laser eye surgery inventor

Through the Looking Glass: A Guide to Astigmatism

A combination of technology and centuries of medical research has meant that humans can now be treated for many injuries, conditions and general health issues that were once considered untreatable and the countless operations that have been mastered and medicines discovered, mean that people are now living longer than ever before.

Before the medical advances of the modern era, humans have long sought ways to combat physical impairments, whether they are congenital or the result of aging.

Visual impairment, too, has received the attention of medical scholars and inventors for centuries and today, two thirds of the UK adult population now wear glasses or contact lenses, a statistic that has been rising in correlation with increased life expectancy.

However, many eye conditions aren’t age-related and can exist just as easily in new-born babies as a fully-grown adult.

Astigmatism, for example, is an eye condition that causes blurred vision, the two most common types of which are corneal astigmatism (the cornea has an irregular shape) and lenticular astigmatism (the lens has an irregular shape).

Essentially, the irregular shape means that incoming light rays do not focus correctly on the retina. Whilst it’s unclear exactly what causes corneal astigmatism, some studies have suggested that the condition is often inherited and it has also been shown that babies born prematurely or with a low body weight are more likely to have corneal astigmatism.

Similarly, lenticular astigmatism can affect anyone, often with no apparent explanation. However, people with diabetes often develop this form of astigmatism due to high blood sugar levels which cause the lens to curve. When treatment for the diabetes begins and blood sugar levels return to normal, the lens shape will usually return to normal too.

The main symptoms of astigmatism include: blurred vision, photophobia (sensitivity to light), headaches, excessive squinting and eye strain. An optometrist can easily diagnose astigmatism using any number of methods, including a visual acuity test (reading different sized letters from a chart) and a keratometer, which measures the reflected light from the surface of the cornea.

In terms of treatment, many people opt for simple corrective lenses either in the form of glasses or contact lenses. Laser eye treatment, too, is an increasingly popular option among thoseye treatmentatism. There are a number of different laser eye treatments, with the choice made depending entirely on the needs of the individual.

Medical and technological advances now mean that people no longer have to settle for glasses or contalaser eye surgeryteract the effects of visual impairment. Laser eye surgery has made perfect 20/20 vision a possibility again for the countless astigmatism sufferers the world over.

About the Author

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

math A question………tricky, tricky!?

The Eye Surgery Institute just purchased a new laser machine for $500,000 to use during eye surgery. The insitute must pay the inventor $550 each time the machine is used. If the Institute charges $2000 for each laser surgery,what is the minimum number of surgeries that must be performed in order for the Institute to make a profit?

2000x – 550x = 500000
1450x = 500000
x = 344.8, so they’d need 345 surgeries.

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