May 22, 2024 • 44 mins
Ever wondered why your eyes feel gritty after a night of bad sleep? Or maybe you're curious about the latest tech that can zap away your glasses forever (LASIK, anyone?). This episode, with Dr. Darren Knight, is your one-stop shop for all things eye health! We'll bust some common myths, explore the future of eye care, and give you actionable tips to keep your peepers in tip-top shape.
Here's a sneak peek at the eye-opening secrets you'll uncover:
- Sleep like a baby, see like a hawk: Discover the surprising link between catching those Zzz's and sharp vision.
- Beat the screen blues: Learn how to combat eye strain in our tech-filled world (spoiler alert: it's not just about taking breaks!).
- MythBusters: Eye Health Edition: We debunk some of the most common eye care misconceptions.
- The future is bright (literally): Explore the cutting-edge advancements transforming eye care.
- See clearly, live fully: We'll share resources for those dealing with vision loss, so no one gets left behind.
- Your eyes will thank you: Get ready to implement these easy tips into your daily routine for optimal eye health.
Ready to take control of your eye health and see the world in a whole new light?
We encourage you to visit our website now at www.connect-empower.com to explore more information on our guest and to access our resources.
To ask us your questions or to share your story, email us at podcast@connect-empower.com.
Be sure to rate, review and follow the podcast so you don’t miss an episode.
CONNECT-EMPOWER WEBSITE
CONNECT-EMPOWER INSTAGRAM
CONNECT-EMPOWER FACEBOOK
CONNECT-EMPOWER LINKEDIN
CONNECT-EMPOWER PINTEREST
CONNECT-EMPOWER TWITTER
Don't forget to share with your family and friends what inspired you or the tips you've learned!
John & Erin
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Knight (00:01):
getting good sleep, is very restorative for our
brains, for our eyes.
It is a natural process that weall need.
as far as our eyes themselvesand vision, I think just ties
into you want your brainfunctioning at its best.
It's got to get enough sleep.
easy to say hard to do.
I know sometimes his life getsbusy, but, that's getting
(00:23):
through those sleep cycles isreally critical, at having us at
our best function.
So, doesn't directly help youreyes in that way.
Right.
I mean, I guess.
Closing them, in that sense,will give it time to moisturize
people who have very severe dryeye.
I do have patients,occasionally, where they might
benefit from actually, like asleep mask.
Just to help keep the eyesmoist, because sometimes there's
(00:43):
an element of myopotomus wheretheir eyelids don't shut quite
as tightly as they should.
But that's not as common.
I would tell everyone you needto wear a sleep mask or anything
like that.
John (01:04):
Hi, I'm John,
Erin (01:06):
and I'm Erin.
You're listening to connect andpower.
The podcast that proves age isno barrier to growth and
enlightenment
John (01:13):
tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into
bite sized enjoyable episodesthat will leave you feeling
informed, entertained, and readyto conquer the world
Erin (2) (01:26):
Our guest today is Dr.
Darren Knight, a south baynative M brilliant
ophthalmologists.
After AC ness studies at USC,Dr.
Knight honed his medical skillsat Columbia university and later
specialized in the intricateworld of vitriol retinol
diseases at UC San Diego.
(01:48):
Known for his groundbreakingwork and compassionate approach.
He's on a mission to transformlives through cutting edge
treatments.
From everything diabeticretinopathy to macular
degeneration.
Dr.
Knight.
Isn't just a wizard in theclinic.
He's also a compassionateteacher, an avid researcher, and
(02:09):
a big time Lakers and USC fan.
John (02:12):
let's warmly welcome our guest, Dr.
Darren Knight.
Welcome Darren.
Thank you for being here.
Dr. Knight (02:18):
for having me.
Erin (02:20):
We are so excited, and I know this is such a privilege to
have you today, just yourbackground itself.
we're excited to learninformation from you.
But first I love movies and Ilove TV and I've heard from a
little birdie somewhere that youmight be interested and you
watch lots of movies and TVshows when you have time.
(02:40):
Yeah.
So if you wouldn't mind sharing,what have been some of your
favorite shows?
Maybe you're currently notwatching it, but what are your,
some of your favorite shows?
And then if you wouldn't mindsharing your story, how you got
into eye care and ophthalmology.
Dr. Knight (02:53):
Yeah, I'll say right now just because it's top of
mind just finished Mr.
And Mrs.
Smith The remake.
I think it's on Amazon Prime.
was very, very good.
between that, my wife has mekeeping up with Love is Blind,
which I think the final weeks isnext week.
going to ophthalmology.
