Some 10{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} to 15{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} of people today will have a compound abuse dilemma at some stage in their lifetime, earning it a person of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases. Pitfalls associated with substance abuse include things like perilous driving, missed work, issues with depression, nervousness, overall health and revenue difficulties. But folks with addictions seem to be to encounter a kind of myopia, finding in further and further to cope with unpleasant thoughts and to come to feel fantastic, irrespective of the expense.
Research has obviously established that psychosocial and environmental things play a position in the enhancement of substance abuse ailments. But there is extra to the tale, and now functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies are highlighting the significance of organic aspects, in specific how the brain functions.
“The influence of these kinds of aspects can be as much as 50{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc}—this astonishingly substantial determine is why we’re so interested in what’s likely on in the brains of material abusers,” discussed Stéphane Potvin, a professor in Université de Montréal’s Section of Psychiatry and Dependancy whose analysis focuses largely on the destructive results of cannabis and liquor on the brain buildings of people today with schizophrenia.
Zeroing in on markers
Potvin, who coordinates the Neurobiology and Psychological Wellness division of the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, wanted to zero in on the neurobiological markers involved with dependancy. With his student Jules R. Dugré, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical sciences, he carried out a meta-investigation of 96 scientific tests involving a overall of 5,757 topics with some kind of substance dependence—alcohol, nicotine, hashish, psychostimulants or another drug.
Relatively than focusing on mind exercise as a complete, in his investigation Potvin and Dugré appeared at what is known as “practical connectivity,” in other text, how effectively unique pieces of the mind communicate with each other. This is the 1st time an evaluation of this style has been accomplished.
Released in November in Addiction Biology, the review reveals a quantity of anomalies in the brain’s reward, determination-making and routine development units:
1. Reward
“The brains of material abusers are likely to present hyperconnectivity among the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum, two vital parts of the reward method,” stated Potvin. “This could clarify the inclination to select rapid gratification and why the substance’s motivational value increases above time even with the destructive impression on other spheres of lifetime.”
2. Selection-making
“We also see decreased connectivity in specified brain places involved in conclusion-generating, these kinds of as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala,” extra Potvin. “This is regular with the simple fact that material abusers can feel indifferent to the dangerous penalties of their selections.”
3. Routine development
The most original obtaining is the existence of anomalies in the mind locations affiliated with practice development, which include the dorsal striatum and premotor cortex. “This hyperconnectivity could demonstrate the compulsive mother nature of material abuse,” Potvin observed.
No expenses in impulse command
The meta-analysis did not, nevertheless, exhibit alterations in the brain locations and networks linked with impulse manage. This contrasts with past reports, which confirmed abnormalities in these regions employing other neuroimaging techniques.
Potvin is swift to place out the restrictions of his review. “In our assessment, we integrated all appropriate scientific studies of material abusers, whichever the compound. But are brain techniques similarly affected by diverse substances? We genuinely really don’t know.”
In the end, these findings will enable guideline the improvement of neuromodulation-based mostly interventions in the subject of habit.
“1st we need to have a better comprehension of the mind units concerned in material abuse,” said Potvin. “This will permit us to pinpoint the locations to encourage or inhibit in purchase to rebalance the brain and change actions. The more strong proof we have, the more procedure facilities will be motivated to make investments in the tools desired to have out this type of intervention.”
Extra data:
Jules R. Dugré et al, Disrupted purposeful connectivity of the mind reward system in substance use troubles: A meta‐analysis of useful neuroimaging research, Habit Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/adb.13257
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As burnout among the healthcare workers continues to be a main issue, the use of artificial intelligence, EHRs and other automation applications may perhaps be ready to have a beneficial affect on hospitals and health and fitness methods.
When it arrives to synthetic intelligence, some authorized difficulties crop up. Which is why we interviewed Carly Koza, an authority on this subject and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney associate. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is a countrywide regulation company with 450 lawyers and federal government relations experts across 15 offices representing corporations together with 50 of the Fortune 100.
Koza discusses what healthcare service provider businesses must get ready for when it will come to growing AI implementation, how AI can assist overcome raising demands on healthcare employees, strategies AI can help healthcare service provider organizations assure high-quality patient treatment, and legal matters that occur from these troubles.
