tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67552085464600818292023-11-16T10:11:38.745-08:00DuPage OphthalmologyBalaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-11236656841177196362013-09-22T16:33:00.005-07:002013-09-22T16:33:58.735-07:00Cataract Surgery Can Save Your Life<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 12px/normal Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><b id="docs-internal-guid-20a2cce4-47f9-2a1b-8275-41c32331d2fc" style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhBhOJZGBJumsLlJMuJcATCWXUkQukL2DgfMV2uiGh775COI2HJ_DHwetKUqsBKG-QZdSJfTMKkm1QhIP2ddoj_sUNxvYBKnIpIdMmnTdK-kt7Feu2_mvWIAZ7TCsHJQ-mUAghA2BMP25/s1600/01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhBhOJZGBJumsLlJMuJcATCWXUkQukL2DgfMV2uiGh775COI2HJ_DHwetKUqsBKG-QZdSJfTMKkm1QhIP2ddoj_sUNxvYBKnIpIdMmnTdK-kt7Feu2_mvWIAZ7TCsHJQ-mUAghA2BMP25/s1600/01.jpg" /></span></a><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Everyone understands that cataract surgery improves vision, but it may even save your life! Vision is our most important sense;</span> <span style="background-color: black;">we are very dependent on sight for almost</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"> <span style="color: white;">everything we do in life, and by restoring better vision, it can impact our driving, our walking, and our ability to take care of ourselves.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">A 2012 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that having cataract surgery was associated with a decreased risk of hip fractures. The researchers examined at the records of over one million Medicare patients over a 7 year period who had cataracts. Of these, 36% had cataract surgery. In the following year, the seniors with cataract surgery were 16 percent less likely to have a hip fracture than the seniors who did not have surgery. For those with severe cataracts, the protective effect was even greater.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Dr. Ethel Siris, director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, has commented, "This really does make complete sense and documents nicely what we have always said: Any improvement in vision that can be accomplished easily in an elderly patient would be expected to reduce the risk of falling and therefore of fractures -- especially hip fractures." </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9nLvwJUPEKQja73C-WBPD8QmTe-20wHv6CyXbSsKYhwiFaqqff5j2_sT_vLD6gJ9PHIHF6vTmawtyRCivIFGhtM6UL_huiBhXAh3j3jj4COiYrXovfVcPQwTO0vFXQhEPAaQrwLsYMUg/s1600/iStock_eyeballspectrum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9nLvwJUPEKQja73C-WBPD8QmTe-20wHv6CyXbSsKYhwiFaqqff5j2_sT_vLD6gJ9PHIHF6vTmawtyRCivIFGhtM6UL_huiBhXAh3j3jj4COiYrXovfVcPQwTO0vFXQhEPAaQrwLsYMUg/s320/iStock_eyeballspectrum.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Another study published in September 2013 in the Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology found that patients with cataract surgery were more likely to live longer. The fifteen year study looked at a total of 354 Australians older than 49 years and diagnosed with cataracts. Some of these people had cataract surgery and others did not. After adjusting for a variety of factors, the data showed a 40 percent lower mortality risk in people who had cataract surgery.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Jie Jin Wang, Ph.D., a lead researcher of the study, surmised, "It suggests to ophthalmologists that correcting cataract patients' visual impairment in their daily practice results in improved outcomes beyond that of the eye and vision, and has important impacts on general health."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">It’s very important for seniors to have their eyes checked and consider cataract surgery whenever their vision is compromised. It’s not just that the TV picture will be clearer, it might just save their life.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span></div>
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Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-82790903977825520912013-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:002013-01-06T13:00:03.358-08:00Blepharospasm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdI464Qx8JM3sJOPV7ybj3LTmQA2q9hn-EbQbAJex8C_tJ6tg51joRHhHB_SFjlbj_RDv8N_T5whZ-TN1uP1S6dsMt-HATGm9Su3TIHYNn6z7NsU_YpCQh-RHs0MKbp-5ZhWwzWJQvZW0p/s1600/images2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdI464Qx8JM3sJOPV7ybj3LTmQA2q9hn-EbQbAJex8C_tJ6tg51joRHhHB_SFjlbj_RDv8N_T5whZ-TN1uP1S6dsMt-HATGm9Su3TIHYNn6z7NsU_YpCQh-RHs0MKbp-5ZhWwzWJQvZW0p/s1600/images2.jpg" /></a><br />
When you hear the word Botox, cosmetic surgery quickly pops into your mind. But Botox originally was originally approved by the FDA for medical conditions. In the 1960's, an ophthalmologist in San Francisco, Alan Scott, pioneered work using Botox for crossed eyes and for a rare condition called blepharospasm. I have treated Blepharospasm for over twenty years, and it continues to be a strange disease that troubles one person out of every 20,000.<br />
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Imagine losing control over your facial muscles. People with blepharospasm have twitching of the muscles around both eyes and end up blinking uncontrollably. Sometimes it is so bad that they can't even open their eyes. Stress, lights, or other irritants can set off these spasms. Since we normally talk with other people by looking them in the eye, this constant blinking and twitching causes embarrassment and distracts from everyday interactions. Before the discovery that Botox can stop this twitching, these patients sometimes endured surgery where the muscles that cause blinking were removed from the face.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5vwX9x4zihqkwn3C1kIMNg9sOEVDnB5JITY9mCrHB9DLgW8htsjn_Pu4fwDJP8p_6WpXLW5iWF2jfslPUiFvdGYBQd6Dcwk2RzWxWEVzIGQufhAt6zOM1lmy5XzLYIxgeXIhXMaf1-TS/s1600/face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5vwX9x4zihqkwn3C1kIMNg9sOEVDnB5JITY9mCrHB9DLgW8htsjn_Pu4fwDJP8p_6WpXLW5iWF2jfslPUiFvdGYBQd6Dcwk2RzWxWEVzIGQufhAt6zOM1lmy5XzLYIxgeXIhXMaf1-TS/s1600/face.jpg" /></a></div>
