New Research Indicates Contact Lenses Cause Conrea Ulcers

Contact lenses are also culprits for chronic dry eyes.  Now there is a new and different issue.

An increase use of new contact lenses may be creating conrea ulcers at nine times the rate compare to not wearing contact lenses.   

A study of over a million Californians in United States showed that people who wore contact lenses were 9 times more likely to suffer from corneal ulcers.  Many people do not follow basic contact lens safety guidelines.  

Researcher Dr. David Gritz of Montefiore Medical Center in New York told Reuters Health: “As new contact lens innovations become available, and people hear that they can wear these contact lenses for weeks or a month without taking them off. They don’t realize the dramatic increase in risk it causes them. Our eyes do need breaks from contact lens wear.”  He went on to say, “Contact lenses can even act as a bandage over eye irritation, covering up symptoms.”

People infected with HIV were also nine times more likely to develop the condition than those who were HIV negative.

Contact lenses provide a surface for tears to evaporate, causing chronic dry eyes.  

To learn how TheraLife Eye can help contact lens wearers relief dry eyes, click here

TheraLife Can Help

Let TheraLife Eye restore normal function and relief dry eyes with your own balanced, sustainable tears.  Call us and find out how - 1-877-917-1989

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Do Eye Drops Make Your Eyes Drier? TheraLife Can Help!

You have been using eye drops for your dry eyes for ever.  Your eye doctor prescribed drops with gels, drops without preservatives.  Nothing seem to help.  You are at the right place.

Eye drops make your eyes drier

You probably suspected this is the case all along.  This is because frequent use of eye drops is washing away the natural lubricants your eyes produce- like washing your eye balls under a faucet.  This dryness result in inflammation, causing your eyes to hurt, red, irritated, light sensitive until they become unbearable.

The worst thing you can do is to use "decongestant eye drops" such as Visine- that takes the red out.  . Long-term use can cause your eyes to become dependent on these eye drops, and when you stop, the blood vessels dilate even more and become worse, making red eyes worse.

Prolonged dry eye left untreated can lead to corneal ulcers, cornea abrasions which may require cornea transplant..

Why eye drops do not work for chronic dry eye?

The answers resides in our tear composition and tear secretion glands:

1. Lacrimal Glands- This gland produces the bulk of your tear and creates tear volume
2. Meibomian Glands- This gland secretes thickening agents (proteins, lipids, and mucin) to prevent tear evaporation and protects the eye

Our body requires that the tear volume and tear thickness be balanced and secreted evenly over time in order to relief dry eyes. Typical treatments only relief part of the condition, but not both

- Eye drops – compensate for the lack of tear volume.

- Oily eye capsules – compensate for the lack of tear viscosity (thickness), prevent tear evaporation

Over time, the more drops you give your eyes, your eyes are learning not to secrete tears due to conditioning reflux.  

Overuse of eye drops usually is more than 4-5 times/day.  This includes antibiotic eye drops, dry eye medications, prescription dry eye drops, glaucoma drops etc..

For chronic dry eyes, you need balanced, sustainable tear secretion throughout the day.
TheraLife Eye Enhanced can help!



TheraLife® Eye Enhanced works by restoring tear secretion glands intra-cellularly.  Reason being, dry eyes result in inflammation which shuts down the tear secretion glands.  TheraLife Eye capsules will stimulate them  (both meibomian and lacrimal glands) to secret its own balanced tears naturally and overcome the key issue in chronic dry eye syndrome.

How does TheraLife Eye work?  What is in TheraLife Eye? click here.

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New Research Finds Eye Holds Secrets to Stroke & High Blood Pressure

Retina Photography can predict risks for  high blood pressure and stroke- according to new research published in American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

High blood pressure is the world’s single most important risk factor for stroke, however, it is very difficult to predict which people with high blood pressure are most likely to develop a stroke.  This new research study indicates photographing the retina (retinal imaging) may help access which ones are more likely to have a stroke.

It has been said " Eye is the window to your soul".  The blood vessels behind the eye is an easy way to evaluate the status of blood vessels in the brain” and retinal imaging is a non-invasive and inexpensive way to examine the blood vessels of the retina.