I think that I guess just thestructure of medical school.
(03:16):
You start off two years in theclassroom.
The last two years, you are morein the clinic and you rotate
from specialty to specialty.
And I think you'll find thatmost people will find you're
drawn to I'm more of a medicalperson.
I like seeing people in theoffice, your traditional
doctor's visit or more of asurgical person, you know,
surgery.
I think we all can wrap our mindaround that.
(03:36):
and then of course, there'sother things that are a little
bit less both radiology, forexample, pathology.
And They're not that many fieldswhere you get a really good
blend of both, or you have ablend of both, but it's like,
where on the spectrum do youwant to set?
one field might be 50 50 betweenmedical surgical.
I would say ophthalmology, atleast what I do, is probably
(03:57):
more of a 75 25.
Now it depends like how youdefine the surgical.
We do a lot of in officeprocedures, but not necessarily
taking people to the operatingroom.
And I was drawn to that becauseI think Most people, your image
of a doctor, depending on yourexposures in your life, is going
to the office, going for acheckup.
That kind of long, Relationshipwhere you can develop with
(04:20):
patients.
And so I felt like ophthalmologywould let me still do both to do
surgery, which I love, and alsohave that relationship with
patients in the office.
Then I sub-specialized further.
So four years of med school,four years of ophthalmology
residency, and then I did afellowship in vitreoretinal
surgery and medical and surgicalapproach, VIO retinal disease.
(04:43):
So I do, some more advancedsurgeries in some ways, or
they're treating certainconditions that are not as
common.
So retinal detachments, often alot of emergencies, but from a
medical perspective, mostretinal diseases are now treated
in the office.
Macular degeneration beingprobably number one, maybe
(05:03):
number two, some forms ofdiabetic retinopathy number two.
And so I enjoyed doing retina,as we say it, because I liked
That I felt like I was goingback to like stopping blindness,
per se.
nowadays, there's, thankfully,in the States, we have lots of
resources.
You're very rarely coming acrossa cataract that's, blinding
(05:27):
someone, usually.
There's so much access to carehere.
international, of course, thingscan vary.
glaucoma, of course, issomething else I considered,
that can result in blindness,but it felt like retinal
disease.
I liked the urgency.
I liked The surgical approaches,they're not bread and butter
cases.
Every case can vary, and yourapproach can vary, and there's
(05:49):
opinion, right?
How would you approach this typeof retinal detachment versus
another surgeon might have acompletely different approach,
based on somewhat how theytrained and where they've, I
don't know, their priorexperiences.
So I liked that, and that reallydrew me to retina, as we say.
ophthalmology though, I thinkyou've already kind of segmented
yourself out of the hospital.
(06:11):
I do go occasionally, buttypically it's in the office
outpatient care patients go homeafter our surgeries.
Right after some of thosesurgeries, they're not under
general anesthesia.
Yeah.
Like in a MAC anesthesia whereyou're like partially asleep
awake.
I think the comparison I makefor patients is colonoscopy,
similar to that.
(06:32):
and I just loved that I couldstill have those acute
interventions, but then havepatients that I get to know for
years.
I have patients that see memonthly.
for years, you can't help butknow each other as time goes,
and I think, it's kind of abeautiful thing to be able to
keep those relationships andstill have the, solve acute
(06:52):
problems like surgery.
John (06:54):
that's great.
so as we age, our eyes start tochange, you know, and so I'm
somebody that's constantlylooking for ways to maintain my
physique or take care of myhealth, whether it's eating
nutritious food.
But one thing that.
Has been a big challenge for me.
It's really understanding eyehealth.
(07:16):
So if you could just go intomaybe some of the changes that
start to happen and how we canpossibly, slow those changes
down.
I know that they're going tohappen, but how we can slow
those down.
Dr. Knight (07:29):
Absolutely.
I would say number one is youreyes mirror the rest of your
health.
for a diabetic patient, the bestthing they could do is control
their diabetes, high bloodpressure, control your high
blood pressure.
And so diet and exercise woulddefinitely provide benefit
there.
other conditions, such ascataracts, we are all going to
have cataracts, I guarantee.
(07:51):
But they move faster.
in diabetic patients, people whoare still actively smoking.
So smoking cessation probably beone of the best things you could
do for that.
and I think controlling yourcholesterol Just general overall
health, your eyes will tend tomirror.
I get a lot of questions aboutvitamins.
There are vitamins that are formacular degeneration.
(08:14):
Should I use those?
Should I start those early?
I have a family member who hadmacular degeneration.
I would say that Understand thatfor these studies, we have to
select a group of patients.
