Life-changing eye implant
Astonishing results have been achieved at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London England for a group of blind patients. After their surgeon fitted hair-thin microchips at the back of the eye five candidates who had been diagnosed with an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) called geographic atrophy (GA). They were suddenly able to read again.
The condition (AMD) which affects more than 250,000 in the UK and more than five million worldwide is more common in older people. It is caused when cells in a tiny area of the retina at the back of the eye gradually become damaged and die causing blurred or distorted central vision. This means the person can often loses the ability to see colour or fine detail.
The successful procedure, involved the surgeon inserting the tiny square photovoltaic microchip under the patient’s retina. The patient then puts on glasses with a built-in video camera that is used to send an infrared beam of video images to the implant. The implant is then capable to send a beam to a small pocket processor to be enhanced, made clearer. It’s sent back to the patient’s brain via the implant and the optic nerve.
Source: BBC
Cultural clinical care
When cultural context is considered health professionals need assessment tools that match the reality. Using management of Delirium in Arab ICU’s, Dr. Lobna Elgamal explains how using standard screening tools may require professionals to read between the lines.
She doesn’t suggest abandoning validation tools, rather adding context to interpret them accurately. For instance, a patient who insists on facing a particular direction isn’t necessarily spacially disoriented – they may be trying to face Mecca, the direction of prayer. One who becomes agitated during physical examination might not be delirious but rather responding to deeply ingrained modesty concerns, particularly when care involves mixed-gender teams.
Misidentifying cultural or religious behaviours can, suggests Dr. Elgamal lead to inappropriate escalation of sedation or antipsychotics when they were simply trying to maintain their dignity within their value system. She points out that Western ICU guidelines often frame family presences as a visiting privilege to be regulated. In Arab ICU’s family presence, often three generations at once, is assumed, expected and often non-negotiable. Families may also resist antipsychotics from cultural associations with mental illness. They’ll bring familiar prayer beads, recite Quran and provide contextural anchoring that nursing staff, however skilled, cannot replicate.
Source: Medscape
Guidance on alcohol and health
Canada’s Low Risk Drinking Guidelines (LRDG) were published by the Canadian Centre on Substance use and Addiction (CCSA) to help Canadians make informed decisions about alcohol assumption and their health. Some key takeways include:
1. The level of risk for harm is related to the amount of alcohol consumed and any level of consumption carries some risk.
2. It’s okay not to drink alcohol.
3. Drinking alcohol is linked to cancers, cardiovascular and liver disease.
4. Women face unique risks and can become intoxicated more quickly on smaller amounts of alcohol and levels of alcohol remain elevated for a longer period. Its safest not to drink when pregnant, trying to get pregnant or breastfeeding.
5. Men are more prone to certain harms when drinking. They tend to drink more and are more likely to do so accessibly and be associated with violence towards others. 75% or all alcohol related deaths are male.
6. There are times when you should not drink alcohol at all: driving a motor vehicle, using tools or machinery, taking medications/ drugs that interact with others and when responsible for the safety of others.
Source: Heretohelp.bc
Images: Svitlana, Abdulrahman Alsenaidi, Unsplash.