Researchers tracked stroke occurrence for 13 years in people with high blood pressure who had not had not had a stroke.Retina photographs were taken, and damage to retina blood vessels(hypertension retinopathy)  were scored. During the follow-up, 146 participants experienced a stroke caused by a blood clot and 15 by bleeding in the brain out of 2907 patients over the 13 years. 

Results indicates 35 % higher in people with mild hypertensive retinopathy and 137 % higher in people with moderate or severe hypertensive retinopathy. In people  on medication and achieving decent blood pressure control, the risk of a blood clot was 96 % higher in those with mild hypertensive retinopathy and 198 % higher in those with moderate or severe hypertensive retinopathy. Data was adjusted for blood cholesterol, sex, race, blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index etc. 

pressure.”
TheraLife MaculaEye Can Help
Theralife MaculaEye is designed to improve micro-circulation, membrane permeability, and blood vessel agility.  In a research study, the fragile blood vessels in people with diabetic retinopathy was greatly improved over a period of 3 months.  Clinical research data was conducted with Dr. August Reader at the California Pacific Medical Center., San Francisco, California.

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Ocular Surface Disease Index for Dry Eye Assessment

 

How do you know how severe your dry eyes are, and if you are receiving the proper care?

Typically, your eye doctor will diagnose your dry eyes by using clinical exam, your response of yes or no to self-reported symptoms of dryness or burning.  Frequently, eye drops are prescribed and if drops don't work, there are very few other options.  Inadequate diagnosis can lead to delayed diagnosis or even subpar therapeutic management.

This Ocular Surface Disease Index¹ (OSDI, developed by Allergan) is a questionnaire that has been tested in clinical trials as an accurate and effective tool to differentiate normal and temporary ocular discomfort from chronic dry eyes. It consists of 12 questions that rates the frequency of symptoms, task-related limitations due to ocular discomfort, and environmental irritants. For each item, the range of patient responses are from "none of the time" to "all of the time," corresponding to a numerical 0-to-4 scale. The values are then summed, and the calculated OSDI score ranges from 0 to 100 with cut-off values for mild (13-22), moderate (23-32), and severe (33-100) dry eye.

The OSDI questionnaire can be used as a screening tool to identify people who would benefit from a self-referral for a full dry-eye work-up.  All existing people with dry eyes should also complete the OSDI at each follow-up to monitor for progression and track for response to therapy.

Print out a copy for yourself and track your own symptoms while you take TheraLife Eye for improvement.  Bring a copy to your next visit to your eye doctors.  email us at: info@theralife.com to get a copy of this questionnaire.

Theralife Can Help
1. Tell us your symptoms and dry eye history, what you have been doing so far for dry eye relief- we will give you:

• Realistic expectations on how long it will take you to recover.

• What other regimen you should be using in addition to taking TheraLife Eye. e.g. Hot Compresses, eye lid cleaning, antibiotics, steroid eye drops etc.

Theralife will stay with you every 2 weeks until you recover.

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New Research Indicates Stress Causes Chronic Dry Eyes

The stress level in today's world is much higher than before.  Working 10 hour days are common.  Instant messaging that just can't wait, grabbing dinner and lunch on the go, not enough exercise, over eating, insomnia, you get the picture. 

Can stress cause dry eyes?  Yes!

There is a body of scientific evidence that links STRESS to chronic dry eye syndrome.  Stress seems to cause cellular damage which leads to conjunctivitis, dry eyes, macular degeneration (AMD).  UV light and tobacco smoke can result in epithelial damages to the cornea.   Oxidative stress results in many cellular changes which eventually leads to cell death.  

In animal models, inhibition of oxidative stress (such as using steriods), and inflammation can interrupt and break the cycle of cell death.  We now have several animal models that demonstrate this phenomena is true.  Inflammation is a major culprit.  Inflammation is seen in every severe dry eye cases which leads to cornea damage. 

This creation of numerous cell and animal models that selectively target the effects of oxidative stress and inflammation to the specifically affected eye region in these diseases has greatly advanced our understanding of the involvement of oxidative stress in eye disease.

