Do these 7 things today, to save your sight tomorrow, says AAO to young adults

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) urges young adults to protect their eyes to prevent vision loss in the future. It recommends adults under age 40 have a comprehensive medical eye exam every 5 to 10 years.

1. Wear sunglasses(even when it’s cloudy). Long-term exposure to the sun without proper protection can increase the risk of eye disease, including cataract, macular degeneration, growths on the eye, and a rare form of eye cancer. Wear sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB radiation.
2. Exercise.Regular physical activity can protect you from serious eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and glaucoma.
3. Stop smoking.Smoking increases the risk for eye diseases such as cataract and ARMD. Smoking also raises the risk for cardiovascular diseases, which can indirectly influence your eye health. Tobacco smoke, including second-hand smoke, also worsens dry eye.
4. Protect your eyes at work and at play.Every year, thousands of people in the United States get a serious work-related eye injury or sports-related eye injury. Wearing protective eyewear can prevent most of these injuries. To make sure you have the right kind of protective eyewear and you’re using it correctly, talk with your eyecare professional.
5. Be aware of eye fatigue.If you spend a lot of time at the computer or staring at your phone, you may forget to blink and that can tire out your eyes. Try using the 20–20–20 rule throughout the day: Every 20 minutes, look away from the screens and focus about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds. Eye fatigue won’t damage your vision, but if it persists, it can be a sign something else is wrong. You may have dry eye, presbyopia, or spectacles with lenses that are not properly centered.
6. Take proper care of contact lenses.Sleeping, showering and swimming in contact lenses increases your risk for a potentially blinding eye infection. Learn how to properly care for contact lenses.
7. Know your family history.Certain eye diseases can be inherited. If you have a close relative with macular degeneration, you have a 50 percent chance of developing this condition. A family history of glaucoma increases your glaucoma risk by four to nine times. Talk to family members about their eye conditions. It can help you and your ophthalmologist evaluate your risk.

Healthcare News Monitor

To avoid attacks and cases of negligence, doctors asking for CT scans, entire blood culture tests for minor illnesses

Vicky Pathare, Pune Mirror

Consent forms in hospitals and clinics of the city are no longer exclusive to risky invasive procedures. These days, medicos here are insisting on such formalities even before administering a tetanus injection — such is their desperation to absolve themselves of any responsibility in the face of the violent reactions regularly encountered at the hands of patients and their families. “Defensive medicine”, as they’ve termed this precautionary practice, is the new order of the day. The cost of such an approach, both in terms of money, time and energy, is going to tell heavily on the entire healthcare system, doctors admit. Yet, their refrain is that the increasing inclination among patients and their relatives — to take the law into their hands for justice against perceived medical negligence or inflated costs — has left them with no option but to cover their backs in every possible way. This is the resonance of the pan-India protests against the abuse and assaults the medical fraternity is subjected to from disgruntled kith and kin of patients. While the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is still in the process of putting together systems that could curb such violence against the fraternity, individual doctors and hospitals are rushing to secure themselves in the best way they can manage. So, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, written and video consents, limited entry to kin, referring to other doctors and hospitals for second and third opinions, putting the patient through multiple tests (even they may not be essential to diagnosis) are some of the features of this “defensive medicine”.

Nepal issues dengue alert as studies find presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Business Standard-PTI

Nepal on Sunday directed the authorities to be prepared for a possible outbreak of dengue after studies found the presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of the Health Ministry issued an alert in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts. The move came after studies found the presence of dengue-carrying mosquitoes in significant numbers. Last year, at least 18 people in the Banasthali-Sano Bharyang area in the western part of Kathmandu were infected with the dengue virus. "We have alerted all local units of the Valley through the provincial government and District Public Health Offices about the possible outbreak (of dengue virus)," Ghanashyam Pokhrel, a senior public health administrator at the division, told reporters.

SMS to be 1st government hospital in Rajasthan to conduct heart transplant

The Times of India

Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital is all set to become the first government-run hospital to develop heart transplant facility in the state. The hospital is inching closer to performing its first heart transplant soon, depending on the availability of the donor. At a cost of Rs 20 crore, the hospital is preparing an operation theatre for heart transplant and ICUs for post-surgery care. At present, there are four private hospitals, which have already been approved for heart transplant. There are two private hospitals in the state which have already scripted success in conducting heart transplants. So far, the government-run hospitals are lagging behind when it comes to heart transplants. The first heart transplant was conducted in the state in August 2015 at a private hospital. Since then, three more heart transplant surgeries have been performed in the state, all in private hospitals. However, in the state, relatives of 30 families have donated organs of their near and dear ones since February 2015, after they were declared brain-dead by committees formed to declare patients brain-dead in hospitals. From those 30 donors, 16 hearts were harvested for transplant. But, only four were transplanted in hospitals in Jaipur, while others were flown to Delhi or other centres. SMS Hospital will provide a much-needed impetus to heart transplant surgeries in the state. Heart transplant programme at SMS Hospital will bring hope to the patients suffering from heart failure and whose hearts are functioning less than 20% of their capacity. However, the major concern is the non-availability of donors. In 2019 so far, family of only one person among those declared brain-dead in hospitals, had donated organs in the state.

Encephalitis death toll reaches 152 after 2 more kids die in Muzaffarpur

The Hans India-PTI

Two more children died in Bihars Muzaffarpur district on Sunday due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) even as officials asserted that afflictions and casualties had begun to dwindle with the onset of rains. Both the deaths took place at the S.K. Medical College and Hospital, where 431 children, including two in the past 12 hours, have been admitted for AES treatment since June 1, according to figures released by the district administration. The total number of AES patients who have died at the SKMCH is 110. "There is a perceptible decline in the number of children who are being admitted with brain fever as also the number of deaths," hospital superintendent Sunil Kumar Shahi said. "It has always been observed that AES strikes at the peak of summer and the outbreak halts with the onset of rains." Two fresh cases have been registered, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, Shahi said. Besides the SKMCH, the Kejriwal hospital in the Muzaffarpur town has so far registered 162 AES cases and 20 casualties. The Health Department put the total number of AES casualties across 20 districts at 152. These include the 130 deaths reported at the two Muzaffarpur-based hospitals, which have been admitting AES patients from nearly half a dozen districts in its proximity.