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The American Academy is always a fruitful source of new information with lectures, symposia, posters and presentations representing every aspect of optometry. Here is just a snapshot of some of the material of interest.
Glaucoma
Dr Mark Swanson (Alabama) has been looking at the association between smoking and glaucoma, noting that the previous association was reliant on self-reporting of the habit. A possibly more accurate indicator of exposure to smoking is the measurement of serum cotinine which is a secondary metabolite of nicotine. It does not show the great fluctuations that nicotine levels do and also may reflect passive exposure too. By analysing this data along with self-reporting of smoking, measurements of cup/disc ratio and FDT fields assessment, Swanson was able to deduce that in 5,603 patients there was no significant correlation between disc changes or fields results and cotinine levels, thus questioning the validity of smoking as a risk factor.
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