We create an intervention and wefollow them in time.
and if you don't already havesigns of that damage, we don't
necessarily have proof thatusing those vitamins in advance
(08:35):
would be helpful.
There are other vitamins forother conditions, such as Omega
threes, fresh oil, being verygood for the quality of our tear
film.
And I think that's totallyappropriate.
often, I think that's inmultivitamins, which a lot of
patients use anyway.
but I think if I could drill itdown to one thing I would advise
everyone is to Get your eyeschecked.
(08:57):
believe it or not, I have lotsof patients where my glasses are
fine, I can see, I'm driving,I'm happy, and they haven't had
their eyes checked in years,more than they know, until their
glasses break.
And it doesn't necessarily haveto be a retina specialist,
ophthalmologist,ophthalmologist.
Optometrists, just, I thinkgetting an exam is critical
because so many of these thingswe can treat in advance.
(09:19):
we have better interventionsthat will, I think, result in
better outcomes.
we have patients routinely, comein and, I can't, I'm blurry on
this side.
And we find out, you probablyhave had diabetes for years.
and it's some of these thingsare silent.
Until they affect you, andsometimes their eyes are what
bring the patients to see us,and then we plug them into the
rest of their care.
(09:40):
But I think yearly eye exams ata minimum would be one of the
best things I could, I wouldadvise someone.
John (09:46):
Thank you.
Erin (09:46):
I'm a huge advocate for that.
I know my son had keratoconusand it was because that we took
them every year and had thoseeye exams, for school and we're
getting ready.
And, and I'm so glad wediscovered it because who knows
what could have happened if we,if we didn't.
Didn't jump on the bandwagon andget the surgery needed.
I mean, that can lead toblindness, you know, if you let
(10:07):
it go too long.
So definitely I am a firmbeliever of getting there and
you guys are friendly.
That's not like you're doinganything bad to us.
It's like the dentist isdrilling and doctors are giving
you shots and you're just like,let me just open up your eyes
and see and puff some air oncein a while.
John (10:25):
Yeah.
Dr. Knight (10:26):
Well, until if it gets worse, sometimes we do some
interventions, treatments, thatpeople don't love.
But, it's true.
But, it's a long list of thingsto take care of our health.
And understandably, sometimesthe eyes feel like they're in
the background.
Until something's wrong, if Iget it.
Erin (10:42):
That's one of my worst fears is definitely losing the
eyesight because I love thebeauty of everything.
So John had a fun question.
He was talking about I'msurprised.
He hasn't brought it up yet, buthe wanted to know about carrots
Do carrots help your eyesight?
John (10:56):
Or is that just an old myth?
Dr. Knight (10:58):
I think that as adults, again, healthy diet, but
nutritional deficiencies, ofcourse can affect the
development of our eyes aschildren.
So I'm sure like those old wivestales were based in a time when
things weren't as plentiful.
Yeah.
You definitely need enoughvitamin A, different things to
form our eyes and to allow for,the visual cycle to continue
(11:19):
properly.
so vitamin A is, That'sdefinitely one of those
components, but, you know, Idon't think an adult should eat
any more carrots than anyoneelse.
John (11:27):
and one thing that I was thinking about as we've had this
discussion is how much more timewe're spending on our devices
and how that may be affectingour eyes too.
I know that eye strain is bigfor me, I'm in my fifties now
and I noticed that I'm spendingmore time on computers and on my
devices and it does seem toaffect me more than.
(11:50):
I would have thought it wouldhave.
So how is that affecting us?
And is that dangerous?
can you explain maybe what weshould do in regards to our
devices and so forth and
Erin (12:00):
like the blue light glasses maybe
John (12:02):
yeah, and how we should utilize them.
Dr. Knight (12:04):
Yeah.
I'll split that up into twogroups, right?
I think if we're talking aboutchildren, it's definitely
something where I think weshould probably create limits on
the amount of screen time.
And a lot of reasons for that,not just even I was like, I
think for development,dexterity.
but generally there's.
been a gradual increase in theamount of nearsightedness, And
(12:27):
some of that definitely mightultimately be a result of us
being more on our phones, onscreens.
so for children, I think thegeneral advice is make a 20, 20,
20 roll, 20 minutes, 20 secondbreaks, look 20 feet away, and
just to ease some of theeyestrain for children.
For adults, I think a lot of,once our eyes are developed,
(12:49):
they're developed, I think a lotof what we feel with eyestrain
is that our eyes can getextremely dry and irritated.
Anytime we're focusing.
