Re: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Eye Care Conference at Yale
- From: "otisbrown@xxxxxx" <otisbrown@xxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:33:35 -0700
For your information:
In fact papers have been submitted -- AND REJECTED -- concerning
the second-opinion, that a negative refractive STATE of
the fundamental eye can be prevented.
Dr. Maurice Brumer did exactly that, but since his
concept was HATED, his analysis was rejected.
Here is part of his review. I doubt that these people
have the GUTS to begin a discussion along these
lines.
Been there -- done that.
+++++++++
A COURAGEOUS EYE DOCTOR DOCUMENTS THE SECONDARY EFFECT OF USING A
NEGATIVE LENS
EYESTRAIN - ITS CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND TREATMENT
By Dr. Maurice Brumer, Frankston, 3199, Australia
.. . . A succession of practicing optometrists have followed Fournet [a
pioneer in the use of the plus lens] to this day, all convinced of
this major shortcoming [use of a negative lens] in eye care. They have
all been successfully ignored or treated as cranks and heretics, and
the issue has remained at this level for 90 years. The clarion cry of
the eye care professions has been "show us proof of the relationship
of eyestrain and eye disease". I will now demonstrate that no shortage
of this proof exists.
At the 1973 annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry, a
paper entitled, "Bifocal Control of Myopia", was presented by Francis
Young, Director of the Primate Research Center at Washington State
University, and Kenneth Oakley, an ophthalmologist from Bend, Oregon.
Their study found that the effects of properly fitted bifocals (eye
strain reducing glasses) on young myopes are to drop the rate of
progression of this condition from an average of about one half a
diopter per year to about on fortieth of a diopter per year. This
study involved control and experimental subjects who were matched for
age, sex, initial refractive error and duration of wearing bifocals so
that most of the possible causes of failure to achieve results with
bifocals were controlled.
THE BIFOCAL (PLUS LENS) STUDY
There was a significant number of subjects, 226 in the bifocal group
and 192 in the control group, to assure that the results were
consistent and effective over time. The effect of the bifocal was
uniformly to reduce the rate of progression even in children who had
already achieved as much as 4 or 5 diopters of myopia before they were
fitted with bifocals. In other words, the control group moved into
myopia at a rate 20 times faster than the bifocal (plus lens) group.
The implications of such results are obvious and sinister when it is
considered that myopia is the third largest cause of blindness in
western society.
SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS DEVELOP FROM USING A MINUS LENS
The visual disability in high myopia is usually considerable. I am
including this description of the condition as felt by its victims so
that you may put yourself in their situation:
Apart from the visual incapacity, the high myope is not usually
comfortable in the use of his eyes. When corrected, the small, sharply
defined and bright images are annoying; much use of the eyes brings
about a feeling of strain and fatigue. The degenerated and liquefied
vitreous gives rise to a multitude of "muscae volitantes" and floating
opacities, and these, throwing abnormally large images upon the retina
owing to its backward displacement, cause a great deal of distress and
anxiety to the patient although their actual significance is small.
Most of these patients are naturally anxious. Their disability is
obvious and may have excited sympathy. The memory of admonitions to
care for the eyes lingers into adult life. Thus matters tend to
progress slowly and relentlessly, the patient all the while never
using his eyes with comfort or without anxiety until finally no useful
vision may remain or until the occurrence of a sudden calamity such as
a gross macular lesion, a hemorrhage of a retinal detachment brings
about a more dramatic crisis. (I thank Sir Stewart Duke-Elder for this
description).
The complications of myopia are numerous and grave, frequently
resulting in blindness. The degenerative changes appear typically in
adult life after the myopia has been fully established for some
years.
The complications are:
Choroidal thrombosis and hemorrhage.
Vitreous opacity, always present in some degree in high myopia, this
condition may suddenly increase to become a serious complication.
Retinal detachment is the most dreaded and one of the most common
complications of myopia, occurring with considerable frequency in all
degrees of the defect but showing a progressively greater tendency,
the higher the myopia.
Simple glaucoma is a further complication of high myopia, occurring
in the higher degrees after mid-life.
THESE PROBLEMS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED
Few of these people faced with the prospect of blindness in old age
realize that their problems actually began in childhood when they were
fitted with their first pair of corrective [negative] lenses by
someone who was probably unconcerned about the tragic, long-term
results of that action. Few of these people realize how their
situation became more precarious each time their glasses were
strengthened and nothing was said about prevention. Now, when it is
too late for prevention, they find themselves in the hands of surgeons
who are making their living from someone else's mistakes by trying to
patch up steadily deteriorating retinas. The patient has become a
lifelong victim of ignorance and exploitation.