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Today, we have effective treatment that improves the quality of life for all these patients. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes years before they are referred to the proper specialists.</div>
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Recently, the CDC has recommended that all patients who receive Botox get a freshly mixed bottle and that multiple people should NOT be treated from the same bottle to avoid any chance of contamination. At <a href="http://www.dupage2020.com/" target="_blank">Dupage Ophthalmology</a>, we are experts in treating hemifacial spasm and blepharospasm with Botox.</div>
Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-68465744974389895892012-12-16T07:35:00.000-08:002012-12-20T13:18:43.072-08:00Board Certification<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBvJK4juy6NEiW2bT4ZwJcYLuRfkCqmw4gGO90hul6Rv3SnOgH4I2s57ignKiP9mM2We5PC98K_661prVOqW160njWdU_dAwrqCIIV_rw-Aqrp0488pHKzDIyyvnI7Mc4BcKpyYzVVg8P/s1600/imagesCAQCJSCY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBvJK4juy6NEiW2bT4ZwJcYLuRfkCqmw4gGO90hul6Rv3SnOgH4I2s57ignKiP9mM2We5PC98K_661prVOqW160njWdU_dAwrqCIIV_rw-Aqrp0488pHKzDIyyvnI7Mc4BcKpyYzVVg8P/s1600/imagesCAQCJSCY.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5FBXNiWXWJWeQu32Yz84mC9R8w4_dpyRLTZ7FXHKiZs7KLgIXJCWXFbSesc42hGYSPJC9UA-07bAKa4UiOXvVEbKk3wGunpFeq8ygGtMN9L_h8gVG73XAk4H9MVhT2gzrh7AQTiftQt_/s1600/imagesCA47827T.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5FBXNiWXWJWeQu32Yz84mC9R8w4_dpyRLTZ7FXHKiZs7KLgIXJCWXFbSesc42hGYSPJC9UA-07bAKa4UiOXvVEbKk3wGunpFeq8ygGtMN9L_h8gVG73XAk4H9MVhT2gzrh7AQTiftQt_/s1600/imagesCA47827T.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Last week, the mail brought great news for me. I passed my </span><a href="http://abop.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">American Board of Ophthalmology</span></a><span style="color: white;"> (ABO) Certification test. The test culminated a multi-year process to re-certify. Most patients don’t realize that physicians have to constantly attend lectures, review their charts, and take exams to keep the title of Board Certified. Organizations make these standards for every specialty in medicine and most doctors must recertify every ten years. After practicing for twenty years, this is my second recertification process. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">This whole process of testing physicians began about twenty-five years ago. Before then, doctors became Board Certified for life and never had to provide proof of competency. Patients can look up to see if their doctor is board certified by following the link to the ABO above. As for me, there is no time to rest. Medicine moves so fast, that we as physicians, have duty to our patients to constantly keep up and improve.</span></span>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-85725977935454400572012-12-02T18:40:00.000-08:002012-12-02T18:40:01.103-08:00Laser for Glaucoma<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC99uUoklXGbPfF2gCyYDBsH0ZSw2tvrE83ikjW45o6TGkWhvG7LK4JwCCOVU2Td-oXhRiVOq4dg9YorjRvy_LO6FMJwovwG-5vHLgCTHQE3T3MqjjQd3FY3K1chS6a-bH-qSb3getdU5t/s1600/SLT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC99uUoklXGbPfF2gCyYDBsH0ZSw2tvrE83ikjW45o6TGkWhvG7LK4JwCCOVU2Td-oXhRiVOq4dg9YorjRvy_LO6FMJwovwG-5vHLgCTHQE3T3MqjjQd3FY3K1chS6a-bH-qSb3getdU5t/s1600/SLT.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> <br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC99uUoklXGbPfF2gCyYDBsH0ZSw2tvrE83ikjW45o6TGkWhvG7LK4JwCCOVU2Td-oXhRiVOq4dg9YorjRvy_LO6FMJwovwG-5vHLgCTHQE3T3MqjjQd3FY3K1chS6a-bH-qSb3getdU5t/s1600/SLT.jpg"><span style="color: white;"></span></a><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Medicine, like culture, tends to have shifts in philosophy. For a long time, for every patient complaint, there was a medicine to cure it. Unfortunately, this approach has led to an unreasonable number of pills and drops that patients have to take everyday. Beyond the burden of taking so many pills, the ever growing cost and possibility of side effects led to a widespread problem of patients simply not taking their medication as directed.<br /><br />For an eye doctor, our patients take drops and although we don’t have many serious side effects, simple drops are not so simple. First of all, many people have trouble just squeezing the bottle and getting the drop to fall correctly on the eyeball. Some of these drops cost $1.50/drop and many times, they are being wasted on the patient’s cheek! Finally, they can burn and irritate our sensitive eyes.<br /><br />All of this has led to a change in how </span><a href="http://www.dupage2020.com/"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Dupage Ophthalmology</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"> takes care of our patients with glaucoma. Although we can prevent blindness, this disease, more than any other, requires a lifetime of drops. Therefore, we are now doing everything we can to lessen this burden.<br /><br />Using laser to treat glaucoma is an excellent option. The most advanced of these laser procedures is called Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT). This amazing procedure delivers microscopic laser spots to the drainage system of the eye. Often, patients develop a 20% reduction of eye pressure that can last for years. The laser has been in use for over a decade and we have extensive experience in its safety and effectiveness.