Q. What really should health care provider organizations put together for when it will come to developing AI implementation in the close to potential? What lawful problems arise?
A. Historically, companies by itself assess a individual and straight deliver medical facts based on observation, but AI is reworking the healthcare industry. AI can examine details saved by healthcare supplier corporations to locate feasible connections among sufferers, condition and procedure.
Details analytics can be damaged down into four unique groups – diagnostic, descriptive, prescriptive and predictive – all of which assess both equally present and historic data to forecast specified outcomes as they relate to an particular person.
Healthcare service provider organizations really should prepare to use both of those scientific determination aid application and image-recognition software to deliver diagnoses and advocate individualized remedy to sufferers.
When used properly, scientific conclusion aid computer software can deliver cure tips for oncologists, for example, primarily based on what the application has figured out from huge amounts of client facts, as well as information and facts it pulls from reference components, scientific tips and professional medical journals.
Also, graphic-recognition software program and predictive analytics can assist providers recognize pores and skin most cancers in photographs, determine arrhythmias in EKGs and decide no matter whether a nodule in a CT scan is malignant. Primarily, predictive analytics can assist vendors in deciding which sufferers are at risk of hospital readmissions and have wellness circumstances that involve intervention.
Having said that, simply because AI is constantly strengthening, practitioners should think about the principle of informed consent due to the fact liability could connect if a medical doctor does not tell the affected person of the pitfalls and advantages of proposed therapy and nontreatment.
To greatest steer clear of any legal troubles that may crop up from facts interpretation, when building a analysis or providing treatment method suggestions to patients, practitioners need to disclose the ever-evolving mother nature of the technological know-how made use of, make clear how the AI system performs and share the degree at which the technological know-how was relied on since, when used extensively, AI could even be viewed as an additional member of the healthcare staff.
Lastly, AI medical decision guidance packages master from the wellbeing facts of some sufferers as a result of data collection to make tips for other people.
Consequently, the dealing with medical professional need to deal with the prospective concerns that may possibly arise related to confidentiality and privateness as patients have a suitable to know how their shielded health and fitness facts is staying disseminated for investigate, analysis and treatment functions.
Q. How can AI aid beat increasing requires on health care employees? Are there any lawful problems that could impression healthcare employees?
A. AI can help with administrative workflow. Because AI hosts details in the combination, AI can support reconcile gaps in professional medical data and deliver automated fillers and responses. On top of that, the compilation of thousands of patients’ details results in streamlined procedures for well being methods that increases high quality of care although maximizing income.
Documenting chart notes and individual summaries, along with creating exam orders and prescriptions, can get companies away from direct individual care. To relieve this concern, healthcare practitioners can use speech and textual content recognition for jobs like recording patient conversation and capturing scientific notes.
Use of AI may well also be helpful as applied to billing and statements processing, and prior authorization. Robotic method automation, a rule-dependent program robot that mimics human actions, can be used to enter, method and alter claims. All-natural language processing, a variety of AI that understands and interprets spoken or penned human language can convert health practitioner notes into standardized CPT and ICD-10 codes associated with billing.
Prior authorization includes confirming every single patient’s particular person wellbeing plan and any health care and drug benefits, along with any supplemental client information that may perhaps be wanted for treatment method acceptance, like historical past, referral data or clinical requirement justification.
As wellbeing units continue on to increase, the administrative stress of manually moving into or looking for the aforementioned information and facts can be diminished by means of higher dependence on AI that can organize info from digital wellness data, e-mails, insurance policies and health-related protocols.
By using computer algorithms and normal language processing to assimilate spoken or composed info, clinicians can provide educated cure options to sufferers in a much more economical method.
Even though AI can be utilized as a resource to battle rising needs on health care employees, it is significant to acquire bias into consideration. Health care company organizations will have to intently check prior authorization selections created for disadvantaged populations and those people on Medicaid, for example.
Pre-current bias of the programmers building the algorithms utilized in AI techniques, regardless of whether it is intentional or accidental, typically leads to further more algorithmic and details-driven bias from the AI alone.
For case in point, a facial recognition algorithm could be programmed to extra quickly realize a white unique than individuals of other races, as this information is normally utilized much more often in training. Biased inputs that do not choose the individual inhabitants at big into account could direct to biased results. Consequently, it is probably finest exercise to appraise opportunity bias by finishing danger assessments and ethics training.
