u/MayoRetina

I went to this film on Sunday. To be fair, I walked out because it was so bad. It's the first time that I had walked out on a film since COVID. That time it was because, to comply with local regulations, the theater had all the doors open and the theater was full of mosquitos. This time it wasn't the theater, which was great. It was the movie. They clearly had a substantial budget but the film didn't live up to its potential. I had hoped to see more of Jason Momoa, who featured heavily in the trailers, but he was barely in the film. Milly Alcocks acting was fine but the story was weak and predictable. There were way too many scenes that simply focused on her excessive drinking. It also had a Star Wars feel, and not the good one. It was more like Jar Jar Binks was hiding around every corner. What could have made it a real gem would have been a more straight line story with a focus on her home world and adjusting to life in metropolis. More than anything, the film was a lost opportunity for the DC universe.

Today marks our 533rd day of providing the groundbreaking, FDA-authorized Alcon Valeda photobiomodulation (PBM) treatment to improve vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Because I perform every treatment myself, I spend a considerable amount of time with each patient. Treatment time is 4 minutes and 10 seconds per eye. While some patients receive unilateral treatment, bilateral treatment is much more common. Each cycle consists of nine treatments and totals one hour and 15 minutes. Four months after a patient begins a cycle, the cycle is repeated. This amounts to three hours and 45 minutes of treatment time during the first three cycles. That figure does not include the initial and follow-up consultations I conduct with each patient—first to determine whether they are good PBM candidates and later to review their progress. During treatment, many patients prefer to remain relatively quiet while listening to their preferred music on the Apple HomePod in one of the Valeda treatment rooms. Retina specialists tend to have excellent memories, and I know all of my patients’ musical preferences. One loves the blues, another prefers the sounds of birds in the forest, and another requests music from the 1960s. Classical music is by far the most popular choice among Valeda patients. Most patients prefer to converse, and because the majority experience vision improvement with treatment, the conversation often focuses on what that improvement means for them and the difference it has made in their lives. A Marine Corps combat veteran of the Vietnam War recently shared, “I haven’t seen this well in years. I love reading, and it’s so much easier for me now.” A centenarian pianist, still taking lessons, remarked that she can once again read the tiny notes on her sheet music. A psychiatrist still practicing in his seventies told me simply, “I have hope for the future again.” And many patients have said, “I was able to pass my driver’s license exam. I am so thankful for the Valeda treatment.”
While not every patient experiences improvement, the majority do. On average, vision improves by one line on the eye chart, with many patients gaining several lines. Emerging data also indicate that the therapy can slow disease progression. Over these 533 days, I have been privileged to witness the profound impact this therapy has had on our patients’ lives-—individuals ranging in age from 52 to 100. We are deeply grateful to Alcon for their vision and commitment in bringing this technology to so many people.

K.Alexander Dastgheib, MD, recently recently described his demonstration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in his publication in the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous.

https://preview.redd.it/0zbtzcpzncqg1.png?width=952&format=png&auto=webp&s=d7da6585b08ba2b9a061933c94e342339cddc422

It is a rare privilege to witness the precise instant of a monumental advancement in history, and yet it is vividly encapsulated herein. The exquisite photomicrograph featured in the piece—Figure 1—elegantly unveils the inaugural immunohistochemical localization of VEGF within nAMD (short arrows). This revelation profoundly recalibrates the chronicle of one of ophthalmology's most transformative breakthroughs, which unfolded in 1994—a full decade antecedent to the prevailing anti-VEGF paradigm. Innumerable patients afflicted with nAMD owe the preservation of their sight to this seminal discovery.https://rdcu.be/e9f2Z

K.Alexander Dastgheib, MD, recently described his demonstration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in his publication in the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous.

It is a rare privilege to witness the precise instant of a monumental advancement in history, and yet it is vividly encapsulated herein. The exquisite photomicrograph featured in the piece—Figure 1—elegantly unveils the inaugural immunohistochemical localization of VEGF within nAMD (short arrows). This revelation profoundly recalibrates the chronicle of one of ophthalmology's most transformative breakthroughs, which unfolded in 1994—a full decade antecedent to the prevailing anti-VEGF paradigm. Innumerable patients afflicted with nAMD owe the preservation of their sight to this seminal discovery.https://rdcu.be/e9f2Z

https://preview.redd.it/cwyniqxr9c3h1.jpg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46931bbf4dc1b3b341c87803a869b3425ffbfac0

This is a two year old Bonsai grown from a seed that I picked up under a large tree in Taipei. I am an absolute novice with Bonsai techniques. I did read two texts prior to trying. Any comments would be appreciated.