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 At
EyeCare Associates, we never stop learning or exploring new advances
in eye care technology to better serve our many patients. The precision
and refinement of today’s cataract, Lasik and glaucoma technology,
enables us to maximize results in treating your unique eye problem.
We feel that understanding and utilizing the latest technology is
an essential investment in total eye care.
As East Texas’ regional vision center, we work hard each
day to achieve the highest standards in patient care combined with
unmatched advancements in vision technology. And that’s an
approach that our thousands of patients really appreciate.
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 The
spotlight for this newsletter is on Dr. Ron Pinkenburg. “Dr.
Pink,” as he is fondly known around here, is accustomed to
the spotlight with a curriculum vitae filled with honors including
serving as the President of the Texas Ophthalmological Association
and President of the Smith County Medical Society. He graduated
from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in chemistry and
then from Baylor College of Medicine. After an internship at University
of Iowa, he spent almost three years in the USAF as chief of a 25
bed dispensary (hospital) at Norton AFB and then some time in general
practice at Kaiser Permanente. After completing his residency training
at the University of Oklahoma and the Dean Magee Eye Institute,
he spent a year divided between Harvard and John Hopkins. He and
his family then moved to Tyler in 1974 to enter private practice
with Dr. Fred Haberle at Tyler Eye Associates. In 1997, he became
a founding member of EyeCare Associates of East Texas.
In addition to the usual medical society memberships,
he is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgery, of the American
Academy of Ophthalmology and of the Royal Society of Medicine (England).
He has been board certified since 1976, and listed in America’s
Best Doctors since its beginning.
During this time, he also served over 13 years as
Chairman of the Texas Medical Association Insurance Trust Board
and another 6 years on the TMA Foundation Board. Dr. Pinkenburg
and his bride of 37 years, Pat, are happily blessed with four children:
Lisa is a clinical psychologist, Anne Marie is a speech-language
therapist in England, Steven works for a law firm and Renee is a
therapist with Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Pinkenburg is a native Texan and has a life-long
love of nature and landscape photography. He has had photos nationally
published, won several awards, and is recognized as a Nikon Professional
Service Photographer. He also is a history buff and an avid reader,
and enjoys hiking and backpack camping.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that can cause progressive
loss of vision and blindness. In glaucoma, the optic nerve connecting
the eye to the brain is slowly damaged. In most (but not all) cases,
this damage is caused or accelerated by high pressure inside the
eye. This elevated eye pressure usually does not cause pain or discomfort.
The nickname for glaucoma is the “thief of sight” because
a person often becomes aware of the disease only in the terminal
stages of the disease when blindness is imminent.
In the United States, an estimated 2 million people
have glaucoma, and half of those people are unaware that they have
the disease and are not being treated. Furthermore, another 7-8
million Americans are at high risk for developing the condition
and most are not being monitored. People over the age of 60, those
with a family history of glaucoma, and African-Americans have a
particularly high risk of developing glaucoma. If you have glaucoma
and have three living relatives, there is a about 30% chance that
one of them has glaucoma and does not know it. If you are
African-American, the rate is 50%. Glaucoma is the most common cause
of blindness, and about 4% of people with untreated glaucoma go
blind each year.
Glaucoma is a diagnostic challenge even for a skilled
ophthalmologist. Diagnosis is particularly difficult in early or
atypical cases. For example, the diagnosis of glaucoma cannot be
made simply by measuring the eye pressure because each person has
a different threshold for what is considered “high”
or “normal” eye pressure. In other words, two different
people may have the exact same eye pressure but one person may experience
damage to the optic nerve and vision loss while the other person’s
eye tolerates the pressure without any problem. Fortunately, ophthalmologists
have sophisticated technological devices that can help make the
diagnosis.
Although the damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma
is irreversible, lowering the pressure inside the eye can usually
save vision. The eye pressure can be lowered with medicine, laser,
or surgery. Incisional surgery for glaucoma is usually reserved
for advanced glaucoma or when medications cannot control the eye
pressure. Medicine for glaucoma is usually administered via topical
eye drops. Eye drops have few major complications, but irritation
and redness are common and may even require discontinuation. Also,
eye drops do not cure glaucoma or reverse vision loss; the drops
preserve existing vision and must be used indefinitely.
Laser treatment is a good option for many people with
early glaucoma. Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) is an advanced
laser treatment that lowers the eye pressure about 70-80% of the
time. The procedure takes less than 10 minutes per eye, is performed
using topical drops to numb the eye, and does not normally cause
discomfort. The efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of SLT
are equal to or exceed any single class of medication.
These new high-tech treatment and diagnostic capabilities
have really made a difference in glaucoma management. While glaucoma
cannot be cured, early detection and precise imaging technology
allow ophthalmologists to better monitor, refine, and tailor treatment
to each patient. The ultimate goal of glaucoma treatment is to protect
the patient’s eyesight while minimizing inconvenience, cost,
and side effects of the treatment.
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At ECAET, we are constantly striving to bring the
latest in knowledge and technology to our patients. For those of
you who suffer from age related macular degeneration (AMD) and also
have cataracts, a new lens designed by Alcon laboratories, has become
available to you should your cataracts need to be removed. You will
remember that when your cataractous lens is removed at surgery,
an Intraocular lens (IOL) must be implanted to replace the optical
power the eye needs to see without having to have thick glasses
post-operatively. These lenses have been made from polymethylmethacrylate,
silicone, or acrylic. For several years now, we have implanted primarily
acrylic lenses because of several unique qualities of this material,
one of which is its ability to filter ultraviolet light.
We know from studies of the retina that UV light can
be damaging to the retina by causing oxidative radicals to form.
These toxic substances damage the retina and are thought to be one
of the factors causing AMD. It is also known that wavelengths of
light in the far blue part of the light spectrum, which is not quite
in the ultraviolet, can also cause oxidative damage. So, Alcon has
created has created an acrylic lens with a special chromophore in
the lens, which will absorb these special wavelengths. Because the
lens reproduces the characteristics of the normal human lens, Alcon
has named the new Intraocular lens “The Natural Lens.”
We think that any form of protection from oxidative
damage from the blue and ultraviolet end of the light spectrum is
important, especially for those of you with AMD. Ask your doctor
if the Natural Lens is right for you.
Click here for tournament information!
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