Q. What are some strategies AI can help health care service provider organizations ensure top quality affected individual care and decrease likely liability?
A. AI can assistance health care service provider businesses make certain top quality affected individual treatment both of those on an particular person and populace-based mostly stage. On the unique stage, AI-insights data can deliver practitioners with development updates, specific history and other info connected to the client to much better guarantee a far more streamlined procedure approach and help predict long term outcomes.
Companies can also use AI to study broad local community-connected components relevant to populace overall health. If healthcare service provider companies rely on AI to target higher-possibility patients grouped by scientific ailments or comorbidities, scientific studies show they can assume fewer and a lot less significant interventions and lowered hospitalizations.
Moreover, when AI’s analytical power is paired with other technologies like robotics and their actual physical abilities, even stem cell strategies made use of in regenerative medicine can strengthen and assist restore or establish normal perform in cells, tissues or organs. By spending a lot less time on lengthy procedures and handbook jobs, providers can devote much more several hours to patient-centered treatment.
Past providers’ implementation of AI into their respective practices, manufacturers and builders are involved in AI development. As a result, it is significant to consider their roles when aiming to cut down likely service provider legal responsibility.
Manufacturers and builders must make sure that solutions made up of AI are risk-free when made use of in reasonably foreseeable ways so that healthcare company organizations steer clear of utilizing a defective AI process into their practice.
Thereafter, the healthcare provider group ought to assess the effect of the automated devices it chooses to use and contemplate how much it will depend on these programs to make informed choices when treating sufferers.
AI is a valuable software, but eventually the diagnosing or dealing with medical doctor is dependable for medical selections and so also liable if the treatment provided is negligent or reckless.
It is by employing AI to pair substantial-excellent datasets alongside predictive algorithms, in addition to their health care understanding, that practitioners can variety intricate connections in between various patient qualities and thereafter supply a more specific analysis and, in change, lower prospective legal responsibility.
Follow Bill’s Strike coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki Email the author: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
In 2014 Katie McCarron’s poodle, Rosie, started getting sick. She was 14, and like many aging, ailing pets, Rosie started getting fussy about food, rejecting nearly every food McCarron tried to feed her.
“I thought it was cancer. All the tests came back negative, but I could see her just dribbling off the court,” McCarron tells Oregon Business. “I decided to start cooking, and she started eating.”
After some experimentation, McCarron finally found a recipe Rosie would eat enthusiastically. That recipe eventually became Rosie’s Beef N’ Rice, and McCarron’s cooking project became the Portland Pet Food Company, which officially launched that year. (Rosie lived another two and a half years.)
McCarron, whose official title at the company is Top Dog — her son, then 18, came up with the initial job titles — got into the pet-food industry at just the right time. But it was a passion project, she says, not a calculated business move.
“I didn’t really plan it,” McCarron says. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, the pet-food industry is growing, let’s come up with a product.’ I really did it out of love and necessity, for Rosie and her fight. If she did this well on this product, maybe there’s a place for this in the marketplace.”
In February 2022, PPFC moved from its original site — a 3,000-square-foot kitchen and warehouse in the Southeast Industrial District — to a 15,000-square-foot site in in Portland’s Brooklyn neighborhood, but remains committed to Portland even as it becomes a national brand. PPFC products are now available at the Northwest chains New Seasons, Market of Choice and Zupan’s, as well as national retailers like REI and Whole Foods — plus the Northeast grocery chain Wegmans. PPFC products are also available at pet retailers like Mud Bay and Healthy Pets Northwest.
The company also has a multipronged e-commerce strategy, offering single orders and subscriptions through its own website; PPFC products are also available through Amazon, and its dog biscuits can be purchased through the pet-food giant Chewy. The brand has also expanded into the international market.
The product line started with Rosie’s signature dish, then expanded to include a small series of other products, most named after the staff pet who acted as the recipe tester (with the exception of Grandma Ada’s Turkey & Yams, which McCarron named in honor of her mother). The company also makes seven varieties of biscuits; some are gluten-free, some made with spent grain from local breweries and distilleries. In 2022 PPFC launched two lines of cat food, also named for its recipe testers: Luke’s Chicken N’ Pumpkin and Boots’ Salmon N’ Pumpkin.