</span><span style="color: white;"></span><br /><span style="color: white;">Our patients have been very happy with their SLT experience at our Lombard office. With a one time procedure, they can treat their glaucoma without the daily burden of drops. Since insurance covers the cost, this is less expensive than drops for both the patient and the insurance company. A win-win situation!</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A8PkfsoAJLbDM251flulTz8NQB0AqJyoLzNw5_MMkDOzSAe44SfvOcxUzX2vFH2ur1n0Lx-GuOwwxI_kkDJwQy_gHarC1oqq8OgeSFwCyqH3B4OjX38uJrex7KP-PWDWfo9P7B4Npc8G/s1600/graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A8PkfsoAJLbDM251flulTz8NQB0AqJyoLzNw5_MMkDOzSAe44SfvOcxUzX2vFH2ur1n0Lx-GuOwwxI_kkDJwQy_gHarC1oqq8OgeSFwCyqH3B4OjX38uJrex7KP-PWDWfo9P7B4Npc8G/s200/graph.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SLT has the same effect as the leading drop</td></tr>
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Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-20005094647728859482012-11-18T18:19:00.005-08:002012-11-18T18:19:54.226-08:00Laser Cataract Surgery
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I’m excited to announce the beginning of Laser Cataract
Surgery coming to the Elmhurst Outpatient Surgery Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My partner, Dr. Sheridan Lam, and I have been
working for months to bring the Catalys Femtosecond Laser to Dupage
County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are at the beginning of a
revolution in cataract surgery and now our patients will be among the first to
reap the benefits.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nf1T7IBOkU6WpC0A-j4ffvS2eNTIAxdSzbqyIG4ArmkR6jO0ZLKkWFY087t7OLfmqnJ9_8A5gC4Th8ZksdSj9jXJK2nUuDYOLgZ9VhUU4GhjKqCeQ4Ny-GglqqhhxqxHbNCdeZEQ88aX/s1600/laser+machine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nf1T7IBOkU6WpC0A-j4ffvS2eNTIAxdSzbqyIG4ArmkR6jO0ZLKkWFY087t7OLfmqnJ9_8A5gC4Th8ZksdSj9jXJK2nUuDYOLgZ9VhUU4GhjKqCeQ4Ny-GglqqhhxqxHbNCdeZEQ88aX/s1600/laser+machine.jpg" /></a></div>
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Every decade or so, a new method of surgery is created that
completely changes everything and this new method of using a laser is just so
revolutionary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I will get into the
specifics of what all we can do, let me start a series of posts by simply
explaining what will happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is true robotic surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I perform this, I won’t be holding some
laser scalpel in my hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, my
patient will literally dock their eye into a sophisticated laser machine
complete with visual scanning system that looks deep into the eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will program what cuts need to be made into
the cornea (where, what angle and shape) and how I want the cataract to be cut
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the laser machine, in a few
minutes, will make precise cuts into the eye and into the cataract lens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-YNoXxXFl8cLIZUdtW27Zs7M9mVBtsSYawyTykuyiS2bfshNB2c7A55I1QdZspjgWUV5paOL8n-8SEJGhwLTOqLwsW7OjRdHdLKDKeZ0kcT8oeE8eBZlylqh8sjUEzDd4kh-7WNNB2T4/s1600/softened+lens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-YNoXxXFl8cLIZUdtW27Zs7M9mVBtsSYawyTykuyiS2bfshNB2c7A55I1QdZspjgWUV5paOL8n-8SEJGhwLTOqLwsW7OjRdHdLKDKeZ0kcT8oeE8eBZlylqh8sjUEzDd4kh-7WNNB2T4/s1600/softened+lens.jpg" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
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Afterwards, the patient will be prepped and moved to the
microscope where I will perform the cataract surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difference is that the eye has been fully
prepared, the cataract has been “softened” and the whole surgery will be safer,
faster, with less energy delivered to the eye structures leading to a faster
recovery and better outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The new Catalys laser has been delivered to Elmhurst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hardly wait to start!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-26596786533602412932011-11-20T20:00:00.000-08:002011-11-20T19:46:55.370-08:00Quality Delivered<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good Samaritan Hospital recently
had a celebration dinner and fund raising event in honor of winning the 2010
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. It is the only formal recognition of a public
or private organization in any field given by the U.S. Government. Only a few health organizations have won this
prestigious award and I am very proud to
belong to an organization that is so committed to quality. All the physicians at Dupage Ophthalmology
belong to the medical staff at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and are active members
of Advocate Physician Partners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our practice has always been
committed to quality. Dr. Sheridan Lam, my
partner, was recently published in the peer reviewed journal of the American Society
of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. He
presented the data in our cataract outcomes as we continue to refine our
preoperative measurements. The goal of
cataract surgery is to remove the patient’s lens and replace it with a plastic
lens (the IOL or implant). The surgeon
can select the power of the implant and can often make the patient see without
