I have participated in a number of CET conferences lately. No surprises to find that key topics have been dry eye disease and myopia management. What struck me, and I know through conversation with colleagues is a concern, is an all too prevalent view that both DED and myopia might be managed by one single approach, whether that be a specific lubricant or contact lens design. Surely the inclusion of the word ‘multifactorial’ in the latest TFOS DEWSII definition of DED reminds us that each patient may have different influences and require a menu of interventions tailored to them and requiring regular revision.
This was underlined by a new study in this week’s online BJO journal which suggested that ‘factors associated with myopia included maternal education, fertility treatment, summer birth, and hours spent playing computer games. At multiple points during the life course, there were consistent correlations for socioeconomic status, educational attainment, reading enjoyment, and cognitive variables, especially verbal cognition.’ There will never be one single fix.
And for all my fellow geeks out there, you may have heard that the general conference on weights and measures has just voted to change the metal reference kilogram, the only metric unit still based on a solitary object.
A kilogram was defined as the mass of a litre of water and was enshrined as a shiny cylinder of platinum-iridium stored under three sealed bell jars just west of Paris. The kilogram makeover will now derive mass from the Planck constant. As one physicist pointed out, ‘If we want to talk about physics we have to agree on a set of units, but if we say our unit of mass is based on a lump of metal we keep in Paris, we’ll be the laughing stock of the universe.’ You can now chuck out your A-level physics texts.