Joliet Vision Care Center

12/09/2023

Accept most eye health/vision plans.
Hard to Fit Contact Lenses.
Frame & lens pkgs, $15 & up.
Treat eye infections, glaucoma, and other eye diseases.
Monitor diabetic eye health, and prescribed ocular toxic medicines.
Covid-19 careful.
Exam by appntmnt.

07/01/2022

https://www.aoa.org/news/clinical-eye-care/public-health/july-4-can-spark-eye-safety-conversation-with-public?sso=y

According to a June 2021 report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 18 fireworks-related deaths were reported in 2020. Fireworks were involved in an estimated 15,600 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, including 10,300 alone that occurred during the one-month period arou...

04/27/2022

https://www.medpagetoday.com/ophthalmology/generalophthalmology/98408

Significant decline in progression to vision-threatening status, proliferative retinopathy

03/03/2022

Optometric Vision & Eye Health Care
in Joliet AND Dwight Practice seeks EXPERIENCED Optometric Assistant leading to Management.
Wages* are negotiable to Credentialed applicants with experience. **Higher with Quick Books bookkeeping experience.
Position requires at least two afternoons/evenings (7 or 8pm) and
Saturdays (3 or 4pm). NO SUNDAYS.
Optometric Vision and Eye Health Care EXPERIENCED; customer service,
E.H.R, professional office skills, internet, Microsoft Word, Excel,
software use, etc. ordering glasses, with basic billing experience,
etc.
*Wages commensurate with experience and confirmed resume. **$17.00 TO $20.00
Semi-Retirees Welcome.
Submit resume with references.

08/01/2021

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/covid-variant/faq-20505779

Find out what's known about the new COVID-19 variants.

07/17/2021

Children masking: JOURNAL of AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
JAMA Pediatr. Published online June 30, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2659
The marxist democrats who want to make the ignorant fearful and controlled, banned this article on FAKEBOOK LABELING IT AS FAKE.
This is science based, not marxist democrat😢 propaganda…
(children should not be forced to wear face masks.)
June 30, 2021
Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy ChildrenA Randomized Clinical Trial
Harald Walach, PhD1; Ronald Weikl, MD2; Juliane Prentice, BA3; et al Andreas Diemer, PhD, MD4; Helmut Traindl, PhD5; Anna Kappes, MA6; Stefan Hockertz, PhD7
Author Affiliations Article Information
JAMA Pediatr. Published online June 30, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2659

Many governments have made nose and mouth covering or face masks compulsory for schoolchildren. The evidence base for this is weak.1,2 The question whether nose and mouth covering increases carbon dioxide in inhaled air is crucial. A large-scale survey3 in Germany of adverse effects in parents and children using data of 25 930 children has shown that 68% of the participating children had problems when wearing nose and mouth coverings.
The normal content of carbon dioxide in the open is about 0.04% by volume (ie, 400 ppm). A level of 0.2% by volume or 2000 ppm is the limit for closed rooms according to the German Federal Environmental Office, and everything beyond this level is unacceptable.4
Methods
We measured carbon dioxide content in inhaled air with and without 2 types of nose and mouth coverings in a well-controlled, counterbalanced, short-term experimental study in volunteer children in good health (details are in the eMethods in Supplement 1). The study was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki and submitted to the ethics committee of the University Witten/Herdecke. All children gave written informed consent, and parents also gave written informed consent for children younger than 16 years. A 3-minute continuous measurement was taken for baseline carbon dioxide levels without a face mask. A 9-minute measurement for each type of mask was allowed: 3 minutes for measuring the carbon dioxide content in joint inhaled and exhaled air, 3 minutes for measuring the carbon dioxide content during inhalation, and 3 minutes for measuring the carbon dioxide content during exhalation. The carbon dioxide content of ambient air was always kept well under 0.1% by volume through multiple ventilations. The sequence of masks was randomized, and randomization was blinded and stratified by age of children. We analyzed data using a linear model for repeated measurements with P < .05 as the significance threshold. The measurement protocol (trial protocol in Supplement 2) is available online.5 Data were collected on April 9 and 10, 2021, and analyzed using Statistica version 13.3 (TIBCO).