How can TheraLife Help?- TheraLife Fatigue and TheraLife Eye

TheraLife Fatigue

Unable to concentrate and focus?  Use TheraLife Fatigue to deliver more oxygen to your brain, promote healthy sleep.  No caffeine, stimulants, all natural and effective.
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TheraLife Eye to prevent cornea damage, restore tear secretion glands and deliver balanced sustainable tears all day long.

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Reference: Here is an abstract from an article published in Cornea: October 2009 - Volume 28 - Issue 11 - pp S70-S74

Elimination Diet- treatment for your eye allergies.

People who suffer from dry eyes and come to TheraLife often describe their symptoms as itchy, dry, irritated, burning.   The symptom "Itchy" is a sure sign of allergies.

Allergies could be caused by environmental elements such as pollen, mold, trees, animal dander and more.  However, there are many food allergies that can be eliminated through this "Elimination Diet"  One of our customers who had itchy dry eyes tried it and alas it worked in 2 weeks.

She would like to share her story with you, because she also finds it so easy to implement.

I have been taking TheraLife Eye for dry eyes for 7 years.  My eyes are much improved, but I still have some itchy eyes.  So I decided to try this "Elimination Diet" and see if I can get further improvement. 
This diet includes:

• No Gluten, 
• No refined sugar, 
• No dairy
• No caffeine
• No GMO corn products. 

After two weeks on this diet, I had a significant improvement in my eye health - Eyes always moist and no itching sensation. This diet is easy to follow both at home and at many restaurants who provide great choices which allow you to stay on this diet.  Starbucks even has no caffeine passion ice tea.   I continue to take TheraLife Eye for dry eye relief.  Adding this diet has allowed me to be food allergy free. "
KA  Thousand Oaks, CA


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Punctal Occlusion for Dry Eyes Treatment

In people where eye drops did not work, eye doctors may use punctal plugs as a modality of dry eyes treatment.  The idea of punctal plugs is to shore up what ever little tears are produced by preventing it from draining through the tear duct.  In people with moderate to severe dry eyes, who can still produce tears, this treatment may increase the quality of their lives.  The negative aspect is, using punctal plugs may result in allergic reactions to the materials used in the plugs causing the plugs to fall out, or result in eye infections. 

Punctal Occlusion for Dry Eyes

There are different ways to plug up tear drainage.
1. Punctal Plugs
2. Thermocautery - use heat to close off the tear ducts permanently
3. Electorcautery - use electronic tool to seal off tear ducts
4. Laser ablation
5. Surgical cauterization- to close up tear duct.

Punctal plugs can be removed if neccessary, in case the person is allergic to the plug material or the plugs can fall out by themselves.  About 50% of the plugs fall out within the first year.  Methods 2-5 are permanent and cannot be reversed.

Punctal occulusion should be performed after surface inflammation is under control. ¹
Before performing a procedure to occlude a punctum permanently, many eye doctors suggest a trial of temporary punctal occlusion using various plugs.⁴ While this is advised, being able to tolerate the temporary plugs does not give an accurate prediction of side effects of the permanent plugs.

The reported results of punctal plugs vary. It seems to work for people with dry eye of mostly mild to moderate severity. The magnitude of the treatment effect was more striking following implantation of non-dissolvable silicone plugs, but occlusion with temporary collagen plugs also had an apparent relief dry eyes.

Punctal Occlusion and Inflammation

Punctal plus has been shown to improve objective and subjective measures of dry eye¹² ,  but may increase ocular surface inflammation in subjects with high levels of clinical inflammation.¹³ Because of this issue, an international panel of experts developing comprehensive treatment guidelines for ocular surface disorders recommended that the inflammatory condition be treated before punctal occlusion.¹⁴

Punctal Plugs and Increased Ocular Bacterial Infections

Because puntal plugs back up tears – which does not allow debri and bacteria from draining. Some people will see an increase in eye bacterial infections, which require anti-biotic eye drops for treatment.

