Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R D Newcomb.
Essential hypertension and diabetes mellitus are highly prevalent and potentially lethal chronic diseases in the US population. Both have ocular complications that can result in permanent vision loss. Ten risk factors for hypertension and six risk factors for diabetes are discussed to help practicing doctors of optometry screen, refer, educate, monitor and co-manage patients who have one or both of these diseases.
Studies predict a 50 percent increase in residential long-term care need by the year 2000. Statistics show that the age group served by these facilities is at a much higher risk for sight threatening eye conditions. A review of the current literature as well as original data collected in Ohio indicates that residents in long-term care facilities are underserved with regard to eye care. This paper discusses the need for increased optometric participation in the primary eye care services for residents of long-term care facilities.
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A phenocopy, as defined by Goldschmidt, is an environmentally induced form which resembles a genetic mutant. They have a site of induction at a number of developmental levels and are not only produced by interfering with gene gene expression. Phenocopies and the corresponding genetic mutant, are also not necessarily generated through equivalent developmental pathways. The yellow phenocopy of Drosophila melanogaster, where both cuticle colour and mating behaviour resembles that of the yellow mutant, serves to illustrate the above points. It is suggested that if the term phenocopy is to be used the term should correspond to the generative processes and hence transformations which mutant and phenocopy share, rather than purely on phenotype. Finally, phenocopies are discussed in relation to structuralist biology, showing how they are instructive in describing generative processes, sensitive periods in development and differing modes of inheritance in such a research programme.
Yellow phenocopies of Drosophila melanogaster were produced by raising larvae on alpha-DMT contaminated media. Using a survivorship test, the sensitive period for phenocopy induction was found to occur during the third larval instar of development, with increased survivorship at 1% alpha-DMT compared with lower concentrations. It was also found that treatment with alpha-DMT significantly slowed development. These findings are related to the relevant morphological and behavioral developmental pathways and to phenocopy induction.
Strains of Moraxella bovis were identified definitively through the combined use of a qualitative genetic transformation assay and determination of the ability of the organism under examination to grow in a defined medium (medium MB). Except for weak transformation by DNA from strains of M. lacunata, M. nonliquefaciens, and M. (Branhamella) ovis, DNA samples from all other members of the genus Moraxella failed to transform either of the two M. bovis auxotrophs used in this study.
Health education has been a cornerstone of public health activities for over one hundred years, but recently it has received renewed interest as a method of promoting preventive health care and individual responsibility for one's own health status. While vision health education has not received the attention that other areas of health education have, the need for such information is apparent, and its anticipated effect upon the visual welfare of the population should be obvious. This paper accentuates some of the common objectives of doctors of optometry and health education specialists.
408 conditions affecting the visual system of patients presenting in the optometry clinic of the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center (BVAMC) were referred to other providers within the medical center for care outside the scope of optometric responsibility. Rates of compliance and confirmation are given for nine major categories of eye problems, and the data is analyzed on the basis of age, visual acuity, type of consultation and disposition. Pertinent literature citations are provided.
Cone-rod dystrophy is considered one of the rarer hereditary retinal degenerations. This disease can be easily mistaken for a number of other conditions because of its unusual characteristics. This paper discusses these characteristics and presents a case report to illustrate how the optometrist can effectively manage patients with this disease.
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A good preventive blindness program includes a strong program in genetic counseling. Optometrists can be of substantial assistance to a genetic counseling program by: 1) being informed of the various types of inherited ocular disorders, and their modes of transmission. 2) becoming aware of the presence of disorders in other members of the patient's family, and 3) encouraging the affected family members to seek genetic counseling prior to conception. This article is designed to serve as a guide for familiarizing the practicing O.D. with the various types of inheritance patterns, specific disorders which follow these inheritance patterns, and some of the ocular and systemic characteristics of the disorders. Only those anomalies of structure and/or function which have an identifiable (and therefore a predictable) genetic mode of transmission will be discussed. This article is intended to serve as a brief and general review of some of the more common ocular disorders, and not as a comprehensive text on the genetics of ophthalmic diseases. Emphasis is placed on the optometric management of each disease discussed.
A review of the epidemiological literature dealing with the distribution of affections causing blindness in children was performed. Twenty-one studies throughout the world during the past twenty years were found and analyzed. The emergence of genetic factors and the decline of infectious factors as causative agents is discussed with the emphasis on the need for prevention from a public health standpoint.
Part I included a discussion of the four modes of single gene inheritance and examples of ocular anomalies which follow these modes. Part II will conclude the discussion by presenting other transmission forms in conjunction with examples of ocular anomalies characteristic of each. These two articles are designed to serve only as a guide for familiarizing the practicing O.D. with the various types of inheritance patterns, and not as a comprehensive text on the genetics of ophthalmic diseases. The reader is referred to the reference list for in-depth information regarding specific disorders.
A study population of one hundred and one subjects, chosen according to recommended epidemiologic procedures to assure an accurate representation of the total Birmingham veteran population, were given complete optometric examinations. The primary criterion for inclusion in the study was a need for coming to the hospital on the interview day for any health problem other than visual or ocular. The results of the statistical analysis showed agreement between the Birmingham veteran population and the general population with regard to vision and ocular disorders. Presbyopia was found to be the most prevalent vision disorder, and fifty-four per cent of the study population needed either prescription lenses for the first time or a significant change in their present spectacles for maximum visual acuity. When this figure is projected nationally, fifty-four percent of the fourteen million outpatients treated last year in VA medical care facilities would represent 7,616,000 veterans in need of vision care services annually. In fact, since the sample average age was 46, and the average age for veterans nationally is 55, the figure for those with uncorrected vision defects may be even higher.
The Optometry Service in the Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital has been delivering comprehensive vision care to outpatients and inpatients for almost 3 years. The veteran population receiving care and the optometric services provi4ed are described.
Genetic diseases may be present at birth or may be manifested later in life. The best preventative measure for either type is early referral of the affected family for genetic counseling. Since several genetic disorders include ocular complications either primarily or secondarily, optometrists are likely to encounter some of these disorders. If the family is unaware of the hereditary pattern, they should be referred to a geneticist to be advised of the risk rates for having future children affected. A partial listing of the counseling centers throughout the United States is provided.