glasses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Various studies over the years have
looked at how accurate surgeons can pick an implant. As the surgical precision improves, the error
rate goes down. The goal is to
get the implant to less than 0.5 diopter units.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">National Health Service-United Kingdom
study in 2009</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .25in;">
61% of patients
should be within 0.50 D<o:p></o:p></div>
</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dr. Neuhann and staff from Germany reported in 2011</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .25in;">
80% of patients
were within 0.50 D<o:p></o:p></div>
</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dupage Ophthalmology ongoing results 2011</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .25in;">
98% of our patients are within 0.50 D</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .25in;">
90% of our patients are within 0.25 D</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We strive for excellence and we
never stop. Our patients deserve the
best.</span><o:p></o:p></div>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-55561150503124736062011-04-05T08:07:00.000-07:002011-04-05T08:07:02.604-07:00Measure Once, Cut Once<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezMVnpNxBJSQuc30CuA1RKcsLF-B8LU_9FXN3FPeTFI9lVIMHF0mpBIYQftnRoY6YMufxEvzJFzL6GlmBwD_55GG1XS1PKNuiRU1xbmrfgxbKRRFOICYO85JQJ0La93quRPAUvWuYZIeN/s1600/Lenstar900.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezMVnpNxBJSQuc30CuA1RKcsLF-B8LU_9FXN3FPeTFI9lVIMHF0mpBIYQftnRoY6YMufxEvzJFzL6GlmBwD_55GG1XS1PKNuiRU1xbmrfgxbKRRFOICYO85JQJ0La93quRPAUvWuYZIeN/s200/Lenstar900.png" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I love technology, and as an ophthalmologist, I get to play with some fancy machines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our latest gadget is the Lenstar machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever patients have cataract surgery, the surgeon has to select the power of a lens to put into the eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be very tricky because the eye is only about one inch long (about 24 mm) and we have to measure very precisely or else the power of the implant will be totally wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lenstar revolutionizes our ability to measure so many things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a few minutes, we are able to have accurate information about the length of the eye, the width of the cornea, the amount of astigmatism and curvature of the cornea, and several other parameters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These measurements can be to the hundredths of a millimeter in accuracy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Combined with advanced computer programs and modern surgical techniques, I am amazed at our cataract results. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 95% of our patients are right on the mark and the rest are very, very close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes cataract surgery rival LASIK surgery in how close we can predict our post-operative outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So every day that my patients see 20/20 without glasses, I am thrilled at how far we have come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s truly a modern medical miracle.</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-71990858749346286982011-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:002011-03-16T07:09:49.165-07:00Eagle Vision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLedBnnuyklHDzgojjHg2_K4LLoc1qATu1YsgVvH00LXSLpp4rYVSLoXa-8RNwb-vVt3OChBw5zn4fgzzOkEsulK2XIoiboLTYF5qkYyQlht6bXBdMAUzbOTl_e9RNw14fxCD9V8nFjmH/s1600/main-eagle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLedBnnuyklHDzgojjHg2_K4LLoc1qATu1YsgVvH00LXSLpp4rYVSLoXa-8RNwb-vVt3OChBw5zn4fgzzOkEsulK2XIoiboLTYF5qkYyQlht6bXBdMAUzbOTl_e9RNw14fxCD9V8nFjmH/s320/main-eagle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">W</span>hen people talk about eagle vision, it is a perfect metaphor for the ultimate visual system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eagles, hawks, and birds of prey have the best sight of any animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just the need to fly requires excellent vision, but when you have to spot your dinner on the ground and dive after it at incredible speeds, you will go hungry if you don’t see exceptionally well.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First of all, their eyes are enormous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our eyes take up 2 percent of our face, but these birds can have eyes that are 15-20% of their head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, their eyes weigh more than their brain!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also have an extra eyelid that is transparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can blink and still keep seeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside their retinas, there are other differences from us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have two special receptor cells in our retinas to convert light to electrical signals—the rods and cones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Birds have an extra receptor cell that probably allows them to see colors that we could not even describe.