Monday, January 28, 2013

New treatments for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction

Do not mis-understand these new treatment is a substiute for ongoing maintenance efforts to keep your eyes free of dry eye symptoms.  Take TheraLife Eye capsules, use hot compresses twice a day, 10 minutes each time and take at least 2000 mg/day of Omega 3 Fish Oil.
 
Majority (75%) of patients with Blepharitis also has chronic dry eye syndrome. The symptoms often feel similar. Blepharitis tends to recur, where as chronic dry eye symptoms can be treated with TheraLife Eye. Customers with Blepharitis often has rosacea on the face, nose, flaky skin, dandruff, or certain bacterial or bugs growing on the eye lashes. It is recommended that you wear no make up on the eyes.   High percentage of people who has Blepharitis also have meibomian gland dysfunction.

There are newer options to people who continue to suffer the effects of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), despite efforts with traditional therapies. MGD is reported to afflict 67.2% of people over the age of 60 in the United States. Common treatments include:

1. Hot compresses 2-3 times per day, ten minutes each.   Afterwards, gently massage your eye lids after wards.

2. Essential fatty acids – such as TheraLife Omega 3 Fish Oil (molecularly distilled for purity) or Flax seed Oil for their strong anti- inflammatory properties

3. Topical and oral antibiotics

Two newly described therapies for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction  include

o Gland Probing- using a physical probe to open meibomian glands
o Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).- LipiFlow.  Go to Lipiflow.com and select the cities you live in.  Check to see which physician's offices has this new equipment.

Gland Probing
Meibomian gland probing was proposed by Steven Maskin, MD using a 76 micron, stainless steel probe of 2- or 4 mm length to unblock glands. He presented a case series of 25 patients diagnosed with MGD.
Twenty-four of 25 patients (96%) had immediate post-probing relief, while all patients reported relief of symptoms by four months post-procedure. Twenty patients (80%) did not need re-treatment by average follow-up of 11.2 months, while the remaining five patients (20%) required re-treatment at an average of four to six months.

Intense Pulse Light (IPL)- LipiFlow

Another experimental treatment is Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), introduced by Rolando Toyos, MD. The treatment uses heat from a special flash lamp to melt the obstructions in the meibomian gland orifices.12 When originally used in dermatology for acne and rosacea patients, IPL patients would subsequently report that their eyes felt better post treatment. In 2003, Toyos conducted a study in which 100 patients with treatment resistant MGD were treated with IPL on the lower lid on only one side. He reported that following treatment, the MGD was improved, both subjectively and clinically. Dr. Toyos claims that when the light is absorbed by the blood vessels, the heat that is generated melts the secretions and opens the glands, decreasing the inflammatory cytokines, and allows for easier expression and improvement of tear film stability. There’s also some evidence that IPL decreases parasites on the eyelash margin that can cause meibomian gland problems.

It usually takes three to four treatments over the course of four months, with maintenance treatments required every six to twelve months.

As the number of dry eye people continues to grow, more and more people turn to TheraLife for solutions.

Why TheraLife Eye?

Blepharitis tends to recur, where as chronic dry eye symptoms can be treated with TheraLife Eye. Typical signs of Blepharitis is inflamed eye lids, red eyes, tired, irritated. TheraLife Eye stimulates both the Lacrimal gland for tear secretion, and meibomian gland to secrete balanced tears that lasts all day long.

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REFERENCES
1. Bron AJ, Tiffany JM. The contribution of meibomian disease to dry eye. Ocul Surf. 2004 Apr;2(2):149-65.
2. Pinna A, Piccinini P, Carta F. Effect of oral linoleic and gamma-linolenic acid on meibomian gland dysfunction. Cornea. 2007 Apr;26(3):260-4.
3. Foulks GN, Borchman D, Yappert M, et al. Topical azithromycin therapy for meibomian gland dysfunction: clinical response and lipid alterations. Cornea. 2010 Jul;29(7):781-8.
4. Luchs J. Efficacy of topical azithromycin ophthalmic solution 1% in the treatment of posterior blepharitis. Adv Ther. 2008;25:858-70.
5. Dougherty JM, McCulley JP, Silvany RE, Meyer DR. The role of tetracycline in chronic blepharitis. Inhibition of lipase production in staphylococci. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1991 Oct;32(11):2970-5.
6. Ralph RA. Tetracyclines and the treatment of corneal stromal ulceration: a review. Cornea. 2000 May;19(3):274-7.
7. Stone DU, Chodosh J. Oral tetracyclines for ocular rosacea: an evidence based review of the literature. Cornea. 2004 Jan;23(1):106-9.
8. Yoo SE, Lee DC, Chang MH. The effect of low-dose doxycycline therapy in chronic
The above article is an abstract from April issue of Optometric Management

Friday, January 18, 2013

Blepharitis & Dry Eye Treatments- TheraLife Can Help

You have been diagnosed with dry eyes, you use eye drops, warm compress, cleaning eye lids with baby shampoo, and your eyes are still red, dry, and irritable.  What else could be going on?
Red dry eyes are often caused by:
  • chronic dry eye
  • Conjunctivitis
  • Blepharitis
Chronic Dry Eye Syndrome:
Red eyes is a typical chronic dry eye syndrome, in addition to feeling dry, tired, irritated, light sensitive, sandy gritty, and sometimes watery.

Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis is caused by viral or bacterial infection.  Bacterial conjunctivitis can be treated with antibiotic eye drops. Viral infections typically runs through a 14 day cycle and stop.  For ocular herpes, please consult your physician.  Acyclovir is often the treatment of choice for herpes.

Blepharitis:
Blepharitis is a recurring condition caused by inflammation of the eye lids.  Meibomian tear glands (produce tear thickness) is often involved.  Common causes include rosacea, dandruff, sometimes allergies, bacterial growth on the eye lids.  Typical recommendation is to use warm compress daily, clean eye lids with baby shampoo followed by gentle massage of both upper and lower eye lids.  Unfortunately, blepharitis tend to recur.  Eye lid hygiene is key.
Symptoms of blepharitis are very similar to red dry eyes - blurry vision, watery, red, tired, light sensitivity and often wake up with a crusting of eyelashes.

How can TheraLife Eye Help?
TheraLife Eye is effective in reducing inflammation and stimulates tear flow for chronic dry eye relief.  Often people with chronic dry eyes also have blepharitis.  Treating chronic dry eyes reduces the inflammation, and also helps to reduce the recurrence of blepharitis.  It is highly recommended that those who have blepharitis stay on TheraLife Eye long term to increase the rate of success.


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