Boxing Champion Barry McGuigan on the Laser Eye Surgery that Changed his Life

FORMER world boxing champion Barry McGuigan explains why, thanks to his friend Phillip Schofield, he now has 20/20 vision.

Whether it was down to his formidable boxing skills or simply the luck of the Irish, Barry McGuigan, unlike many of his contemporaries, managed to retire from his highly successful professional career without sustaining any long-term major injuries.

Aside from suffering many broken bones in his hands which he describes as an “occupational hazard” Barry, who won gold at the 1978 Commonwealth games and became World Boxing Association featherweight champion in 1985, is dismissive of the sport’s brutal reputation.

“People like to point a ?nger at boxing but it has had absolutely no effect on my health,” says the spry 52-year-old from Clones, Co Monaghan, who is now a successful boxing coach and BBC commentator.

“My internal organs have been checked many times. I’ve had brain scans and MRI scans. I have the same intellect I had when I was 19 or 20 if not better because I’ve got more experience. I train, exercise and keep ?t. My health is something I take with great concern.”

Yet despite ?nishing his career in 1989 relatively unscathed and continuing to take care of himself and work hard on his ?tness, age caught up with Barry in a more mundane way as he began to notice that his sight was deteriorating.

“My eyesight started to weaken from the age of 39,” says the dad-of-four, who now lives in Kent with his wife Sandra. “I was flying across the Atlantic a lot and reading loads of statistics in poor light and invariably the muscles around my eyes were affected.

"I was struggling to read, present and coach properly. I started wearing glasses and from then my sight continued to deteriorate quickly.” Continue Reading...
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Nik Wallenda has Lasik Eye Surgery

Sarasota, Florida -- Thirteen million people saw him tightrope walk across the Niagara Falls. Now, Nik Wallenda is hoping to see his own adventures a little more clearly.

World-renowned aerialist Nik Wallenda (Left) is greeted by William J. Lahners, M.D., F.A.C.S.,

The Sarasota daredevil just underwent Lasik Eye Surgery.

On his walk across the Grand Canyon, Wallenda says his drying contact lens affected his vision. Obviously, a clear line of sight is mandatory for his line of work.

So Wallenda decided have his sight corrected by a laser, operated by a hometown surgeon, so he won't have to fuss with contacts or glasses again.

Falling Risk Higher After Cataract Surgery

People with cataracts may be more likely to have a fall after having surgery for the condition, according to a new study. For people who have two operations (one on each eye) the chance of falling is greatest between operations.

What Do We Know Already?

If you have a cataract, it means the lens - the part of the eye that focuses light - is not clear. This can affect your eyesight in one or both eyes, and having impaired vision can also increase the chances of falls and injuries.

Some people choose to have an operation to remove their cataracts. Most people who have the operation can see much better afterwards and are more likely to be able to look after themselves and do everyday things.

Previous studies about the risk of falls after cataract surgery have found different results. Some studies found that people were less likely to have a fall, while others found the opposite or found no clear result at all. Most people with cataracts end up having them in both eyes. And people usually have two operations to remove the cataracts in different eyes at different times. Researchers wanted to know if having two operations some time apart affects people’s chances of having a fall.

Researchers looked at the medical records of about 28,000 people aged 60 years and older in Western Australia who had two cataract operations some months apart. The researchers recorded how many people had serious falls during the study, which lasted seven years. From this they worked out people’s chance of a fall at three time points:

Before having their first cataract operation.
Between the first and the second operation.
After having their second operation. Continue Reading...

The eyes have it: Trying out Laser Eye Surgery

It can, say certain spiritual gurus, take a lifetime to change how you view the world; if you are a patient of Dr Nick Mantell, it can take mere minutes.

Mantell is an ophthalmic surgeon (say that after a few drinks) who specialises in laser vision correction and refractive cataracts.

Now, I had heard of laser eye surgery and its ability to alter the shape of the cornea and provide a permanent fix for troubled eyesight. Indeed, I had met a few people who said it had changed their lives, but I was a little reticent. First, it doesn't come cheap. Second, "surgery" sounded potentially painful and usually comes with days, if not weeks, of recovery.

I first discovered I was shortsighted nearly 20 years ago and every day since then have dealt with the "rituals" that come with wearing glasses or contact lenses.

You know: losing your glasses, finding your glasses, looking for your glasses, having other people help you look for your glasses....

Leaving them behind in restaurants, on trains, buses, planes ... losing your glasses on a big night out, sitting on them, scratching them, wearing them underneath sunglasses (not cool), having them splattered with rain or fogged up, get sweaty, or just be plain annoying when playing sport, or when you don't have them on you and everyone else is looking at the dolphins on the horizon or the shooting stars; swimming blind in the ocean, or having to change contact lenses again and again, cluttering up the bathroom bench with the accompanying paraphernalia, or grappling with grit behind your contacts. Read More...

Lasik Surgery is Not Right For Everyone

Lasik is the most popular vision correcting surgery in the world; millions of Americans have had it. In many cases, it worked well, but some people are finding it actually makes their vision worse over time.

David Hydock had Lasik six years ago.

"I was nearsighted and I had been hearing about Lasik and laser surgeries and how you wake up in the morning and you see your alarm clock and its crystal clear," said Hydock.

That's how clear many people's vision was after surgery. David's was too. But some including David over time noticed a major change.

Hydock said, "I definitely had progressively worse and worse and worse vision."

Why would that happen? One possibility was poorly done surgery, but studies showed that the more common Lasik mistake was in doing it on the wrong person.

"Clearly there are people who had Lasik who shouldn't have had Lasik," said Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler.

That's because during Lasik tissue that does not grow back is injured. Certain eyes do well with that change; now we know others do not.

"The cornea can't have weakness,” said Dr. Wachler. “If the cornea is too thin that's also a red flag."

Unfortunately, David was not told about any red flags.

"It's a depressing feeling,” said Hydock. “It's crushing when you realize that your vision is not what it should be."

Luckily for David, Dr. Wachler found out David had keratoconus; a condition where the cornea weakens and bulges; so he saved David’s sight with a breakthrough procedure.

"I went from 20/100 to 20/40," said Hydock. Continue Reading...

7,000 Patients Examined in Civil's Laser Eye Surgery Drive

AHMEDABAD: Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad conducted a state-wide doorstep laser surgery drive for diabetic retinopathy where doctors checked 7,000 patients and carried out 789 surgeries for retinopathy cases at 83 camps.

Gujarat has a large number of diabetics and many of them have developed a complication - diabetic retinopathy - and require Lasik Eye Surgery. For better treatment of diabetic retinopathy, Eye Hospital of Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, had started a doorstep laser surgery ambulance three years ago.

In these three years, centres have organized 83 camps in Central Gujarat, Saurashtra, Godhra and South Gujarat. The team of doctors checked around seven thousand patients for diabetic retinopathy and eight hundred surgeries were carried out at these camps. The team conducts the camps using an AC ambulance which carries retinopathy laser treatment machinery and a team of 8 doctors and staff. The team holds camps after tying up with local institutions or any social organization in the locality. The team also held lectures and presentations on retinopathy and prevention.

The doorstep laser treatment concept was implemented in the state and won the first prize at an international conference at Kolkata this year. The ambulance van was provided by the government and started service in 2010. Read More...