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It doesn’t stop there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Sy Montgomery notes in her 2010 book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Birdology</i>, the bird’s retinas are densely packed with these receptor cells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our eyes, a special area of the retina called the fovea contains our best sharpest vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tend to have 200,000 cones/mm<sup>2</sup> but eagles could have over a 1,000,000 cones/mm<sup>2</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would create a world of such detail that we would need microscopes to approximate what they see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember when you saw your first HD television next to a regular picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine a few levels of detail beyond that and you can start to think how these birds see the world.<o:p></o:p></div>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-41676090261995684302011-03-02T09:38:00.000-08:002011-03-02T09:39:50.633-08:00Dry Eyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsmcrt_sSmcORtBsm-32jrgEvQH6EH94iBY00PRlPECdt4cYuywDRX4GlfUr9hF4TnZN4fBQMOSO4KpX0wPLI4i0bgus2XPaV6Xq7INTjQnoWUDSecYoeWaLoHSUY0EedHFLSRK3Nio8R/s1600/conj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="244" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsmcrt_sSmcORtBsm-32jrgEvQH6EH94iBY00PRlPECdt4cYuywDRX4GlfUr9hF4TnZN4fBQMOSO4KpX0wPLI4i0bgus2XPaV6Xq7INTjQnoWUDSecYoeWaLoHSUY0EedHFLSRK3Nio8R/s320/conj.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: white;">Dry eyes can drive patients and doctors crazy. We all want the same thing--to see everything perfectly clearly 24/7 and to not be bothered by our eyes. But when problems happen with our tears, then this perfectly balanced system causes all kinds of problems. Even with problems of blurred vision 5% of the time, that would be enough to bother someone on a daily basis.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">Our eyes need to be moist to be happy. Just think of the last time your nose was stuffy and you slept with your mouth open. My morning, the throat becomes raw and sore. On top of that, the eyes have more nerves for pain reception and sensation than almost any other part of the body. Tears are important because of their special properties. They are made of water, mucus, and fats that in the right mixture, coat and protect and provide a brilliantly perfectly smooth surface that helps to bend light and start the magical process of sight.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">As we get older, this system can start to break down and because it is so complex, there are a lot of ways to treat it. Unfortunately for some, all of our current methods are not enough and for these unlucky people, they have to fight on a daily basis for comfort and vision.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">We have been very happy with our initial results for the Intense Pulsed Light Treatment for dry eyes. So far, our patients are more comfortable with better vision and using fewer drops. I'm excited with what we can do!</span>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-23901950748812384262011-02-17T10:39:00.000-08:002011-03-02T09:26:59.749-08:00Cosmetic Eye Services<div id="internal-source-marker_0.1049031751862104" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A quiet revolution is taking place in the world of facial cosmetic surgery. The old view reported that over time, the structures of the face sag, there is too much skin, and we have to operate to remove and tighten. While surgery still plays a role, the new approach looks at the whole picture and attempts to prevent aging changes by using non surgical techniques to enhance the appearance and only to use surgery carefully to complement the face. </span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are now so many options to help you retain a youthful appearance, and I am excited about bringing the latest technology and techniques to my patients. Here is a brief overview of some common treatments.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunblock</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Your skin ultimately is the foundation to all facial beauty and the number one problem faced by women is aging due to sun exposure. By now, everyone knows that tanning and UV light damages the skin and causes premature aging. In fact, being in Chicago where we have four full seasons actually makes many of our faces look younger and better than Americans tanning all year round!</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My first recommendation is a daily moisturizer with SPF protection. Be careful not to overdue tanning of the face and use hats and liberally apply sunblock when appropriate. I tell my patients to use their favorite spas and salons to keep their facial skin in tip-top shape.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Latisse</strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana;">Ophthalmologists have been using the parent medication in Latisse for over a decade and are very familiar with it. I love what Latisse does for lashes and every single woman will have bigger thicker and darker lashes. We check all of our patients for potential issues and discuss problems. The best part is that there is no long term effects and you can stop at any time. If you don't want to do this all the time, then pick a special event or holiday and start Latisse a few months before. It's worth a try.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Botox</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqqafst-BadzRKiZW6QuBHYXfT5XOf4Mvv5DMlb1SKIxNuZiM1duutDeeZtACu0YdjESRcn9y5mhhb1GPuJEQUX3ZM_Du6vmhgP67h7QQ5VTRZaxWbfIhQBUiBwRXoUxP8aokHxQSk-bK/s1600/botox.