© Pint of Science, 2024. All rights reserved.
In this special event run by Fight For Sight, we will hear from our researchers working across the spectrum of eye health and vision loss. Find out how we're protecting your sight. Plus - test out your general eye knowledge on our themed quiz! This event is being run with Fight For Sight, proceeds from ticket sales will go to Fight For Sight.
Why we must stop being short-sighted about the “global epidemic” of short-sightedness
Professor Bruce Evans
(Director of Research, Institute of Optometry, London, Visiting Professor at City, University London)
Bruce reviews the evidence indicating that short-sightedness (myopia) has doubled in prevalence in the last 50 years in this country and has increased even more in some other countries. Over half of university students in the UK are short-sighted, and this is increasing. This increase in myopia has important implications for the future eye health of some people with myopia, for the country’s eye health, and for the NHS. What can parents do to reduce the risk of myopia developing in their children? When myopia does develop, what can be done to slow the progression of myopia?
Looking at the Brain, through the window of the eye
Dr Adam Dubis
(UCL Institute of Ophthalmology - Honorary Lecturer; Moorfields Eye Hospital - Advanced Human Retinal Imaging Specialist)
Sufficient flow of oxygenated blood is required for the maintenance of all tissue, and the central nervous system is the largest consumer of oxygen in the human body. The retinal (eye) and cerebral (brain) circulations share attributes, and as the retina can be imaged quickly and non-invasively it could be used as a way to study both cerebral and systemic vascular (to do with blood vessels) disorders. We'll discuss some of the new techniques emerging to study the retina and microvascular system and how they change in conditions such as diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
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