| Over 40? LASIK Eye Surgery Succeeds
April 20, 2007 -- More and more baby boomers are having laser eye surgery to free themselves from contacts, bifocals, and even reading glasses. Now new research finds that most can expect good outcomes when they have realistic expectations. "Patients 40 and over present special challenges, and they need to understand that going in," laser surgeon Jose de la Cruz Napoli, MD, tells WebMD. "But we have [surgical] options to give them full vision correction, so they can see well near and far away." Along with colleagues from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, de la Cruz Napoli examined outcomes from 710 eyes which had laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgeries performed on 424 patients between the ages of 40 and 69. Following the surgeries, 20/30 vision (a person with 20/30 vision can see something clearly at 20 feet what a person with 20/20 person can see at 30 feet.) was restored in 86% to 100% of eyes corrected for nearsightedness and 80% to 84% of eyes corrected for farsightedness.
Healing tourism
Removing a cataract costs GBP 2,350 in a private hospital in the UK. The same operation costs 26 per cent less in Germany, France and Spain. In Cyprus it costs 49 per cent less. It is cheapest in Poland, where the operation costs 72 per cent less.
Your hip replacement costs GBP 8,000 in a private UK hospital. It costs 34 per cent less in Germany and 49 per cent less in Cyprus. A knee operation also costs 44 per cent less in Germany than in the UK. The high cost of healthcare in rich countries and the long waiting list for operations is pushing millions of people to seek care in far away countries. Even allowing for travel and accommodation costs, a new breed of traveller is growing rapidly. While general travel is predicted to increase by about four per cent this year, medical tourist visitors are expected to rise by 30 per cent.
Harper has failed to deliver on his party's promise to cut wait times
During the last election campaign, one of Stephen Harper's five priorities was to guarantee, "... that all Canadians receive essential medical treatment within clinically acceptable waiting times."
He promised an agreement by the end of 2006, committing provinces to improve wait times in five key areas: cancer care, cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements, diagnostic imaging and primary care.
What the Conservatives failed to tell us was that Canadians would only receive a wait-time guarantee in one of the five targeted areas, and that for the majority of Canadians, that guarantee would be completely meaningless. .
Vision Correction Options
LASIK nearly always results in improved vision without correction. However, LASIK is an imperfect procedure that does not always result in 20/20, or even 20/40 visual acuity.Advances in the understanding of how to better treat eye conditions, eye disorders and eye diseases have led to development of new technologies and procedures for treatment. LASIKWhat makes a good LASIK candidate? Appropriate levels of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism Relative intolerance of glasses or contact lenses Properly motivated and realistic patient The difference between traditional LASIK and custom LASIK (Wavefront)Wavefront TechnologyThis breakthrough treatment establishes a new standard in laser vision correctionWaveScan technology provides your eye doctor with a map of your eyeAfter WaveScan, patients notice results immediately, and their vision will continue to improve over the next few daysWavefront-guided LASIK is an elective procedure with the alternatives including but not limited to eyeglasses, contact lenses, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), conventional LASIK, and other refractive surgeriesRisks: Custom LASIK does have risks but it also produces better visual improvement than one-size-fits-all LASIK procedures and there is a lower incidence of undesirable side effects such as halos and glare Implantable Contact LensesImplantable contact lenses are powerful additions to the present refractive options, especially for those individuals whose refractive errors presently fall out of the range for LASIKWhat makes a good candidate? Typically, the best candidates for implantable contact lenses are between the ages of 21 and 55, with moderate to severe myopia.Implantable contact lenses, known as phakic intraocular lenses (IOLs), are powerful refractive tools with almost unlimited potential to correct refractive errors (nearsightedness and farsightedness)Unlike LASIK vision correction, the procedure is completely reversibleRisks: rarely do patients experience complications with implantable contact lenses and when complications do occur, they are typically minor when handled expeditiously Educational Forums & Free ScreeningsUniversity Health Care's Moran Eye Center offers educational forums on laser and non-laser vision correction, including the latest information on LASIK, as well as free vision correction screenings.
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