Sunlight Damages the Eyes - SkinCancer.org - and suryanamaskar








Although the eyelid is designed to protect the eye, its skin is exceedingly thin and contains many fragile tissues that may be injured by UV light. Inside the eye, the lens and the cornea, both transparent, filter UV rays, but by doing so for many years, they may become damaged. This is especially true for the lens, which through years of UV absorption, turns yellowish and cataractous. The lens is the eye's transparent focusing mechanism, located between the iris and the vitreous humor (the clear, thick gel in the posterior compartment of the eye that fills the space between the lens and retina, giving the eye its form and shape). The cornea, the transparent area in front at the outer layer of the eye, admits light and images to the retina. UV damage is instrumental in causing:
saving-face-after-suturing-the-wound
Patient immediately after
eyelid skin cancer surgery
Eyelid cancers: Skin cancers of the eyelid, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) as well asmelanoma, account for 5 to 10 percent of all skin cancers. Most occur on the lower lid, which receives the most sun exposure. Basal cell carcinomas make up about 90 percent and squamous cell carcinomas 5 percent or more of all eyelid cancers, while melanomas account for about 1-2 percent. basal cell carcinomas of the eyelid affect an estimated 16.9 men and 12.4 women per 100,000 people in the U.S. each year, and while basal cell carcinomas elsewhere on the body rarely spread, eyelid basal cell carcinomas have a significant risk of spreading to the eye itself and surrounding areas, causing major damage to the eye and disfigurement to the face.
Squamous cell carcinomas have a faster growth rate and a greater potential to spread. Both of these types of cancer are found mainly in patients with a history of sun exposure. Melanoma can spread rapidly in the eye area and can prove lethal if not treated promptly. Melanomas have been linked to a history of intense, intermittent sun exposure and sunburns.
When diagnosed and treated early, eyelid cancers usually respond well to surgery and follow-up care, with the eye and eyelid largely retaining normal function. With reconstruction, they generally remain cosmetically attractive. But left untreated, they are extremely dangerous and may even ultimately penetrate the brain. Watch for these early warning signs:
  • a lump or bump that frequently bleeds or does not disappear
  • persistent red eye or inflammation of the eyelids that does not respond to medication
  • newly acquired flat or elevated pigmented lesions that have irregular borders and growth
  • unexplained loss of eyelashes
If you have any of these warning signals, consult a skin cancer specialist or ophthalmologist, even if you feel no discomfort.
eyediagram
Intraocular melanoma: Although rare, it is the most common eye cancer in adults. It starts in the uveal tract, the middle layer of the eye containing the iris (the part of the eye responsible for eye color) and the pupil, which lies in the center of the iris. Symptoms may include a dark spot on the iris, blurred vision, or a change in the pupil's shape. Sometimes, however, there are no symptoms.
eyeexamConjunctival cancers: Once rare, these cancers have been rising rapidly in incidence in recent years, based on NCI data. Research covering 10 percent of the U.S. population showed that incidence among white men especially increased - 295 percent over a 27-year period.
Conjunctival melanomas may be more common in patients with atypical mole syndrome; these patients have 100 or more moles, one or more moles 8 mm (1/3 inch) or larger in diameter, and one or more moles that are atypical. All patients with cutaneous melanomas and/or atypical moles should have yearly ophthalmologic evaluations.
Cataracts: A progressive clouding and yellowing of the crystalline lens, the eye's focusing mechanism. At least 10 percent of cataract cases are directly attributable to UV exposure. In the U.S. alone, more than one million operations to remove cataracts are performed every year. Cataracts are the most common cause of treatable blindness worldwide, and UVB has been directly linked to cataracts.
Macular degeneration: Often referred to as age-related, or senile, macular degeneration, it is caused by damage to the retina over time. The retina is the ocular membrane where images are formed and transmitted to the brain; the macula, the region of sharpest vision near the center of the retina, is the most likely area to be damaged. Macular degeneration is one of the major causes of vision loss in the U.S. for people over age 60. While further research is required, some studies point to UVA and HEV light as potential causes of macular degeneration.
Benign growths of the conjunctiva: Problems with the conjunctiva, the protective membrane covering the outside of the eye and the inside of the eyelids, usually develop later in life. Pterygia, fleshy benign growths on the conjunctiva that may ultimately interfere with vision, may require surgical removal. These unsightly growths most frequently occur in areas where UV is intense year-round.
Keratitis, or corneal sunburn: Excessive exposure to UV from the sun or tanning machines can literally burn the cornea, the eye's clear refracting surface that admits light and images to the retina. UV-protective lenses are therefore especially a must for anyone who uses a tanning machine, as well as for skiers or snowboarders, since UV is more intense at high altitudes, and since snow reflects back the sun's rays, so that they hit your eyes a second time.
Virtually all of these UV-related eye conditions can be found by an ophthalmologist during a routine eye exam. Thus, it is important to have a complete ophthalmologic exam, including dilated funduscopy, on a yearly basis.