Results
The mean (SD) age of the children was 10.7 (2.6) years (range, 6-17 years), and there were 20 girls and 25 boys. Measurement results are presented in the Table. We checked potential associations with outcome. Only age was associated with carbon dioxide content in inhaled air (y = 1.9867 – 0.0555 × x; r = –0.39; P = .008; Figure). Hence, we added age as a continuous covariate to the model. This revealed an association (partial η2 = 0.43; P < .001). Contrasts showed that this was attributable to the difference between the baseline value and the values of both masks jointly. Contrasts between the 2 types of masks were not significant. We measured means (SDs) between 13 120 (384) and 13 910 (374) ppm of carbon dioxide in inhaled air under surgical and filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) masks, which is higher than what is already deemed unacceptable by the German Federal Environmental Office by a factor of 6. This was a value reached after 3 minutes of measurement. Children under normal conditions in schools wear such masks for a mean of 270 (interquartile range, 120-390) minutes.3 The Figure shows that the value of the child with the lowest carbon dioxide level was 3-fold greater than the limit of 0.2 % by volume.4 The youngest children had the highest values, with one 7-year-old child’s carbon dioxide level measured at 25 000 ppm.

Discussion
The limitations of the study were its short-term nature in a laboratory-like setting and the fact that children were not occupied during measurements and might have been apprehensive. Most of the complaints reported by children3 can be understood as consequences of elevated carbon dioxide levels in inhaled air. This is because of the dead-space volume of the masks, which collects exhaled carbon dioxide quickly after a short time. This carbon dioxide mixes with fresh air and elevates the carbon dioxide content of inhaled air under the mask, and this was more pronounced in this study for younger children.
This leads in turn to impairments attributable to hypercapnia. A recent review6 concluded that there was ample evidence for adverse effects of wearing such masks. We suggest that decision-makers weigh the hard evidence produced by these experimental measurements accordingly, which suggest that children should not be forced to wear face masks.

Article Information
Accepted for Publication: June 7, 2021.
Published Online: June 30, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2659
Retraction: A notice of retraction was published on July 16, 2021.
Corresponding Author: Harald Walach, PhD, Poznan University of the Medical Sciences, Pediatric Clinic, ul. Szpitalna 27/33, PL-60-572 Poznań, Poland (harald.walach@uni-wh.de).
Author Contributions: Dr Walach (principal investigator) had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Concept and design: All authors.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Walach, Weikl, Diemer, Traindl, Kappes, Hockertz.
Drafting of the manuscript: Walach, Traindl.
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Walach, Weikl, Prentice, Diemer, Kappes, Hockertz.
Statistical analysis: Walach.
Administrative, technical, or material support: Weikl, Prentice, Diemer, Traindl, Kappes, Hockertz.
Supervision: Weikl, Diemer, Traindl, Kappes, Hockertz.
Other–liaising with all other authors: Walach.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.
Funding/Support: Mediziner und Wissenschaftler für Gesundheit, Freiheit und Demokratie eV, a public charity, has organized this study and covered only essential expenses, such as travel.
Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 3.
References
1.
Xiao J, Shiu EYC, Gao H, et al. Nonpharmaceutical measures for pandemic influenza in nonhealthcare settings —personal protective and environmental measures. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020;26(5):967-975. doi:10.3201/eid2605.190994 PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
2.
Matuschek C, Moll F, Fangerau H, et al. Face masks: benefits and risks during the COVID-19 crisis. Eur J Med Res. 2020;25(1):32. doi:10.1186/s40001-020-00430-5PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
3.
Schwarz S, Jenetzky E, Krafft H, Maurer T, Martin D. Corona children studies “Co-Ki”: first results of a Germany-wide registry on mouth and nose covering (mask) in children. Published 2021. Accessed June 15, 2021. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-124394/v1
4.
Mitteilungen der Ad-hoc-Arbeitsgruppe Innenraumrichtwerte der Innenraumlufthygiene-Kommission des Umweltbundesamtes und der Obersten Landesgesundheitsbehörden. [Health evaluation of carbon dioxide in indoor air]. Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. 2008;51(11):1358-1369. doi:10.1007/s00103-008-0707-2PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
5.
Walach H, Weikl R, Traindl H, et al. Is carbon dioxide content under nose-mouth covering in children without potential risks? a measurement study in healthy children. Published April 14, 2021. Accessed June 15, 2021. https://osf.io/yh97a/?view_only=df003592db5c4bd1ab183dad8a71834f
6.
Kisielinski K, Giboni P, Prescher A, et al. Is a mask that covers the mouth and nose free from undesirable side effects in everyday use and free of potential hazards? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(8):4344. doi:10.3390/ijerph18084344 PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
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06/29/2021