McCarron grew up in Portland, went to Madison High School (now known as Leodis V. McDaniel High School) and Lewis and Clark, where she majored in psychology. Prior to launching PPFC, McCarron worked at Academic Network — a communication company, now owned by Stericycle — doing clinical trial research recruitment, ran a call center staffed by dietitians and nurses, and did consumer-education programs for food-pharmaceutical companies.
She attempted to retire, but that obviously did not stick.
PPFC now employs 43 people, some of whom have known and worked with McCarron for decades. A standard poodle named Winnie — “named for Winnipeg, not Winnie-the-Pooh, although Winnie-the-Pooh is from Winnipeg” — accompanies her to work (but isn’t permitted in the food-preparation area).
In 2022 the Pet Sustainability Coalition named PPFC a Top 10 Social Steward pet-food brand.
Portland Pet Food Company employees making dog biscuits. Photo by Jason E. Kaplan
The company’s Brew Biscuits are so named because they’re made from spent brewery grain, some of which is sourced from Ruse Brewery, which is situated in the same building as PPFC. When I toured the facility, pallets of Bob’s Red Mill flours lined the factory entrance floor. The company also sources meat and fish locally.
McCarron notes that, unlike many manufacturers and retailers, PPFC has not faced major supply-chain issues, likely due to its commitment to local sourcing.
“Most [pet food] is wheat and cheap grain and very little real protein. It’s nothing like what these guys are doing,” says Jerry Freemont, meat category manager of Pacific Seafood, which supplies pork, chicken and beef for PPFC’s products.
Ashley Lane, senior program manager of accreditation for the Pet Sustainability Coalition, praises PPFC’s commitment to using diverted food-waste products.
“Something that they have focused on, and that I think is kind of core to their mission, is the idea of intervening and diverting that food waste and giving it a home in the pet-food industry,” Lane says. “There is just as much safety protocol around ingredients and processes, but there is a more flexible market for those types of diverted food-waste products. They’re doing a really great job and utilizing grains from breweries and other ingredients that would otherwise have gone to waste or not have been used in a way that was creating value.”
McCarron says very often pet food is not just sourced from unsavory places — “it’s a combination of farm animals, roadkill, you name it” — it’s often cooked at such high temperatures that many of the key nutrients are denatured. Those nutrients have to be added back in to make the meals full and balanced for pets.
Because McCarron insists on keeping the list of ingredients short and doesn’t add supplemental nutrients, the meals have to be marketed as a mixer, topper or supplemental meal, “because we’re not full and balanced.” But, she says, about a third of customers use the foods as a standalone meal. McCarron herself mixes Winnie’s food with kibble except when she’s traveling, in which case the dog gets a full pouch.
“It’s very expensive to make and thus it’s not affordable for everyone,” McCarron says. “However, we do explain to [customers] if they want to use it as a topper, that it will last four to five days. And just by replacing 20{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} of your kibble with an all-natural ingredient, you can improve the health and the coat of your dog.”
An employee packages Brew Biscuits by weight. Photo by Jason E. Kaplan
A 9-ounce pouch of PPFC dog food costs $6.99, and a 2.6-ounce pouch of the company’s cat food costs $3.49 — prices that exceed not just supermarket wet foods, but many brands considered premium as well.
PPFC’s main competitors, McCarron says, are other high-end brands that either do business through e-commerce alone or started as exclusive e-commerce brands: The Farmer’s Dog and Nom Nom are both exclusively available via subscription. Just Food for Dogs, another big player in the super-premium dog-food space, started as an online-only brand but is now available at Petco. The Farmer’s Dog and Nom Nom don’t list their prices for prospective customers who are unwilling to fill out a survey about their dogs’ needs; Just Food for Dogs comes in 18-ounce pouches that cost anywhere from $7 to $10 apiece, depending on the vendor.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, about 23 million American households — one in five homes — adopted a new pet between March 2020 and May 2021. And even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove a boom in pet adoption, household spending on pets has climbed steadily upward in recent years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, household spending on pets climbed from $460 in 2013 to $770 in 2021 — an average that, The Washington Post noted in a 2022 story, would be higher if the results excluded homes without a pet.
