A Lesson From Carrie Underwood

HOT TOPIC

Signs of Stroke Evident in Retina Images

Researchers have recently identified 29 vascular health indicators in the retina, creating a “vascular fingerprint” that can predict a person’s risk of stroke. The method, which analyzes images of the retina, offers a less invasive alternative to traditional tests. The study, published in the journal Heart, included more than 45,000 participants from the UK Biobank and found that changes in these indicators were significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke.

As we know, the retina’s vascular network shares features with the brain’s vasculature, making it a good predictor of systemic vascular conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. This noninvasive approach could improve stroke prediction models and make screenings much more accessible in primary care optometry or general care practitioner offices. (Read more here.)

My Two Cents

Amazing! We’ve known for a long time that a comprehensive dilated examination is the window to the entire body, and it seems as though we get more and more objective evidence that proves us correct each week! As a profession, we need to embrace this technology and become well versed with it so we’re not overlooked and it goes straight into the offices of primary care practitioners. Explaining this information and these types of studies to patients will allow even more excellent buy-in as to why they need to see you for their yearly examinations. Consider posting this article on your practice’s social media feed, as it’s likely to draw “eyeballs” and interest from just about anyone!

OUTSIDE THE LANE

Eye-Popping Sideline Action in Soccer/Football

It’s been a while since we shared something relatively light-hearted here, so this week seems as good as any to do just that after last week's #realtalk.

Get ready to see quite the monocular proptosis! During a recent Dutch Cup match, Moldovan striker Ion Nicolaescu, playing for his Heerenveen team, popped his eye out of its socket while blowing his nose. The incident happened after Nicolaescu had already been nursing his swollen and bruised eye from an earlier collision with an opposing player. Despite the injury, he continued playing for a few minutes before being substituted.

My Two Cents

Has this ever happened to you in clinic? I’ve had it occur multiple times, and it seems like it almost always happens when we’re dilating a patient or I’m applying some fluorescein or lissamine green staining to a patient with thyroid disease and dry eye. The globe just pops out beyond the socket. The first time it happened, I’m sure my jaw hit the floor. But once you go through it a few times in your career, you learn how to ease it back into the socket and carry on like nothing happened.

I’ll never forget when one of our student externs ducked their head into my office, white as a ghost, and blurted out that “the patient’s eye popped right out of its socket!!!” We looked at each other briefly, and I asked, “Well, did you put it back?” They didn’t think I was serious until we went back into the room together, and I gently pushed the eye back into place, all while the asymptomatic patient wasn’t even aware there was a problem. It was an experience our student will likely never forget!

CAN YOU RELATE

First, thank you all so much for your emails, texts, and messages about last week's newsletter. I’m glad some of my thoughts and opinions might eventually make their way to the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. I didn’t mean to be a lightning rod or to serve as a voice for the students, but it’s clear that what they have to go through isn’t fair. I challenge every practicing OD to put forth an effort to stay educated on what’s happening in the education and certification of our profession’s next generation.

With that said, it’s been quite an interesting past week. The presidential inauguration took place on January 20th. This is anything but a political newsletter; however, during all the inaugural pomp and circumstance, one person absolutely stole the show, someone whom Americans on either side of the aisle can easily support and who, despite the glamour of fame, still seems grounded in reality and all that is right with this country. That person? Carrie Underwood, who was tasked with singing “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda.

Please watch the video. In it, technical difficulties cause Underwood’s performance to start off painfully awkward. However, at the 2:07 mark, she addresses the crowd, saying, “If you know the words, help me out here,” and begins the most amazing a capella version of “America the Beautiful” I’ve ever heard. She took an embarrassing situation and made it absolutely world class. As they say, “the show must go on,” and Underwood made sure it did. How often are we, as doctors or professionals, faced with a rough situation—whether it’s a pair of glasses made incorrectly by a lab, a medication we prescribed that wasn’t approved, or a surgery we referred a patient for that didn’t entirely give them the result they had desired? Sometimes, it’s best just to suck it up and do the absolute best we can with a smile on our faces.

Whatever your political leanings may be, you can’t go wrong by being on Team Carrie in moments like those shown in the video.