Persian Traditional Medicine and Ocular Health.

The Persian Traditional Medicine (PTM) system pays special attention to disease prevention. In PTM, physicians believe that overeating may cause accumulation of unhealthy substances in the body and diseases called "Emtela." With respect to ocular health, foods can be categorized as beneficial and harmful. Harmful foods such as beef, geese, eggplant, cauliflower, and cheese can cause reduced vision. Dehydrating foods such as walnut and salty fish and hot foods such as garlic, onion, and pepper can cause dry eye. Food items that have beneficial effects on ocular health include thyme and saffron and fruits such as grape, fig, apple, plum, and berries. PTM stipulates that one should not drink water with meals or immediately afterwards, since drinking cold (icy) water causes difficulty in absorption of nutrients. Gulping water may have harmful effects on the eyes; therefore, PTM physicians recommend drinking water at a suitable temperature. It is not safe to drink water first at the morning. Sleeping right after eating is harmful too. Avicenna believes that sleeping on one's belly after a full meal is very harmful for the eyes. Galen says that old people need deep and continuous sleep more than others. From the view of PTM, moving eyes in different directions, making delicate expressions, trying to look at delicate and find pictures and reading small letters would remove ocular fatigue. There have been mentions of local medicine for improving vision as well; for instance, fennel extracts, pomegranate juice, and honey which are suitable for vision improvement. Local administration of pomegranate blossoms is suitable for treating inflammatory reactions.

A modified Middle Eastern contrast sensitivity chart.

The contrast sensitivity test has been used to examine vision in different clinical circumstances. Moreover, as contrast sensitivity is affected by several ocular states, its measurement has been considered practically for monitoring and assessment of a wide range of visual functions, predicting vision related abilities, diagnosing several ophthalmic conditions, and evaluating many ocular disorders including glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, optic neuritis and age-related degeneration. The Pelli-Robson standard chart has been translated and modified using Persian-Arabic characters since illiterates and children in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa are more likely to distinguish Arabic characters instead of English ones. The translation of these characters is expected to have more precise results, thereby improving the test's validity and provide early diagnoses of ocular problems. This manuscript is focused on conceptions relating to the project. Further studies are required to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and reliability of the revised chart to best compare it to the standard Pelli-Robson one.

Role of ophthalmic nurses in prevention of ophthalmic diseases.

There are numerous ocular problems that could be diagnosed and detected by well-trained ophthalmic nurses. Ophthalmic nurses may significantly contribute in ophthalmology and visual sciences. These trained nurses may assist in decrease the rate of cancelled surgical operations at the date of operation that had been due to lack of attention to health problems in pre-operative assessments. Furthermore, they could perform some medical evaluation of patients that are candidates for surgery, preoperatively. Additionally, their services would be beneficial to accelerate discharging patients, which would result in less drain on financial resources for medical centres. Ophthalmic nurses are also critical elements in health-care systems because they can help to deliver up to date ophthalmic knowledge and contribute to general physicians, academically. Additionally, they may be able to assist patients who suffer from blindness or loss of vision, to find national organizations that provide services and education. They are able to be a great assistance in referring patients that need subspecialty services and subsequently, contribute to saving health-care expenditures by let the patients to receive proper management. These nurses could play a significant role in the process of teaching people, providing proper diagnoses, administration, and management of ocular problems.