THE EYE CHANGES FROM A POSITIVE STATE TO A NEGATIVE STATE AS A RESULT
OF CLOSE WORK
The cause of myopia is further clearly indicated in a study of 1200
Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska, published in the American Journal of
Optometry in September, 1969, which showed that in one generation of
the Eskimo population had moved from no myopia to approximately 65%
myopia among the offspring, and that neither the grandparents nor
parents over 40 had any myopia.
Thus the first generation between grandparents and parents was similar
in that myopia was nonexistent, but in the second generation between
the parents and their children, suddenly myopia occurs in a
surprisingly high number of children. As a matter of fact, of 53
offspring who were in their early 20's, 88% had myopia. Such a sudden
and great degree of change cannot readily be accounted for on the
basis of heredity, especially when there has been no identifiable
force which could have brought about this obviously considerable
mutation in the genetic composition of the offspring.
The obvious difference between the parents and the children is the
amount of near work which is currently being done by the children.
About the time of the second World War, the white man intruded into
their lives, requiring the development of education among a population
which was uneducated and illiterate. The Eskimo has become an avid
reader because of his environment. While he spends a great deal of
time out-of-doors in the warmer, daylight summer months, he spends
relatively little time out- of-doors in the cold, dark winter months.
A MASSIVE BODY OF EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THE EYE CHANGES ITS FOCAL STATE
TO MATCH ITS VISUAL ENVIRONMENT
In presenting these studies, I would emphasize that these represent
only a small (even if spectacular) part of the evidence available
today which demonstrates the blindness and suffering caused by present-
day eye care. While continuing to ignore a massive body of evidence,
the eye care professions continue to ask to be shown proof that myopia
results from excessive close work and that the prescription of
corrective lenses causes the myopia to increase more rapidly that it
otherwise should. It is assumed from the start that the burden of
proof is on us and that we are expected to raise money and conduct
endless studies that will somehow convince everyone that we are right.
In many cases, this is like trying to convince a tobacco company
executive that smoking causes lung cancer. No amount of testing will
convince those people who prefer to believe what pleases them most or
what is more lucrative to them. . . .
[Dr. Brumer reviewed an exchange of letters with a Dr. Lender (a
university optometrist) concerning disagreement about the fundamental
behavior characteristic of the eye under experimental test
conditions.]
.. . . These letters represent a desperate attempt to cover up a tragic
and horrible situation. They mislead the public and, significantly,
the parliament of my country. They have been unsuccessful in their
purpose, however, and the question now lies on notice in the
parliament in Canberra to the Minister of Health for Dr. Klugman
(opposition spokesman for health) asking him to appoint an inquiry
into the matters I have raised.
THE EYE PROFESSION RESISTS CHANGE -- TO YOUR DETRIMENT
The eye care professions have resisted change irrationally and
fearfully, unwilling to admit that what has gone on before [the use of
a negative lens] has been wrong and harmful, and by doing so they have
unleashed on the public they serve a cataract of horror. This
continued situation is a tragedy for the public and a disgrace for
optometry. While it is understandable that optometrists will not find
it easy to admit that what they have been doing is wrong and harmful,
especially for those academic university optometrists responsible for
the education of our graduates, to preserve the current horrors to
protect our professional prestige and privilege is an abdication of
our responsibilities, ethics and morality. I can make no apology for
causing embarrassment to my professional colleagues. The interests of
the public are paramount and must be served. The purpose of this paper
is to direct the future to end the disgrace of the past.
REMARKS ON DR. MAURICE BRUMER'S PAPER
Dr. Brumer had previously been denied permission to present his paper
at the August, 1977 Australian and New Zealand Association for the
Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) Congress because it was too critical
of the prevailing method of eye care. The above paper is of interest
because of Dr. Maurice Brumer's scientific and ethical commitment to:
Coming to grips with nearsightedness. (i.e., The fundamental behavior
characteristic of the eye.)
The reaction of other members of his profession. (Extremely critical
-- without clear scientific justification.)
The reaction of the public to Dr. Brumer's effort to come to grips
with the situation. (Nonexistent -- because the public was not clearly
informed.)
The fact that this understanding (that the plus lens works) existed
in 1977, and since then, nothing further has been done to provide
pilots with the high quality information they need so that they can
take the steps that are necessary to preserve their distant vision
for life.
++++++++
On Jul 4, 3:09 pm, Jennifer Staple <Jennifer.Sta...@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Please Forward Widely
Unite For Sight Fifth Annual International Health & Eye Care
Conference
Building Global Health For Today and Tomorrow
April 12-13, 2008
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticuthttp://www.uniteforsight.org/conference/2008
Join 2,000 conference attendees and 130 speakers for a stimulating
conference.
