Richard Newsom

Management of dry eyes

A dry eye (sometimes called keratoconjunctivitis sicca) is an eye where there are insuffi cient or inadequate tears to keep the front surface of the eye moist. Patients usually complain of grittiness or irritation which often worsens towards the end of the day.

Flashes and floaters

Patients commonly present to GPs because they have seen flashing lights in their visual fields. These symptoms can reflect long-standing degenerative processes or can be caused by acute sight- threatening eye disease or occasionally neurological disease. ‘Floaters’ are seen as dots or spots that ‘float’ in front of everything looked at by the person. They may occur alone or in association with flashes. This article aims to provide GPs with a strategy to separate those patients with flashes and/or floaters who simply require reassurance, from those who require referral to eye casualty or for neurological assessment.

Can food supplements prevent blindness

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye disease. It affects around 25% of the population aged over 75 in the UK to some extent, and presents with gradual deterioration and distortion of central vision. Although in the early stages most people have no symptoms (when the condition is termed age-related maculopathy), late AMD that significantly impairs vision affects 2.4% of people over the age of 65 (Owen et al., 2012).