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Telemedicine- Ophthalmology

 Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine which deals with the diseases and surgery of the visual pathways, including the eye, brain, and areas surrounding the eye, such as the lacrimal system and eyelids. The word ophthalmology comes from the Greek roots ophthalmos meaning eye and logos meaning word, thought or discourse; ophthalmology literally means "The science of eyes." Anybody providing any service related to eye care is an eye care professional.
Three types of eye care professionals:
  • Opticians
  • Optometrists
  • Ophthalmologists
Opticians
An optician is one who dispenses and fits glasses and contacts, or other optical aids as prescribed by the optometrists and ophthalmologists, for vision correction. To perform these tasks he has to take the required measurements of the patient’s eyes and advise the patient on the type of glasses and frames that would suit the person best. They can also reshape frames to get the required fit. However, to fit contact lenses the optician needs a special license.

Optometrists
The primary tasks of an optometrist are to examine the eye for vision or any other eye problems, prescribe glasses and contact lenses. They deal in all matters concerning the eye, vision and the visual system. In some states, they are allowed to prescribe medicines for diagnosing vision problems and for treating some eye diseases. They also provide routine, primary vision care.

Ophthalmologists
Ophthalmologists can be called full fledged eye or medical doctors who specialize in all aspects of eye care. They deal with diseases involving the eye, brain, areas surrounding the eye like the lachrymal system and the eyelids. These include treating eye diseases and injuries, eye examinations, prescribing medicines and doing eye surgery. Eye surgery includes laser surgery and replacement of lens. Ophthalmologists use both invasive and non-invasive techniques to perform their tasks.

Eye Problems
The eye is constructed of many parts. As a result, there are wide varieties of eye problems associated with one or more parts of the eye. These eye problems can take a serious turn, leading to partial or total blindness, if they are not treated promptly. Age related eye diseases are the primary cause of vision impairment and blindness. Most vision problems are a gradual development. Some sudden vision changes are, in some cases, a sign of stroke. These are sudden onset of blindness, especially in one eye; partial loss of vision and double vision.

Common Eye Problems:
  • Myopia and Hyperopia are common eye problems caused by the inability of the eye to focus correctly. Commonly known as nearsightedness farsightedness respectively, these are refractive errors of the eye.
  • Presbyopia is refractive irregularities of the eye result in a common clinical condition.
  • Astigmatism occurs when the cornea of the eye is incorrectly shaped and fails to refract light properly.

                                                          

  • Allergic eye diseases are common disorders where the conjunctiva is affected and the red eye is a distinguishing feature.
Symptoms
There are many early warning signs for eye problems. Depending on the nature of the problem, each eye problem has a particular set of symptoms and signs.
Common symptoms:
  • Eye pain
  • Redness
  • Poor vision
  • Itching
  • Watering
  • Difficult to recognize well-known faces
  • Difficulty in doing routine tasks

Uncommon symptoms:

  • Photophobia
  • Excessive tearing
  • Scaly eyelids
  • Eye injury
  • Spots floating in your vision
  • Eye discharge
  • Flu-like symptoms
Causes of Eye diseases
The corollary to the eye having so many parts is the wide variety of eye defects and diseases that can come along specific to these parts. Unfortunately, causes of many problems still remain unknown.
Refractive vision defects, like near and far sightedness and astigmatism, are caused by lenses losing their shape and being unable to focus the light on the retina. It is believed that these problems can be affected by genetics, eye injury, fatigue, chronic illness, poor diet, and general living conditions. The underlying medical problem of high blood pressure causes the non-refractive vision defect, glaucoma. A more striking example of an eye problem caused by underlying medical problem – diabetes - is diabetic retinopathy. Then there are age-related problems like cataracts. Entry of foreign particles in to the eye may lead to numerous eye allergies.
                                                                         
Even parts, whose main function is to protect the eyes, are prone to some severe types of eye disorders. Blepharitis is a chronic inflammation of the eyelids. Dry eyes are caused by a lack of tears. Lack of tears disrupts the tear film and may make the cornea opaque and cause other diseases. Then there are a variety of corneal and retinal diseases and many more issues.

Treatment
Since, nearly all eye problems are problems of eye parts like the lens, eyelid, cornea, macula and retina, treatment therefore depends on the nature of the eye problem.However, past experience of practitioners have clearly showed that for many eye problems, prevention is the best cure. They recommend periodic check-ups after you enter your twenties and more frequent check-ups from forty onwards. Moreover, if you have underlying medical problems like diabetes and high blood pressure, you may need to be continuously vigilant and attend more frequent eye check ups. People with diabetes must be especially careful about their diet.
So Ophthalmology is one of the major fields in telemedicine. Tele-Ophthalmology is about the use of interactive communications technologies, which allow people in different locations to meet for a range of clinical applications within the health field of eye care. Tele-Ophthalmology Program is to improve the health of common man by extending the resources to remote state areas using telecommunications technology and systems, by developing and delivering telemedicine programs that meet rural health care needs at the most affordable cost. Now days, Internet is playing a vital role in Tele-ophthalmology applications to empower eye care services using store and forward technologies where images are sent by an Internet modem or cable. This technology enables health care professionals to view images sent by a colleague seeking a consult, has the most practical applications for the ophthalmic community
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