Name: Courteney Cox Arquette
Nickname: CeCe
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 5' 5"
Date of Birth: 15 June 1964
Location: Birmingham-Alabama-USA
Education: Mountain Brooks High School, then Mount Vernon College (Washington)
Spouse: David Arquette (12 June 1999 - present)
Status: Married-> David Arquette on
12 June 1999 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
Hobby: Drums

"When I was pregnant, there were times when I felt like my vision was blurry. I strained to read the words on signs and see images in the distance. I searched my memory for my most recent eye check-up. It didn’t seem to be that long ago. Whether I was wearing glasses or contacts, I would occasionally find myself squinting.

It's hard to believe that laser eye surgery has only been around for about 23 years, with the most popular form, LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis), only now coming up to its 20th anniversary.

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, you've probably considered laser eye surgery at one stage or another -- it tends to be that type of procedure that people think about over a long period, weighing up the pros and cons and the financial outlay.

Many thousands of Irish people have already undergone the procedure, but what exactly is holding others back and how has technology changed since the early days?

Tony Veverka is CEO of Ultralase, which is one of the largest laser eye surgery companies in Ireland and the UK. He says that the introduction of LASIK in the early 1990s revolutionised the laser eye surgery market.

Swanson Health Products introduces the next generation of eye health supplements derived from black currants grown in New Zealand: Swanson Superior Herbs Black Currant Extract.

People who smoke are putting their eye health at risk in the long term, according to one expert.

Vision specialist Darla Carter said that people who smoke are not only placing their overall health at risk, but also increasing the likelihood that they will develop conditions which make their eyesight deteriorate, such as cataracts or age-related macular degeneration.

Bright, sunshiny days are here, but overexposure to the sun can wreak havoc on your eyes. Sun damage can cause damaging conditions such as photokeratitis (sunburn to the cornea), pterygium (tissue growth on the whites of eyes that can block vision), and skin cancer on the eyelids. Too much sunshine has also been implicated in the development of cataracts and possibly macular degeneration.

Nutrients found in vegetables, such as vitamin, phytochemicals, carotenoids and minerals, can help shoppers focus on eye health more clearly. An article in the Hindustan Times said the more colorful the vegetable, the more health benefits it provides.

Good eyesight can mean the difference between life and death for U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. A program called Sight for Soldiers is helping military men and women perform tasks without the burden of contact lenses or glasses. The soldiers receive laser eye surgery to correct their vision at a 25% discount under the program. Twenty-two-year-old Sergeant Adam Winge of Fort Dodge says dealing with eye ware issues while training is difficult.

It used to be the case that there were a few conditions where a person might require eye surgery, but most eye problems were rectified with the right spectacles or contact lenses. Nowadays it is possible to do away with glasses and contacts because laser surgery can right the kind of eye problems that were previously corrected by wearing the prescribed glasses. People who suffered from a bad squint, where the eye kept going into a corner, were sometimes prescribed surgery to correct the problem. Other eye problems that require eye surgery are often connected with ageing, cataracts being the most obvious example.

Cyclists are being targeted with an eye health campaign from Transitions, Vision Express and the national cyclists’ organisation, CTC.

The trio have launched the Eye Cycle Safe campaign to encourage cyclists to take more care of their vision and understand some of the risk factors to the eye while cycling.

The campaign was launched last week (June 2) in Hyde Park where vision screening was offered to cyclists, along with details of research conducted among 1,500 CTC members.

This showed that one in four cyclists had either never had an eye exam or hadn’t had one in the last two years and that 42 per cent wore no eye protection or protection that didn’t offer UV blocking.

General manager of Transitions Optical EMEA Lindsay Brown said: ‘It is especially important for cyclists to protect their eyes from UV rays, given how much time they spend outdoors. Long-term exposure to the sun’s UV rays can result in a range of eye health problems including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.’

John Storms, business development manager at CTC, said he welcomed any move that improved the health and safety of its 70,000 members. They will be offered half-price eye examinations and 10 per cent off Transitions lenses at Vision Express. He suggested many cyclists wore sunglasses as protection in the summer but not when light conditions were poor. ‘Transitions lenses are perfect for cyclists because you don’t have to change glasses around.’

Mark Harris, senior optician at Vision Express, said some of the cyclists taking advantage of the screening in Hyde Park were concerned about their vision and took the opportunity to be screened. He said the project would raise awareness of eye health and help drive cyclists to have an eye exam. One cyclist who dropped in to be screened had been concerned about his vision and was delighted to be told he was simply becoming presbyopic.

Harris suggested some cyclists treated eyewear as a fashion accessory and didn’t consider proper correction, UV damage and protection from insects and debris.

The screening roadshow will be staged in towns and cities around the country over the coming weeks and promoted by the CTC to its members. Cyclists can take advantage of the Vision Express offers by visiting www.eyecyclesafe.com.

Source: opticianonline