How Sunlight Damages the Eyes - SkinCancer.org

www.skincancer.org › Prevention › Sun Protection › For Your Eyes
  • Inside the eye, the lens and the cornea, both transparent, filter UV rays, but by doing so for many years, they may become damaged. This is especially true for ...

  • Sunlight and Your Eyes - SkinCancer.org

    www.skincancer.org › Prevention › Sun Protection › For Your Eyes
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  • ASK THE EXPERT: Are my eyes at risk for sun damage ...

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  • The more you expose your eyes to the sun, the more you increase your odds of developing these conditions, because sun damage is cumulative. ... Read labels carefully, and look for The Skin Cancer Foundation's Seal of Recommendation.

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  • Yet without realizing it, we may expose our eyes to danger every day, simply by going outside. Over time, the sun's rays can seriously damage the eyes and ...

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  • Following some simple guidelines from The Skin Cancer Foundation can help you ... Since sun damage accumulates over time, it's never too late to start a sun ... hyaluronic acid can plump up dry skin around the eyes, making skin instantly ...

  • If You Can See Sunlight, Seek the Shade - SkinCancer.org

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    Transplantable bioengineered forelimb[soon heart,kidney,liver]

    1. Transplantable bioengineered forelimb developed in an ...

      www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150602153501.htm
    2. 3 days ago - In their report, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs ...

    3. Scientists Make Progress in Tailor-Made Organs - NYTimes ...

      www.nytimes.com/.../scientists-make-progress-in-tailor-made-organs.htm...
      4. Sep 15, 2012 - Implanting such a “bioartificial” organ would be a first-of-its-kind ... Now, however, researchers like Dr. Macchiarini are building organs with a ...
       
       
      Breaking:
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      Transplantable bioengineered forelimb developed in an animal model

      Date:
      June 2, 2015
      Source:
      Massachusetts General Hospital
      Summary:
      A team of investigators has made the first steps towards development of bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation. In their report, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue.
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      FULL STORY
      A suspension of muscle progenitor cells is injected into the cell-free matrix of a decellularized rat limb, which provides shape and structure onto which regenerated tissue can grow.
      Credit: Bernhard Jank, M.D., Ott Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine
      A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has made the first steps towards development of bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation. In their report, which has been published online in the journal Biomaterials, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue. They also provided evidence that the same approach could be applied to the limbs of primates.
      "The composite nature of our limbs makes building a functional biological replacement particularly challenging," explains Harald Ott, MD, of the MGH Department of Surgery and the Center for Regenerative Medicine, senior author of the paper. "Limbs contain muscles, bone, cartilage, blood vessels, tendons, ligaments and nerves -- each of which has to be rebuilt and requires a specific supporting structure called the matrix. We have shown that we can maintain the matrix of all of these tissues in their natural relationships to each other, that we can culture the entire construct over prolonged periods of time, and that we can repopulate the vascular system and musculature."
      The authors note that more than 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. have lost a limb, and although prosthetic technology has greatly advanced, the devices still have many limitations in terms of both function and appearance. Over the past two decades a number of patients have received donor hand transplants, and while such procedures can significantly improve quality of life, they also expose recipients to the risks of life-long immunosuppressive therapy. While the progenitor cells needed to regenerate all of the tissues that make up a limb could be provided by the potential recipient, what has been missing is the matrix or scaffold on which cells could grow into the appropriate tissues.
      The current study uses technology Ott discovered as a research fellow at the University of Minnesota, in which living cells are stripped from a donor organ with a detergent solution and the remaining matrix is then repopulated with progenitor cells appropriate to the specific organ. His team and others at MGH and elsewhere have used this decellularization technique to regenerate kidneys, livers, hearts and lungs from animal models, but this is the first reported use to engineer the more complex tissues of a bioartificial limb.
      The same decellularization process used in the whole-organ studies -- perfusing a detergent solution through the vascular system -- was used to strip all cellular materials from forelimbs removed from deceased rats in a way that preserved the primary vasculature and nerve matrix. After thorough removal of cellular debris -- a process that took a week -- what remained was the cell-free matrix that provides structure to all of a limb's composite tissues. At the same time, populations of muscle and vascular cells were being grown in culture.
      The research team then cultured the forelimb matrix in a bioreactor, within which vascular cells were injected into the limb's main artery to regenerate veins and arteries. Muscle progenitors were injected directly into the matrix sheaths that define the position of each muscle. After five days in culture, electrical stimulation was applied to the potential limb graft to further promote muscle formation, and after two weeks, the grafts were removed from the bioreactor. Analysis of the bioartificial limbs confirmed the presence of vascular cells along blood vessel walls and muscle cells aligned into appropriate fibers throughout the muscle matrix.
      Functional testing of the isolated limbs showed that electrical stimulation of muscle fibers caused them to contract with a strength 80 percent of what would be seen in newborn animals. The vascular systems of bioengineered forelimbs transplanted into recipient animals quickly filled with blood which continued to circulate, and electrical stimulation of muscles within transplanted grafts flexed the wrists and digital joints of the animals' paws. The research team also successfully decellularized baboon forearms to confirm the feasibility of using this approach on the scale that would be required for human patients.
      Ott notes that, while regrowing nerves within a limb graft and reintegrating them into a recipient's nervous system is one of the next challenges that needs to be faced, the experience of patients who have received hand transplants is promising. "In clinical limb transplantation, nerves do grow back into the graft, enabling both motion and sensation, and we have learned that this process is largely guided by the nerve matrix within the graft. We hope in future work to show that the same will apply to bioartificial grafts. Additional next steps will be replicating our success in muscle regeneration with human cells and expanding that to other tissue types, such as bone, cartilage and connective tissue."
      Story Source:
      The above story is based on materials provided by Massachusetts General Hospital. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
      Journal Reference:
      1. Bernhard J. Jank, Linjie Xiong, Philipp T. Moser, Jacques P. Guyette, Xi Ren, Curtis L. Cetrulo, David A. Leonard, Leopoldo Fernandez, Shawn P. Fagan, Harald C. Ott. Engineered composite tissue as a bioartificial limb graft. Biomaterials, 2015; 61: 246 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2015.04.051
      Cite This Page:
      Massachusetts General Hospital. "Transplantable bioengineered forelimb developed in an animal model." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 June 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150602153501.htm>.
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    SELFIES=obsession? Narcissism(selfishness)? low self esteem(inferiority complex)? or?