Complications
Although punctal occlusion is an effective therapy for chronic dry eyes, there are complications related to punctal plug insertions.  Some of these complications aree

• epiphora - over flow of tears onto the face.  
• punctal ring rupture,
• abrasion of the corneal and conjunctival surface,
• suppurative canaliculitis - infection of lacrimal gland ( located at the upper and lower eye lids) causing surface abnormalities that sometime require surgical interventions.

The retention rates for the different kind of silicone punctal plugs have been reported to be about 50% after one year,extrusion of silicone plugs is common, occurring within three months in up to 50% of cases.

Conclusion

For the right person, punctal plugs could work.  Careful selection is critical evaluating risks and benefits.  A variety of techniques are available. Punctal occlusion can dramatically improve the quality of life in many people with moderate cases of dry eyes and can prevent visual loss in people with severe cases of dry eyes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

How TheraLife Eye can help!
TheraLife Eye is clinically proven to be 80% effective in dry eye relief for first time users.  TheraLife Eye is effective when puntal plugs, prescription eye drop, eye drops failed. The reason is because TheraLife Eye work on restoring normal cell functions to tear secretion glands,  intracellularly.


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REFERENCES
1. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Punctal occlusion for the dry eye. Ophthalmology 1997; 104: 1521.
2. Freeman JM. The punctum plug: Evaluation of the new treatment for the dry eye. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1975; 79: 874–87.
3. Dohlman CH. Punctal occlusion in keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1978; 85: 1277-1281.
4. Cohen EJ. Punctal occlusion. Arch Ophthalmol 1999; 117: 389–90.
5. Glatt HJ. Failure of collagen plugs to predict epiphora after permanent punctal occlusion. Ophthalmic Surg 1992; 23: 292–3.
6. Redmond JW. Correspondence: Punctal occlusion with collagen implants. Ophthalmic Surg 1992; 23: 642.
7. Ervin AM, Wojciechowski R, Schein O. Punctal occlusion for dry eye syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010 Sep 8;(9):CD006775.
8. Geldis JR, Nichols JJ. The impact of punctal occlusion on soft contact lens wearing comfort and the tear film. Eye Contact Lens 2008 Sep; 34(5): 261-5.
9. Nava-Castaneda A, Tovilla JL, Rodriguez L, et al. Effects of lacrimal occlusion with collagen and silicone plugs in patients with conjunctivitis associated dry eye. Cornea2003; 22: 10-14.
10. Yazdani C, McLaughlin T, Smeeding JE, et al. Prevalence of treated dry eye disease in a managed care population. Clin Ther 2001;23:1672–1682.
11. American Academy of Ophthalmology Preferred Practice Patterns. Dry Eye Syndrome. 2003. Available at: http://www.aao.org/aao/education/library/ppp/upload/Dry-Eye-Syndrome.pdf.
12. Dursun D, Ertan A, Bilezikci B, et al. Ocular surface changes in keratoconjunctivitis sicca with silicone punctum plug occlusion. Curr Eye Res 2003; 26: 263–269.
13. Pflugfelder SC. Anti-inflammatory therapy for dry eye. Am J Ophthalmol 2004; 137: 337–342.
14. Behrens A, Doyle JJ, Stern L, et al. The Dysfunctional Tear Syndrome Study Group. Dysfunctional tear syndrome: a Delphi approach to treatment recommendations. Cornea 2006; 25: 900–907.
15. Yang H, Fujishima H, Toda I, et al. Lacrimal punctal occlusion for the treatment of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis. Am J Ophthalmol 1997; 124:80–7.
16. Sugita J, Yokoi N, Fullwood NJ, et al. The detection of bacterial biofilms in punctal plug holes. Cornea 2001; 20: 362–365.
17. Murube J, Murube E. Treatment of dry eye by blocking the lacrimal canaliculi. Surv Ophthalmol 1996; 40: 463-480.
18. Kojima K, Yokoi N, Nakamura Y, et al. Outcome of punctal plug occlusion therapy for severe dry eye syndrome. Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi 2002; 106: 360–364.
19. Balaram M, Schaumberg DA, Dana MR. Efficacy and tolerability outcomes after punctal occlusion with silicone plugs in dry eye syndrome. Am J Ophthalmol 2001; 131: 30-36.