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday.
© Saul Martinez for The New York Times A health care worker prepares to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last month in Miami.
The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from Covid-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation.
“It’s a good sign for how durable our immunity is from this vaccine,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.
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The study did not consider the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, but Dr. Ellebedy said he expected the immune response to be less durable than that produced by mRNA vaccines.
Dr. Ellebedy and his colleagues reported last month that in people who survived Covid-19, immune cells that recognize the virus lie quiescent in the bone marrow for at least eight months after infection. A study by another team indicated that so-called memory B cells continue to mature and strengthen for at least a year after infection.
Based on those findings, researchers suggested that immunity might last for years, possibly a lifetime, in people who were infected with the coronavirus and later vaccinated. But it was unclear whether vaccination alone might have a similarly long-lasting effect.
Dr. Ellebedy’s team sought to address that question by looking at the source of memory cells: the lymph nodes, where immune cells train to recognize and fight the virus.
After an infection or a vaccination, a specialized structure called the germinal center forms in lymph nodes. This structure is an elite school of sorts for B cells — a boot camp where they become increasingly sophisticated and learn to recognize a diverse set of viral genetic sequences.
The broader the range and the longer these cells have to practice, the more likely they are to be able to thwart variants of the virus that may emerge.
“Everyone always focuses on the virus evolving — this is showing that the B cells are doing the same thing,” said Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. “And it’s going to be protective against ongoing evolution of the virus, which is really encouraging.”
After infection with the coronavirus, the germinal center forms in the lungs. But after vaccination, the cells’ education takes place in lymph nodes in the armpits, within reach of researchers.
Dr. Ellebedy and his colleagues recruited 41 people — including eight with a history of infection with the virus — who were immunized with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. From 14 of these people, the team extracted samples from the lymph nodes at three, four, five, seven and 15 weeks after the first dose.
That painstaking work makes this a “heroic study,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale. “This kind of careful time-course analysis in humans is very difficult to do.”
Dr. Ellebedy’s team found that 15 weeks after the first dose of vaccine, the germinal center was still highly active in all 14 of the participants, and that the number of memory cells that recognized the coronavirus had not declined.
“The fact that the reactions continued for almost four months after vaccination — that’s a very, very good sign,” Dr. Ellebedy said. Germinal centers typically peak one to two weeks after immunization, and then wane.
“Usually by four to six weeks, there’s not much left,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona. But germinal centers stimulated by the mRNA vaccines are “still going, months into it, and not a lot of decline in most people.”
Dr. Bhattacharya noted that most of what scientists know about the persistence of germinal centers is based on animal research. The new study is the first to show what happens in people after vaccination.
The results suggest that a vast majority of vaccinated people will be protected over the long term — at least, against the existing coronavirus variants. But older adults, people with weak immune systems and those who take drugs that suppress immunity may need boosters; people who survived Covid-19 and were later immunized may never need them at all.
Exactly how long the protection from mRNA vaccines will last is hard to predict. In the absence of variants that sidestep immunity, in theory immunity could last a lifetime, experts said. But the virus is clearly evolving.
“Anything that would actually require a booster would be variant-based, not based on waning of immunity,” Dr. Bhattacharya said. “I just don’t see that happening.”
People who were infected with the coronavirus and then immunized see a major boost in their antibody levels, most likely because their memory B cells — which produce antibodies — had many months to evolve before vaccination.
The good news: A booster vaccine will probably have the same effect as prior infection in immunized people, Dr. Ellebedy said. “If you give them another chance to engage, they will have a massive response,” he said, referring to memory B cells.
In terms of bolstering the immune system, vaccination is “probably better” than recovering from the actual infection, he said. Other studies have suggested that the repertoire of memory B cells produced after vaccination is more diverse than that generated by infection, suggesting that the vaccines will protect better against variants than natural immunity alone.
Dr. Ellebedy said the results also suggested that these signs of persistent immune reaction might be caused by mRNA vaccines alone, as opposed to those made by more traditional means, like Johnson & Johnson’s.
But that is an unfair comparison, because the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given as a single dose, Dr. Iwasaki said: “If the J & J had a booster, maybe it will induce this same kind of response.”

04/02/2021

What You need to know about GOVERNMENT (Obama) HEALTH CARE news articles…(facts, not political feelings) INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF… What the lying 'give everything free' politicians wanted you to be gullible enough to believe and what was originally proposed...

Do you remember the lie, " If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." That was not the worst of it. Check this article from The Atlantic Monthly, OCTOBER 2014...

Why I hope to die @ 75… the “architect “ of Obama care explains why we should not live past 75.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/
Those against truth sayers ridiculed talk of death panels.
Read the Dr. Ezekiel Emauel interview. PROPOSED: No procedures* covered after 75 years of age. *colonoscopy, angiogram, cancer treatment procedures, etc. Pills, medicine, and visits ONLY.

Thankfully, politicians in their right frame of mind did not support this. The threat of exposing the end of procedures for those over 75 years of age was stopped.
BEWARE OF MEDICARE FOR ALL. IT MAY BE THE END OF CARE AFTER 65!