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqqafst-BadzRKiZW6QuBHYXfT5XOf4Mvv5DMlb1SKIxNuZiM1duutDeeZtACu0YdjESRcn9y5mhhb1GPuJEQUX3ZM_Du6vmhgP67h7QQ5VTRZaxWbfIhQBUiBwRXoUxP8aokHxQSk-bK/s320/botox.PNG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For women who are curious but have never had any cosmetic procedures, I recommend Botox. Botox treatments make everyone happy. They decrease the frown lines between the brows, relax the laugh lines arounds the eyes, and smooth out the forehead. It is important to remember that they don’t remove wrinkles, but only help to prevent skin from folding when our facial muscles work. People who have never had Botox often worry that their face will have no expression. A proper Botox treatment would never do this. In fact, one of my clients was a dancer who felt that it was critical to have nuanced facial expressions as she danced. I carefully adjusted the dose and location of Botox so that she was overwhelmed with the final result. It is a very safe treatment that universally improves your appearance.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fillers</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWfsjgBnSmInuXe2nlu9ijfJ3gOSr8UVPalbFSQcRAwdXexa3tIdNYs-d4OwaCNrS1d-B7wzc9nJcrs_4Y7w5FrwA9fw_jpwbr9sto0QVJxJO0xWbNVIQmi-zmkWy8iDCPdSpVvGd7G3P/s1600/Fillers.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" height="297" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWfsjgBnSmInuXe2nlu9ijfJ3gOSr8UVPalbFSQcRAwdXexa3tIdNYs-d4OwaCNrS1d-B7wzc9nJcrs_4Y7w5FrwA9fw_jpwbr9sto0QVJxJO0xWbNVIQmi-zmkWy8iDCPdSpVvGd7G3P/s320/Fillers.PNG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We now know that aging changes involve a loss of facial volume. Look at how round and pudgy a baby’s face looks. As we get older, the soft spongy material in our skin gets depleted. As the skin loses volume, the tissues start to sag. To combat this, aesthetic surgeons are now using dermal fillers to help retain the youthful face. The safest fillers are made of hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance found in all mammals that helps to hydrate and add volume to your skin. In addition to its use as an aesthetic treatment, hyaluronic acid has also been used for more than 20 years for injection into arthritic joints to aid movement as well as for eye surgeries and wound repair. All of us have hyaluronic acid in our skin. By using only natural substances, there is a very low chance of an allergic reaction.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The treatments are fairly painless with minimal downtime and provide instant improvement in many areas of the face. Furthermore, since there is no permanent alteration, there is almost no risk of lasting problems. It is an excellent alternative to facial cosmetic surgery.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While many spas’s offer fillers by trained technicians, I have found that more advanced techniques that involve injecting around the eye are generally performed by surgeons. The trend by eye surgeons is to help all areas around the eyes by using these materials. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blepharoplasty</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blepharoplasty, or commonly known as an “eyelid lift,” is a surgical procedure to remove excess skin and fat of the eyelids. With age, the facial skin will ultimately droop. Excess skin on the upper eyelid can form a ’hood’, which hangs from the upper eyelid to the point of resting on the lashes. Excess skin and fat on the lower eyelid can lead to a ’baggy’ appearance. When Botox and fillers are not enough, then surgery is the next step. Surgery is an excellent way to reverse these changes. It is the third most common cosmetic procedure for both men and women. Surgery is outpatient, takes about one hour, performed under mild sedation, and is successful over 90% of the time. </span></div><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-58014172175003060492011-02-11T12:46:00.000-08:002011-02-11T12:46:46.297-08:00Lazy Eye<div class="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Avant Garde';"><i>I recently saw a baby who had crossed eyes and only used his right eye to see. With some devoted patching by the mother, the baby began to see out of his left eye within one week. This miracle still captures my imagination. While my children are long grown now, here is another one of my old newspaper articles about a medical condition known as amblyopia.</i></span></div><div class="text"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Avant Garde';"><br />
</span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">My two year old is on a mission:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>search and destroy Daddy’s glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I lay them down, he stops whatever he is doing and runs over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His eyes scan my face to make sure I don’t see his intentions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he slowly stalks my glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, my military training takes over and a command and control voice saying, “NO!” is enough to deter him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, however, I do not see his approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as my fragile wire and plastic spectacles are in his tiny hands, his feet start stomping in a victory dance and he scampers away to hide the loot.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";"><br />
