Greetings, Dr. Roach As a 67-year-old man, my vision is normally good. Over the years, I have experienced a few floaters in my eyes, but they have usually been minor and haven’t had a big impact on my vision. But around six months ago, a big floater that is quite distracting and directly in the middle of my field of vision appeared in one of my eyes, affecting my eyesight.
Soon later, I saw my optometrist, who informed me that my eye was in good condition. She claimed that I wouldn’t notice the floater as much since my brain would become used to it. Six months later, though, I still find it to be really annoying. In order to see clearly, I often have to shift my eye to try to get it out of my center of vision. Can distracting floaters be eliminated with any kind of treatment? — D.H.
ANSWER: Floaters are fragments of cellular debris found in the gel-filled vitreous humor, which is the area between the retina and the lens. When you saw a sudden shift, it was a good idea to get evaluated because the abrupt presence of floaters can indicate significant eye problems, such as a detached retina.
You will have floaters for the rest of your life unless you take action because the eye is unable to eliminate them. Most individuals aren’t affected by them, as your optometrist stated, but throughout the years, a number of my readers have had surgical vitrectomy because they were so bothered by floaters. All of the gel material in the vitreous cavity, including all or almost all of the vitreous opacities that result in floaters, is removed in this process. In skilled hands, the procedure’s documented complication rate is less than 1%.
Although I haven’t done it myself, I’ve read about using a laser to cut big floaters into smaller, maybe easier-to-ignore pieces. The literature is also diverse.
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Greetings, Dr. Roach Decades ago, I received a sleep apnea diagnosis. Even though I wasn’t fat, I decided to change my diet because I was a bit overweight at the time. I dropped 10 to 20 pounds, and now, at 6 feet 1 inch, I weigh less than 250 pounds. I got cured of my sleep apnea! I never snored again after keeping the weight off.
Although you point out the link between being overweight and sleep apnea, I didn’t notice any mention of losing weight as a treatment. Was I fortunate, or is it truly this simple? — D.K.
ANSWER: For many people, losing weight helps improve sleep apnea. However, most people find it extremely difficult to lose weight and maintain it off over the long term. Tirzepatide (Zepbound), a GLP-1 medication, was recently licensed to treat obstructive sleep apnea in obese individuals when used in conjunction with a nutritious diet and regular exercise. As long as the patient continues to take the medication, GLP-1 agonists are quite effective at helping patients lose weight and keep it off.
It is important to remember that obesity is not a prerequisite for obstructive sleep apnea. Despite having a normal weight, some people just have the architecture in the back of their throats that increases the risk of sleep apnea. In these situations, losing weight might not be helpful at all.
Although he regrets not being able to respond to each letter individually, Dr. Roach will try to include them in the column. Questions can be sent by mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803 or by email to [email protected].
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