And Americans aren’t alone. A February 2022 report from Global Industry Analysts estimated that the global market for pet care — valued at $193.5 billion in 2022 — would reach $241.1 billion by 2026.
PPFC products are now available in smaller pet specialty stores in Canada, and in 2022 expanded to Japan and South Korea — and just got permission to start shipping to China, where the GIA report says the pet-care market is likely to expand by 7{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} between 2022 and 2026. (Its report also points to Japan and Canada as “notable growth markets” for the pet industry.) In 2022 PPFC won the Oregon Consular Corps’ Emerging Exporter Award.
“They’re just really driven,” says Erick Garman, trade development manager for the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Garman says he first made contact with McCarron at the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center about five years ago, and has since helped find funding to subsidize travel to other countries where PPFC is interested in doing business. “They’re not afraid to look at new opportunities. Some of their efforts have not been 100{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} fruitful, but they’re not afraid to try things and test.”
McCarron tells OB that, while the company’s first retail customer was a Portland-based specialty pet retailer — Healthy Pets Northwest — pet retailers weren’t as excited about the product as she’d hoped they would be. So she started approaching high-end grocers and traveling to grocery trade shows — a strategy Garman praises.
“They’ve really sort of blazed this kind of new trail in specialty stores like your Whole Foods and your New Seasons. They certainly weren’t the first to do it, but as far as Oregon pet-food companies, they’ve done a really good job of maximizing these resources,” Garman says.
Theresa Yoshioka, the ODA’s international trade manager, has worked with PPFC on expanding into Asian markets. She also first met McCarron at the Food Innovation Center, at a new-product showcase.
“I saw her dog treats from the upcycling- ingredients brewery, and I thought, this is really an Oregon company: It’s upcycled, it names the brewery and it’s serving dogs,” Yoshioka says.
“In [Asian] markets, they care about a lot of the same things we care about,” she adds. They like buying products made from quality ingredients, and like Americans, they want to indulge their pets a little bit. “Much like us, pet population and spending on pets increased during COVID. In Japan, even though the population of dogs is set to decline, spending is up.”
“Our goal is to be not only U.S., but global,” McCarron says. “Because I feel as though all pets deserve it.”
As this issue went into production, the company was working to develop another biscuit recipe and to upgrade its mixing and packaging.
An employee packs cartons in the warehouse. Photo by Jason E. Kaplan
She notes that the move was necessary in part because the company needed to expand, and she couldn’t find a large enough space in the Central Eastside, and parking was a problem.
“You know, a lot of people were like, ‘Why don’t you move outside of Portland?’ We were right down on Water [Avenue], and it was not safe at all. I worked a lot of times until 7 or 8, and it was pretty scary going out of there. But I feel like I’m pretty street smart,” McCarron says. “I was like, ‘It’s fine. I’m from Portland. I’m not going to be chased out of Portland, so we stuck it out. I said, No, we’re Portland Pet Food. We’re going to stay in Portland.’
“I loved it over there, despite all the trouble we were having, the break-ins and everything else,” McCarron says of the Central Eastside location. “It’d be a lot less expensive to be outside of Portland. But I grew up here, and hopefully we’re going to bring the city back sooner than later.”
Jeremy Renner is even now recovering from his vital snow plow accident, but he’s also finding admirers excited for an future new project. The actor lately took to Instagram to reveal a guiding-the-scenes look at “Rennervations,” a 4-element Disney+ series that follows Renner as he travels the world to help communities reimagine distinctive reason-created vehicles.
“Behind the scenes on [‘Rennervations’], coming before long on Disney+ all around the environment!” Renner wrote in a caption. “We are cueing up now with Disney and Disney+ to launch this awesome new present. More information to appear.”
Renner extra: “Thank you for your patience…while I am in the shop now, functioning on me.”
The actor is referring to his personal rehabilitation as he carries on to get well from a Jan. 1 snow plow accident that still left him hospitalized with critical injuries this sort of as blunt chest trauma. The “Hawkeye” actor afterwards unveiled he broke 30 bones in the accident.
“These 30 in addition broken bones will mend, mature more powerful, just like the like and bond with household and close friends deepens,” Renner wrote in a Jan. 21 Instagram post that also included a image of him in physical remedy. “Love and blessings to you all.”