</span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">One of the most fascinating therapies in pediatrics happens everyday, but never gets much attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thousands of children across the country have a condition known as amblyopia, or the more common description, lazy eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do they call it lazy eye?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a vision problem that happens in children a perfectly normal eye doesn’t see 20/20 even with glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eye is okay and yet the child cannot see because of brain development.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";"><br />
</span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">Although there are many different reasons for such a situation, one major cause of lazy eye is when both eyes are not straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eye movement is a complex dance that requires more choreography than any Broadway musical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each eye is controlled by six different muscles and three separate nerves that come directly from the brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This control is further complicated because we have two eyes that must dance in step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have to move together to give us stereo vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some hefty computing power in the brain makes all this happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this system is just a little off, if the “wiring” is hooked up the wrong way, the child may develop crossed eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">Now the child's brain is faced with a dilemma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It receives two different images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who has ever experienced double vision will understand how confusing and disturbing this can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little children don’t understand, but their brains work overtime to help them cope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the brain is confused by what it sees out of both eyes, then it may just ignore all the information that comes from one of the eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this happens for any length of time, the parts of the brain devoted for vision doesn’t develop properly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";"><br />
</span></div><div class="text"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisr1T85hVTNuV582f-CrNzl7xCDlYxlnB1oZ7Zk129bWuT1izIb6asswFJolHxXgnG5N1QwLn9fif_nnww0fzJr2cDWiIDLBNsNWNBDXRtO3MVKdOJKQ1uJZlBXbFGGSSuFtv_GoqJWLIa/s1600/Picture1+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisr1T85hVTNuV582f-CrNzl7xCDlYxlnB1oZ7Zk129bWuT1izIb6asswFJolHxXgnG5N1QwLn9fif_nnww0fzJr2cDWiIDLBNsNWNBDXRtO3MVKdOJKQ1uJZlBXbFGGSSuFtv_GoqJWLIa/s200/Picture1+copy.jpg" width="177" /></a><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">Whatever the cause, children with amblyopia have brains that don't pay attention to the signals from an otherwise normal eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite all the fancy lasers and surgical technology that has developed over the years, the treatment is still simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the brain is ignoring one eye, let’s retrain it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simple eye patch, like a pirate from the high seas, can cover the good eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the small child’s brain has to make do with the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over a few weeks to months, the brain literally changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nerve cells make new connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other cells start receiving signals that they didn’t get before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The child begins to see again with his lazy eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";"><br />
</span></div><div class="text"><span style="font-family: "Avant Garde";">This is not easy to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always tell the parents that they are about to go into battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take a child that sees out of one eye, and with a patch, suddenly we make that child go “blind” until their second eye starts to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miraculously, these children do recover vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now if only I can find my glasses, I would be able to see again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-33438859732772539352011-02-08T17:09:00.000-08:002011-02-08T17:09:51.237-08:00Cataract Surgery<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;"><i>When I was a major at Scott AFB in downstate Illinois, I was also a weekly science columnist with the Belleville News-Democrat. I wrote several columns about medicine and especially about ophthalmology. In posting this column that was written over a decade ago, I was surprised to see that while the surgery has improved by leaps and bounds, the essential magic of cataract surgery was still present.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCN5kyLfy7_lVy01OfiKtAQhnM0YILTQw9cXBlBSXwKrndqnEAyys3GhSbzoA4Ah_C6FPAKY7RIFUOm__Amlwr2oX7-ZprMn6RCZqp5KtNLbfxbvdgfOsdE7eMh2R5AfDtV1TofV6grT8/s1600/surgery.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCN5kyLfy7_lVy01OfiKtAQhnM0YILTQw9cXBlBSXwKrndqnEAyys3GhSbzoA4Ah_C6FPAKY7RIFUOm__Amlwr2oX7-ZprMn6RCZqp5KtNLbfxbvdgfOsdE7eMh2R5AfDtV1TofV6grT8/s320/surgery.