    The obsession called selfies

    Shilpa Ambardar,TNN | Jun 3, 2015, 03.26 AM IST

    CHANDIGARH: From sticks to cliffs and moving trains to standstill monuments, the youth has conquered it all to click that ultimate photograph which we know by the name of 'selfie'.

    Going by the dictionary, a 'selfie' is any photograph taken by the person of himself/herself, especially for sharing on social networking sites. Not even in his wildest dreams would have Robert Cornelius, the man to be credited for the first ever 'selfie' to be taken in the history of photographs, thought about the celebrity status that the word will get after almost 176 years of his death.

    It was in November 2013, that the word was crowned with the "word of the year" title by the Oxford English dictionary.

    It is not just the common man but our celebs also are also in the race when it comes to taking selfies. This new concept has also entered political circles with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding the baton of getting clicked numerous times for selfies totally in sharp contrast to our former prime minister.

    The selfie fever have proven quite fatal for technologically handicapped, risk-it-all, low on logics youth who have paid heavy price even sometimes with their life to satisfy the longing for the perfect selfie.

    Fatal addiction?

    'A new selfie every hour'

    A 24 year old final-year student in Panjab University's Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences says, "I still can't forget the time when I had bought my new mobile phone. The selfie fever gripped me so bad that not even a single hour passed by when I didn't click a selfie no matter where I was or what I was doing. It had become an addiction till I was scolded by friends and decided to put a brake on it."

    'Friends avoided me'

    Another 24-year-old student from school of communication studies at PU says, "I used to get pictures clicked every other day, because I didn't have a good camera so I used to pester my friends to give me their cellphones or get clicked in selfie style. Very soon, because of my habit my friends started ignoring me and I felt really bad as well as helpless about it as I honestly find nothing bad about selfies."

    'Saved by a hair's breadth'

    A 25-year old IT professional, a resident of Sector 34, agrees that seflies could be potential fatal. "I got saved by a hair's breadth when I tried to take a selfie on the Kalka road. The weather was lovely and I was on a long drive. I didn't think I needed to pull over. I almost hit a pole but got hold of myself in time. Never again," he adds.

    Narcissism or low self esteem?

    Experts have linked the addiction to selfies with the youth's obsession with looks. Besides, people taking selfies while driving can lead to accidents and serious injuries. Teens report that seeing their own selfies increases self-esteem, while the obsession could be a possible disorder and one might need to consult an expert.
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