“Rennervations” will come from Boardwalk Photos and government producers Renner, Rory Millikin, Romilda De Luca, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma and Patrick Costello. “Behind the large screen, Jeremy is a building aficionado,” Disney stated in the launch when asserting the exhibit in February 2022. “He is intensely invested in the remarkably inventive fabricator tradition that exists throughout the world and hopes to transform lives with these techniques and inspire other people to do the identical.”
Before this thirty day period, Renner’s Marvel co-stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly informed push they had been in make contact with with Renner and that he was building astounding strides in his recovery.
“I walked in his home and acquired chicken pores and skin simply because I was like, ‘Why are you cellular? Why are you cellular? What is happening?’” Lilly advised Entry Hollywood. “I expected to sit at his bedside and keep his hand when he moaned and groaned in agony and wasn’t in a position to shift. He was wheeling himself all over, laughing with his buddies. It is a miracle. It is a straight-up wonder. He’s made of a little something truly challenging that male. You’ve constantly been equipped to see that in him and he is recovering exceptionally.”
Check out Renner’s hottest health update submit in the Instagram below.
The subsequent announcement is from the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce:
FAIRFIELD, CT — The Fairfield Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Town of Fairfield and its Department of Neighborhood & Financial Advancement, invitations the community to go to the 2023 Fairfield Well being and Conditioning Expo, Saturday, March 11th, held at the Fairfield College RecPlex, 11:00am – 4:00pm.
“It has been three years considering the fact that we past held this function, and we are psyched to mark its return,” states Beverly Balaz, President of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. This year, the Fairfield Overall health and Health and fitness Expo will have anything for the complete loved ones to delight in. Absolutely free, and open to the public, the Expo will aspect 60+ exhibitors additionally unique actions for youthful and outdated alike. “We are delighted to be operating with the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce to host this event,” explained Fairfield Local community & Economic Progress Director Mark Barnhart. “It guarantees to be a entertaining-crammed working day with health and fitness-conscious activities for the complete family,” Barnhart continued. Parking for the function is totally free.
Equally the Chamber and Town are happy to host an event that encourages a healthier way of life knowledge for young and previous, and invitations anyone to go to to have exciting, check out some health and fitness demos, and get responses from our business entrepreneurs to detect what is needed to continue to be suit and wholesome … and how to assistance our seniors! Regardless of whether folks are intrigued in health and fitness, or have to have medical, wellness, or senior products and services information and facts, it’s listed here … conveniently all in a person area!
Exhibitor Checklist, which includes Sponsors: Adventure Park at The Discovery Museum AFC Urgent Care Atlas Nutrition & Wellness BEMER Cardio Kick Studio Comparion Insurance Company Cornerstone Health-related Instruction Centre Crowe and Associates David Lerner Associates, Inc Dental Associates of Connecticut Docs Urgent Care Fairfield CARES Local community Coalition Fairfield Relatives Dentistry JFitness Linda Stephens Fitness Nationwide Health care Associates (Cambridge & Ludlow) Pharmanex Senior Living Alternatives, LLC Southport Chiropractic StretchLab Fairfield United Healthcare Uss Wellness Checking out Angels Wakeman Boys & Ladies Club Whip Salon And more!
SPONSORS Event Sponsor: Collins Health care Machines and Accessibility Solutions Location Sponsor: Fairfield College Advanced EyeCare of Connecticut Bridgeport Hospital ComForCare Residence Treatment ConnectFairfield Fairfield Mothers Frontier c/o First Phase Advertising Sturges Ridge of Fairfield University of Bridgeport/UB Clinics Uss Wellness
Function facts is up to date everyday, so folks should really pay a visit to and check out the Fairfield Chamber Web page and the Chamber’s Fb Event Page, plus the Town’s “Experience Fairfield” web page for the most present-day exhibitor listings and functions. Volunteers are also required all over the working day to meet up with and greet attendees.
The City and Chamber thank their generous sponsors as mentioned above, for all their assist, particularly Collins Health-related Products and as the celebration sponsor. Other sponsors incorporate: WEBE108 and Fairfield Moms are media sponsors of the occasion.