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">With the continual debate over national health policy, something seems to have been forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miracles are taking place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day, in every city, modern medicine is performing miracles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surgeries that would have been impossible a few years ago are performed in community hospitals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These “miracles” have become so commonplace that we forget what has been accomplished.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed operation in the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The days of the Coke bottle lenses are gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear of blindness from this condition is virtually eliminated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These days, everybody has a relative or friend who has had this operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, most people are not exactly sure what is done.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">The eye is truly like a camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A cataract is a dirty lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can distort the vision, cause glare, blur words, and turn white into dull gray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The surgery removes the dirty lens and replaces it with a man made implant (a bionic eye as one of my patients puts it).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">How does the lens come out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no such thing as laser cataract surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some patients, a laser has to be used AFTER the surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of a laser, current techniques use the same energy that the obstetrician uses to find out the sex of unborn children--ultrasound power.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">I like to use a grape model to explain how we operate on the lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we take a tiny needle and tiny tweezers and tear a small circle of grape skin off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we take a tiny ultrasound hose which shakes and sucks out the grape part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little bag of grape skin is left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small piece of plastic or silicon is then put inside this bag as a replacement lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bag holds this lens in place just like the original lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vision is restored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope this explanation doesn’t spoil your taste of grapes.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">The technical aspects are interesting but they don’t tell the whole story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My excitement occurs in the following days when people begin to see again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one of my patients said, “You know, as I get older, everything gets worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my arthritis to my hearing, I seem to be breaking down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why it’s so special to have something get better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see like I used to years ago.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">That sums it up better than I could have done it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The miracle is the magical rejuvenation of sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, millions of healthy people in the rest of the world are totally blind from cataracts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many are forty to fifty years old, in the prime of their lives, and yet they cannot work, cannot see their children, or cannot even see a doorway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The newspapers report on the aging of America, but in reality, the world is aging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us hope that miracles will take place there as well.<o:p></o:p></div>Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-50088839196514071412011-02-03T14:05:00.000-08:002011-02-03T14:05:09.901-08:00IPLWe met with Rolando Toyos to kick off our new IPL treatment for dry eyes. All the staff physicians and technicians learned about how difficult life with dry eyes can be. Some people have suffered for years and after seeing many doctors and trying everything available, they give up on the hope that their eyes will ever be normal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4a0fFH2Ik5j7sHt9UWNxk8iGJxSIuN93bf1AW1u7X62lQitRl9lBfGfxf_mgGgVyaxPKQMDzqOY4lLT-MQ7XT_OCN49XtGyc6IGm2ygEPe1BIfmRwj25oETYvCRZZI9TxiZYT-i6vzExJ/s1600/quadraq_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4a0fFH2Ik5j7sHt9UWNxk8iGJxSIuN93bf1AW1u7X62lQitRl9lBfGfxf_mgGgVyaxPKQMDzqOY4lLT-MQ7XT_OCN49XtGyc6IGm2ygEPe1BIfmRwj25oETYvCRZZI9TxiZYT-i6vzExJ/s320/quadraq_pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We performed IPL on four patients and the amount of secretions we were able to express from the eyelids was impressive. I really believe this will change a lot of lives and make a huge improvement in my ability to take care of my dry eye patients.Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6755208546460081829.post-1064355800863890282011-01-05T09:25:00.000-08:002011-01-05T09:25:55.482-08:00WelcomeThis is to allow me to talk about the rapidly changing world of ophthalmology and eye care. The advancements are coming so fast that it is hard to keep my patients informed and so I've started this more informal blog. Hopefully this will be an adventure for all.Balaji Gupta MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13659511089188690497noreply@blogger.com0