Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 13 I n a world in which heart dis- ease and high cholesterol seem to go hand-in-hand, it's inter- esting to find that cholesterol intake could benefit another organ: the eye. Add cholesterol to the treatment of pneumococcal ker- atitis along with moxifloxacin and the clinical severity of infection is lowered substantially, according to a report published in the December 2010 issue of Current Eye Research. "This combination therapy ap- pears to provide a double benefit in that the antibiotic effectively kills the bacteria, and the cholesterol in- hibits the toxic effects of pneu- molysin, which include host cell lysis and/or activation of comple- ment that induces a deleterious and damaging host immune response in the eye," according to study co-au- thor Mary E. Marquart, Ph.D., de- partment of microbiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson. "Treatment with this mixture could lessen the sever- ity of visual outcome caused by pneumococcal infection in hu- mans." Beneficial cholesterol Rabbit eyes were infected with a clinical keratitis strain of Streptococ- cus pneumoniae. Treatment groups (of 16 eyes each) consisted of: 1. Sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS) mixed with PBS contain- ing 20% glycerol. 2. PBS mixed with 1% soluble cholesterol in PBS with 20% glyc- erol. 3. Moxifloxacin mixed with PBS containing 20% glycerol. 4. Moxifloxacin mixed with 1% soluble cholesterol in PBS contain- ing 20% glycerol. Twenty-five hours after infec- tion, two drops were placed in each eye every 2 hours. Twelve doses were administered. January 2011 by Matt Young EyeWorld Contributing Editor Study finds cholesterol beneficial in treating eye infection continued on page 14 Kentucky continued from page 3 tive process. Members of the General Assembly received more than $400,000 in campaign contributions from optometrists and their political action committee, according to a story published in The Courier- Journal of Louisville. Money was do- nated to the campaigns of 137 of the 138 members of the state legislature, as well as to the governor's re-elec- tion campaign. The Legislative Ethics Commis- sion said the Kentucky Optometric Association had increased its lobby- ing force at the capitol from four to 18 lobbyists this session. Thirteen of those lobbyists started working on Feb. 1, the Commission said. "We were told by the legislature that this bill had a lot of support, but there has not been one con- sumer, patient, or advocacy group saying it is a good idea," Dr. Van Meter said. "My fear is that this bill is going to make Kentucky look bad on the national scene. I am embar- rassed." Ben Mackey, M.D., Corbin, Ky., is one of the state's many ophthal- mologists who spoke out against the legislation. "My basic problem with the bill is that it lowers the standard of healthcare in general," Dr. Mackey said. "I don't think optometrists are qualified, and I don't think they meet the standard that should be there to perform this sort of proce- dure, which should be performed by a licensed physician." Dr. Mackey, whose father and brother are optometrists and did not campaign for the bill, pointed out that ophthalmologists spend thou- sands of hours training to do surgi- cal procedures and have to go through a residency program. Gov. Beshear said that more training for optometrists would be a priority. "In order to ensure the highest degree of oversight, I will be meeting with the Board of Optomet- ric Examiners to make sure that providers of these services undergo extensive training," he said. Dr. Van Meter said the Kentucky law is the same as the 1998 bill in Oklahoma that allowed optometrists there to perform surgical procedures. Since then, similar legislation has been presented and rejected in 25 other states. "The American Medical Associa- tion (AMA), the American College of Surgeons (ACS), and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) have all issued policy statements ad- vising that surgery should be per- formed by surgeons," Dr. Van Meter said, adding he disagrees with the ar- gument that allowing the privileges will give Kentuckians better access to surgical care. "There is no backlog of eye sur- gery in Kentucky," he said. "We have statistics that show 95% of Kentuck- ians live within an hour of an oph- thalmologist. There are more than enough ophthalmologists to do all the surgery that needs to be done." Dr. Van Meter said he is worried that since Kentucky has adopted the same law as Oklahoma, other states will be pressured to follow suit. EW Contact information Van Meter: wsvanmeter@aol.com

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