Prescription Drug Get-Back again/Fairfield Law enforcement Section
Health and fitness Demos
Consolation Puppy/Fairfield University’s “Dakota”
Senior Solutions and Communities
Digital Actuality Dementia Simulation
Meals Truck
Practical Free Parking – Kelley Centre Parking Garage, throughout the RecPlex
And much more …
For far more information and facts about this Expo, instructions to RecPlex and parking, make sure you call Michele@FairfieldCTChamber.com (203-255-1011) or go to the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce site: FairfieldCTChamber.com.
2023 Fairfield Health & Fitness Expo Day: Saturday, March 11th (Rain or Glow) Time: 11:00am – 4:00PM
Site: Fairfield University/RecPlex 1073 N. Benson Road Fairfield, CT 06824
— Flyer impression by way of Fairfield Chamber of Commerce
The eyes have long been called the “windows to the soul,” and increasingly, evidence is suggesting that they might be also windows to both the brain and body. Several health conditions can be detected by examination of the eyes, among them diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Medical News Today spoke to experts in the field to discover how the eye can reveal the body’s secrets.
Share on PinterestHow much could our eyes reveal about our health? Image credit: A.J. Schokora/Stocksy.
Most of us have our eyes tested regularly, but few may be aware that an eye test is not just for checking vision and correcting sight problems.
Because it has a “window” at the front, the eye is the only part of the body where doctors can, non-invasively, examine the inside of an organ. At the back of the eye is the retina, where blood vessels and the optic nerve can be clearly seen.
Thanks to this, optometrists and ophthalmologists could diagnose not only disorders of the eye, but also systemic diseases — those that affect other organs in the body or the whole body.
If a routine eye test raises concerns, the optometrist can refer a person to a medical ophthalmologist who will investigate by carrying out further eye examinations. If their investigations reveal a systemic disease, they can then refer the person to the relevant specialist.
Dr. Hagar Ibrahim, senior specialist trainee (ST6) in medical ophthalmology at St. Paul’s Eye Unit, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, in the United Kingdom, told Medical News Today that “a routine eye examination in which the pupils are dilated using eye drops can provide a full and clear view of the optic nerve, which connects to the brain, the retina, […] and all the blood vessels supplying the retina.”
“Therefore, pathology in the eye can be clearly seen during [an] eye examination, both in localized eye conditions and in systemic disease, truly making the eye a window into the rest of the body,” she added.
“People are often surprised when an eye doctor diagnoses them with a systemic illness but they shouldn’t be. Many people with systemic illnesses are first diagnosed by their eye doctor, which is just one reason why all adults should have regular eye examinations at least every 2 years.”
– Dr. Philip Storey, a board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained retina specialist at Austin Retina Health
By examining the blood vessels in the retina and the optic nerve, the optometrist can also discover a lot about a person’s general health.
This non-invasive process can detect many other health conditions that may seem unconnected to the eyes, among them hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS).
“Ocular inflammation can affect many parts of the eye, and can often be the first sign of a systemic disease. The key to diagnosing the cause is in focused history taking followed by [a] guided investigation of the relevant body systems, including blood tests,” explained Dr. Ibrahim.
Changes in the blood vessels in the retina can be early indicators of both diabetes and hypertension.
Dr. Storey told MNT that “[d]iabetes is the most commonly diagnosed disease given the frequency of the illness as well as the classic findings on retina exam, which can include bleeding, leakage of fluid, and areas of poor blood flow.”
Although a firm diagnosis of diabetes can only be made with a blood glucose test, changes in the blood vessels of the retina can give a strong indication that a person may have diabetes. They can then be referred for further testing.
Once diagnosed, provided the diabetes is well controlled, the person can then minimize the risk of further eye damage, as Dr. Ibrahim explained: “In addition to localized eye therapies such as laser treatment or intravitreal eye injections, improving blood sugar levels by sticking to the proper pharmacological treatment, restricting sugar intake and making necessary lifestyle changes, can result in regression of diabetic retinopathy.”
However, for those with diabetes, the most important eye tests take place after diagnosis, to monitor changes in the eyes and take steps to prevent further damage, as Dr. Howard R. Krauss, surgical neuro-ophthalmologist and director of Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Eye, Ear & Skull Base Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, noted:
“In most cases, diabetes is diagnosed before changes become evident in the retina, but the retinal examination is a vital part of routine diabetic evaluations, so as to aid in the management of the disease, and to intervene when indicated, with any of a variety of treatments to reduce the risk of blindness from diabetic retinopathy.”