An argument that society and families—and you—will be better off if nature takes its course swiftly and promptly

02/03/2021

Healthy Driven Blog Home
Why do some people get seriously sick with COVID-19 while others don't?
January 25, 2021 | by Jonathan Pinsky, MD Healthy Driven Life


One of the most baffling aspects of COVID-19, the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, is how differently it seems to affect people.

One person may have mild symptoms and recover in just a few days while another person may have prolonged symptoms that lead to pneumonia, shortness of breath and hospitalization. Some may not develop symptoms at all.

In each case, the virus can be transmitted two days prior to the onset of symptoms (pre-symptomatic) and up to 10 days after the onset of symptoms for those with mild symptoms. For those who don’t develop symptoms, the infectious period is shorter, but no more than 10 days. Those who have severe infection requiring hospitalization may be infectious for up to 20 days.

Risk factors for severe infection
The same spectrum of severity can occur at any age and within any risk group, even within the most vulnerable elderly populations. Those over age 65 compromise the majority of deaths due to COVID-19, but there is excess mortality due to COVID-19 in all adult age groups. Many more of all ages have survived with severe symptoms and suffer a prolonged and debilitating illness.

Severe infection is uncommon in children and young adults. Rare complications include multisystem inflammation in children and heart failure in young adults.

Severe COVID-19 infection typically manifests as a progressive pneumonia with trouble breathing and can affect adults of all ages. It is more common for those over age 50 and the risk rises each year after that.

Other risk factors for severe infection or death include obesity, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, chronic lung and heart disease, and other conditions that impair immune function. African American and Hispanic groups have higher rates of underlying medical illness and have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19.

While anyone who has mild COVID-19 infection can progress to severe infection, the risk is much higher for:
Adults over the age of 65
People with diabetes, obesity or chronic kidney disease
People with a suppressed immune system
Adults over age 55 with heart or lung disease

Studies have shown that transfusion of monoclonal antibodies can reduce the chances of developing severe infection and hospitalization. Monoclonal antibodies have received an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA for those with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection who have any of those risk factors.

Dr. Casper's personal comment and experience.
For those who KNOW facts: Hydroxychloroquine, Z-Pak, Vitamin D3, and Zinc can work wonders in some cases. Within six (6) days of treatment: Covid NEGATIVE.

01/23/2021

People with type 2 diabetes who develop COVID-19 show a substantially reduced risk of dying if they are taking metformin, shows a study that adds to prior research indicating the drug might somehow play a role in reducing the severity of infection.

“Unlike several previous analyses, this was a study in a racially diverse population with a high proportion of Blacks/African Americans and [it] revealed that metformin treatment of diabetes prior to diagnosis with COVID-19 was associated with a dramatic threefold reduced mortality in subjects with type 2 diabetes, even after correcting for multiple covariates,” first author Anath Shalev, MD, of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in an interview.

https://www.mdedge.com/endocrinology/article/234901/coronavirus-updates/metformin-treatment-again-linked-fewer-deaths-covid?ecd=wnl_evn_210122_mdedge_7pm&utm_source=News_MDedge_eNL_012221_A&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Controversy+flares+over+ivermectin+for+COVID-19&sso=true

04/27/2020

Dr Casper, in his own words...

In a CPS Elementary School, I was double promoted.

At thirteen, I was self employed, as a newspaper carrier, between 175 - 200
papers completed every morning before 7:00 A.M.
When my customer wanted the paper behind the door, on the door k**b,
in the mail box or the hallway, that's where it was delivered.
Today, if you get a paper delivered in front of your house, you're lucky.

In A CPS High School, initially, I was TOP HONORS and became rebellious to school authority.
In Chicago City Colleges, Harold Washington, Daley, Wright Colleges,
I had the opportunity to discover myself.

Part time employment in the old Sears Executive headquarters, at Homan & Arthington gave me time with executives and their talks about life.

At nineteen, I learned and lived RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY.

At Loyola, only the academically strong survived pre-med courses,
JUST LIKE IN THE REAL WORLD. Self-esteem is important.
RESULTS ARE WHAT IS MEASURED IN THE REAL WORLD,

At the Illinois College of Optometry, I enjoyed vision therapy and perception courses.
My internship included the Child Welfare Clinics of Chicago.

MY FATHER was a Joliet H.S. Student, and a steel worker, just as his dad (U.S. Steel), Joliet.
My Mother, worked part time, finished college at the age of 38 and became a teacher.
Assigned to a CPS Elementary school in Pilsen, she worked 38 years, until 76 years old , before retiring.

We still converse about how we were blessed to prepare for doing what we enjoy and have passion for.

As a professional, I look forward to SERVING your Eye Health and Vision Care needs.