, Associate Professor of Biophysics and Optometry, Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

June 15, 2007

The June 2007 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology reviews the recently published book, The First Year: Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed, by Dan Roberts - the visually impaired founder of MD Support.