Studies have shown that signs of hypertension, or high blood pressure, are found in the eyes of around 10{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} of the adult, diabetes-free population.
“Hypertension also presents with classic signs within the eye. The earliest signs of hypertension are narrowing of the vessels, often referred to as ‘silver wiring’ because of their appearance.”
– Dr. Philip Storey
The good news is that if the hypertension is controlled, the damage can be halted, as Dr. Ibrahim explained.
“Early detection means that appropriate precautions are taken and necessary lifestyle changes are made, such as eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, in addition to starting the proper medical treatment thereby reducing the risk of heart disease,” she told us.
During a routine eye test, the eye doctor will also examine the optic nerve to look for any abnormalities or changes.
Dr. Ibrahim explained why: “The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain and is therefore an extension of the central nervous system. It is the only part of the brain that can be clearly visualized by examining the back of the eye.”
“Optic nerve swelling or inflammation can be detrimental to vision and color vision, and can diagnose MS, [which is] an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the brain and spinal cord, [as well as] neuroinflammatory disorders such as neuromyelitis optica or brain tumor,” she added.
Vision problems in MS, which tend to flare up then resolve within a few weeks, are usually a result of optic neuritis, an acute inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the optic nerve.
If an optometrist suspects optic neuritis in a routine eye examination, they will refer a person for further testing to confirm the diagnosis and identify the cause.
“Retinal screening of Alzheimer’s disease is an exciting prospect at the forefront of current medical research. The retina […] is made up of multiple layers of specialized neural cells and there is strong evidence that the same changes in the brain can occur in the retina, potentially allowing screening patients for early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.”
– Dr. Hagar Ibrahim
Current methods of diagnosing Alzheimer’s are often lengthy, invasive and expensive, so being able to diagnose the condition from the retina would be a huge advance.
Although this is not yet a disease that can be diagnosed from a routine eye examination, recent research has suggested that doctors could, in the future, diagnose Alzheimer’s through retinal scans.
The new technique, so far tested only in mice, combines the results of two scans to assess the condition of the retina. Those with Alzheimer’s disease have a much rougher retinal surface than those without.
Other research has identified beta-amyloid plaques on the retina as an indication of Alzheimer’s disease, and also in the lens of the eye, both of which can be detected by non-invasive methods.
Dr. Ibrahim explained some of the new developments:
“There are several areas under research. Firstly, looking for the presence of beta-amyloid fragments in the retina, which may be detected by specialist retinal imaging modalities, before symptom onset. […] Secondly, looking at biomarkers detectable on retinal OCT-A images in the form of differences of retinal microvasculature in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment compared to healthy controls.”
Perhaps these findings may lead to easier, earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease enabling treatment to begin before symptoms become severe.
As well as allowing an optometrist to detect diseases elsewhere in the body, changes in the eyes can tell a physician how a systemic disease is progressing.
So regular eye tests are important, particularly as we get older, as Dr. Benjamin Bert, an ophthalmologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, told MNT:
“While eye exams are mostly to check the health of the eyes, they do help to screen for systemic diseases. For adults, if you don’t have any need for glasses or contact lenses, it is still recommended to get an annual exam at least once in your 20s, twice in your 30s, and more regularly after 40. After 40 is when eye-specific ailments can start to become more common — including presbyopia, glaucoma, cataract, and changes to the retina from diabetes or high blood pressure.”
Dr. Krauss reiterated the same advice.
But it is also important to remember that eye examinations are only one tool in monitoring health conditions.
“An examination of the retina often reflects the severity of a disease throughout the body. […] However, patients should not rely on an eye examination to assess how well their systemic disease is controlled,” Dr. Storey cautioned.
“The damage that we see in the eye can take years to occur. Even when a patient’s eye examination is normal, their systemic disease — hypertension or diabetes for example — could be poorly controlled,” he explained.
So, make sure a regular eye test is part of your overall health care, particularly as you get older — it may just detect a condition that you were unaware of, helping you to take control of your health.