Keynote Addresses By: Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Dr. Sonia Sachs, Dr. Susan
Blumenthal, and Dr. Jim Yong Kim
Plus More Than 130 Featured Speakers
Call For Abstracts - DEADLINE JULY 15, 2007 -http://uniteforsight.org/conference/2008/abstracts.php
Register For Conference - EARLY BIRD RATE ($45 Students, $70 All
Others) http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference/2008REGISTER BY JULY
15th TO SECURE LOWEST RATE
Who should attend? Anyone interested in eye care, international
health, public health, international development, medicine, social
entrepreneurship, nonprofits, philanthropy, microfinance, bioethics,
anthropology, health policy, advocacy, and public service.
*Keynote Addresses*
* Susan Blumenthal, MD, MPA, Former U.S. Assistant Surgeon
General; Senior Advisor For Health and Medicine; Former Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Women's Health, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown School
of Medicine and Tufts University Medical Center
* Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD, Co-Founder, Partners in Health; Director,
François Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights; François
Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of
Public Health; Chair, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical
School; Chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health
Inequalities, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Former HIV/AIDS Director
at World Health Organization
* Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Director of Earth Institute at Columbia
University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor
of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor
to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
* Sonia Sachs, MD, MPH, Health Coordinator, Millennium Villages
*130 Featured Speakers (Listed Below Are The Speakers Confirmed Thus
Far)*
* Ted M. Alemayhu, Founder, Chairman and CEO, US Doctors For
Africa
* Greg Allgood, PhD, Director, Children's Safe Drinking Water,
Procter & Gamble
* R. Rand Allingham, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology; Director,
Glaucoma Service, Duke University Eye Center
* Jared Ament, MD, MPh, Clinical Research Fellow, Ophthalmolology
& Corneal Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard
Medical School; Harvard School of Public Health
* Jane Aronson, MD, Director, International Pediatric Health
Services; Founder and Executive Medical Director, Worldwide Orphans
Foundation (WWO); Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Weill
Medical College of Cornell University
* Thomas Baah, MD, MSc, Ophthalmologist, Our Lady of Grace
Hospital, Ghana
* Michele Barry, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Global Health
Director, Office of International Health; Chief, General Medicine
Firm, Yale University School of Medicine
* Georges Benjamin, MD, Executive Director, American Public Health
Association
* Paul Berman, OD, FAAO, Senior Global Clinical Advisor and
Founder, Special Olympics Lions Clubs, International Opening Eyes
* Terry Blaschke, MD, Professor of Medicine and of Molecular
Pharmacology (Active Emeritus), Stanford University School of Medicine
* Neil Boothby, EdD, Professor of Clinical Population and Family
Health; Director, Program on Forced Migration and Health, Mailman
School of Public Health
* Harry S. Brown, MD, Founder, Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE)
International
* Donald Budenz, MD, MPH, Professor of Ophthalmology,
Epidemiology, and Public Health, University of Miami Miller School of
Medicine
* Michael Cappello, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology
and Public Health; Director, Program in International Child Health; Co-
Director, International Adoption Clinic, Yale University School of
Medicine
* Emily Moore and Mark Carlson, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Sociology,
San Diego State University
* James Clarke, MD, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director, Crystal
Eye Clinic, Ghana
* Susan Day, MD, Chair and Program Director, Pediatric
Ophthalmology and Strabismus, California Pacific Medical Center
* Syril Dorairaj, MD, Clinical Research Fellow, Glaucoma
Associates of New York, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
* Margaret Duah-Mensah, Ophthalmic Nurse, Crystal Eye Clinic,
Ghana
* Andy Ellner, MD, Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative
* Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, Kaiser Media Fellow in Global Health;
Visiting Scientist, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and
Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; Senior Fellow, Harvard
Humanitarian Initiative
* Susan Hall Forster, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department
of Medical Studies, Department of Ophthalmology, Yale School of
Medicine; Chief, Ophthalmology, Yale University Health Services
* David Friedman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
and International Health, Johns Hopkins University
* Urick Gaillard, JD, Founder and Executive Director, The Batey
Relief Alliance
* Gabriel Garcia, MD, Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean of
Medical School Admissions, Stanford University School of Medicine
* Nora Groce, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Yale/WHO
Collaborating Centre, Global Health Division, Yale School of Public
