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Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy: Changes in understanding of the disease over the last 25 years and how the UK is helping low-income countries tackle the challenges

Diabetes – a historical perspective Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease caused by inherited and / or acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by the ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. Such a deficiency results in...

Pathological myopia: a trainer’s perceptive

High myopia is defined as myopic refraction of greater than -6 dioptres with an axial length greater than 26.5mm, while pathological myopia is myopic refraction with posterior pole degeneration [1]. These degenerative changes can affect a young population and in...

Neuro-ophthalmic disease patterns in Southeast Asia with particular reference to giant cell arteritis

As indicated in an earlier article in Eye News [1] Dr Cullen was invited in 2000 to the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) as visiting Professor with a specific remit to set up a specialist neuro-ophthalmology service, which was the...

Ophthalmology in the developing world

After the second year of medical school, I spent my summer vacation working as a volunteer for a small Italian non-government organisation (NGO), named HEALTH-AID. As part of my volunteering experience, I joined a team of European doctors, medical students...

Volunteer abroad: the Khmer Sight Foundation

A team of volunteers describe their experiences of working with the Khmer Sight Foundation in Cambodia. Cambodia has a population of 15 million people, of whom an estimated 300,000 are blind. This figure is increasing by 10,000 each year. Three-quarters...

The David J Apple International Laboratory for Ocular Pathology – a legacy of pioneering IOL research

David Apple and Gerd Auffarth. The Apple Lab at the David J Apple Center for Vision Research in Heidelberg is a thriving international laboratory for research into intraocular devices. The lab continues the work of David J Apple, a world-renowned...

Dr Glaucomflecken: Stayin’ Alive

Peter Cackett spoke to ophthalmologist and social media sensation Dr Glaucomflecken about his early days in comedy, the role satire can play in impacting medical governance, and where he might take his brand of medical comedy next. It was towards...

Back-to-back congresses in Africa highlight international collaboration to advance eye health

The ISOO Africa 2023 Congress The first International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) [1] conference to be held in Africa took place in Mombasa, Kenya, from 21-23 August 2023. Participants came from all over Africa, as well as the US,...

Developments in oculoplastic surgery

A study of NHS practice demonstrated significant patient-reported quality-of-life improvements from commonly performed oculoplastic operations: entropion repair, ectropion repair, ptosis repair and dacrocystorhinostomy (DCR) [1]. In recent years, surgical and non-surgical approaches to functional and aesthetic oculoplastic surgery have advanced...

“Steel True, Blade Straight”

Steven Kerr of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh explores the medical career of Arthur Conan Doyle, his relationship with his mentor Joseph Bell and his fascination with ophthalmology. Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on the...