Health
* Michael Gyasi, MD, Ophthalmologist and Director of the Bawku Eye
Care Program, Ghana
* Heskel M. Haddad, MD, Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, New
York Medical College
* Leon Herndon, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Duke
University Eye Center
* Ibrahim Jabr, Interim President, International Trachoma
Initiative
* Rosemary Janiszewski, MS, CHES, Deputy Director, Office of
Communication, Health Education and Public Liaison; Director, National
Eye Health Eucation Program, National Eye Institute (NEI), National
Institutes of Health
* Evaleen Jones, MD, Founder, President and Medical Director,
Child Family Health International; Clinical Assistant Professor,
Stanford University School of Medicine
* Dean Karlan, PhD, President and Founder of Innovations for
Poverty Action; Assistant Professor of Economics, Yale University
* Zachary Kaufman, MPhil in International Relations; DPhil
Candidate in International Relations, University of Oxford; JD
Candidate, Yale University Law School
* Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, Assistant Professor in Public Health
Practice, Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School
of Public Health
* Doug Lawrence, Vice President/General Manager, BD Medical -
Ophthalmic Systems
* Fiona Macaulay, President, Making Cents International
* Carolyn Makinson, PhD, Executive Director, Women's Commission
for Refugee Women and Children
* Tshepo Mbalambi, BSc, Med Sci, MBcHB Candidate, University of
Ghana School of Medicine
* John McGoldrick, Senior Vice President, International AIDS
Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)
* Christine Melton, MD, MS, Friends of Aravind Association
* Mini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of
Behavioral Science and Community Health, Program Director Global
Health, New York Medical College School of Public Health
* Neal Nathanson, MD, Associate Dean, Global Health Programs,
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
* Thomas Novotny, MD, MPH, Director of International Programs;
Professor in Residence, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF School of
Medicine
* Edward O'Neil Jr, MD, Founder, Omni Med; Author, Awakening
Hippocrates: Primer on Health, Poverty, and Global Service, and A
Practical Guide to Global Health Service
* Cliff OCallahan, MD, PhD, Pediatric Faculty, Middlesex Hospital
Family Practice Program; Chair, AAP Section on International Child
Health
* Adeyemi Oshodi, PATH
* Elijah Paintsil, MD, Associate Research Scientist, Department of
Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine
* Matthew Paul, MD, Danbury Eye Physicians and Surgeons
* Steven C. Phillips, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Global Issues and
Projects, Exxon Mobil Corporation
* Louis Pizzarello, MD, MPH, Secretary General, International
Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
* Thomas Quinn, MD, Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Global
Health
* Nathan Radcliffe, MD, Glaucoma Service at New York Eye & Ear
Infirmary
* Ian Rawson, MD, CEO/Directeur General, Hopital Albert Schweitzer
Haiti
* William Reese, President and CEO, International Youth Foundation
* Ilya Rozenbuam, MD, GANY Glaucoma Fellow, New York Eye and Ear
Institute
* Leonard Rubenstein, Executive Director, Physicians for Human
Rights
* Jennifer Ruger, PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Division of
Global Health, Yale School of Public Health; Co-Director of the Yale/
World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Health
Promotion, Policy and Research; Interdisciplinary Research Methods
Core Investigator, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS
* Lisa Russell, MPH, Filmmaker
* Sarwat Salim, MD, Ophthalmologist
* Sarang Samal, Kalinga Eye Hospital, Orissa, India
* Georgia Sambunaris, MA
* Werner Schultink, MD, Chief Child Development and Nutrition,
UNICEF
* Chirag Shah, MD, Chief Resident, Wills Eye Hospital
* Bruce Shields, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Chairman
Emeritus, Department of Ophthalmology, Yale University School of
Medicine
* Satyajit Sinha, MBBS, Ophthalmologist, AB Eye Institute, Patna,
India
* D. Scott Smith, MD, MSc, DTM&H, Chief of Infectious Disease and
Geographic Medicine, Kaiser Redwood City Hospital
* Eliot Sorel, MD, D.L.F.A.P.A. Global Health, Health Services
Management, and Leadership, The George Washington University School of
Public Health; Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences School of Medicine,
GWU; Chairman, Founder, Conflict Management Section WPA
* Kari Stoever, Senior Program Officer, Neglected Tropical
Diseases, Sabin Vaccine Institute
* Glenn Strauss, MD, Vice President of International Health Care
and Programs, Mercy Ships, Int'l
* Robert Farris Thompson, PhD, Col. John Trumbull Professor of the
History of Art, Yale University
* Jamie Lachman and Tim Cunningham, Clowns Without Borders
* James C. Tsai, MD, Chair, Department of Ophthalmologist, Yale
University School of Medicine
* Satya Verma, OD, FAAO, Director, Community Eye Care,
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
* Seth Wanye, MD, Ophthalmologist, Eye Clinic of Tamale Teaching
Hospital, Ghana
* Gavin Yamey, MD, MRCP, Senior Editor, PLoS Medicine; Consulting
Editor, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
.
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