Me focusing on the podcast, ourblink rate decreases.
And as that happens, your eyesget dry, irritated.
You feel like you're trying toclear them, that sensation that
you get.
So I think, using artificialtears to moisturize your eyes.
(13:12):
is definitely somethingbeneficial you can do and
incorporate.
You know, some of us, we'reworking, we can't get away from
the screen, maybe taking thatshort break to put in a set of
drops might help.
There's no particular brand thatI recommend, but generally the
category would be preservativefree artificial tears, I think
are a good option there.
I think wearing the appropriaterefraction, so getting your
(13:33):
glasses updated, contact lenses,so forth, just doing that
regularly, so that you aregetting the most out of your
eyes that you can.
I think that's another piece ofadvice I'd have.
Erin (13:44):
So John does have a bunch of eyeglasses and I'm like, you
gotta wear'em.
You have'em right there.
Stop straining.
Nobody's here but me.
John (13:51):
I have them all over
Erin (13:52):
the place.
yeah And you look sexy with themon.
No, I don't, but thank you.
Thank you.
What are some of the red flagsor signs that maybe something
more significant is going onwith my eyes?
That I really should take itserious and come in
Dr. Knight (14:07):
Yeah.
as I mentioned, many of thesediseases are silent.
that's what's so hard.
in fact, I would bet that thenumber one referrer of cataract
surgery is DMV.
People go and suddenly, theydon't pass and they get sent
over and get their eyes checked.
And it's oh, your cataracts aresignificant enough again.
people aren't always going toget their eyes checked yearly.
but other diseases completelysilent, such as glaucoma, when
(14:30):
you notice loss of differentglaucoma, it's often very late
because it takes the peripheralvision first and it works its
way out to in.
So again, early screenings,early detection.
retinal problems, those that Ispecialize in, some of them are
emergent.
Patients suddenly see a showerof floaters.
Now, floaters to some extent canbe normal, but a sudden change
(14:53):
in them, flashing lights, likecamera flashes or lightning
bolts in the distance, orcurtains where you say it feels
like someone is covering thevision in some direction, those
could be signs of the need forurgent care.
those aren't things I wouldignore, and I think, pretty soon
afterwards, we'd have my eyeschecked.
Erin (15:11):
now?
I don't really know some of theterms.
Like I hear glaucoma.
I don't really know what thatmeans.
So if you could explain maybe acouple of the different terms
you've talked about exactly whatthey are, because it's scary
when you talk about it,
John (15:24):
Yeah.
And especially for, people, ourmain audience, of course, is
going to be people over the ageof 50.
So if you could explain some ofthe terminology and maybe
language that.
We might be able to understand,right?
Erin (15:37):
So basically he's saying kiddie terms.
Dr. Knight (15:39):
Oh, absolutely.
John (15:40):
Yeah.
Dumb it down for me,
Erin (15:42):
for me, please.
Dr. Knight (15:43):
uh, you know, if you think about the eye as a circle
and the cornea is the surface ofthe eye, we put a contact lens
on our eye, the iris, thatbrown, blue part of the eye that
we know, and right behind that,still towards the front of the
eye is what starts off as a lensand it gets cloudy as we age and
we call it a cataract once it'sadjusting the way light comes
through it.
(16:03):
When I say it's inevitable, it'sa natural structure that changes
as we age.
The retina is the lining on theinside of the eye, so I would
call that like the wallpaper inthe room.
And the space in between is thevitreous.
And the optic nerve is thatcable that connects our eyes
back to our brain.
One to each, they come togetherand connect back to our brain.
(16:24):
So that's like our wiring there.
So cataracts is when that lensbecomes cloudy.
Keratoconus, you mentioned, is acorneal problem on the surface
of the eye.
The retina is that lining on theinside where I mentioned retinal
detachments or in tears in theretina.
And glaucoma is probably thehardest to explain because it is
(16:44):
a gradual decline in thefunction of the optic nerve.
And we don't completelyunderstand why.
And there are many differenttypes and subtypes.
But I would say most commonlywe're speaking about primary
open angle glaucoma, meaning theangles are clear where fluid is
moving through clearly in theeye.
But for some reason that patternof vision loss is following
(17:07):
damage to the optic nerve.
when your eye professionallooked at your optic nerve and
they saw thinning, it mightcorrelate to areas of your
peripheral vision that aredeclined or shortened or
lessened that you might not havenoticed.
glaucoma is a very broadcategory, and many of those
types of glaucoma, not all, havehigh eye pressures.
(17:28):
So, when you go to exams, mostpeople, when they get glasses,
they say, I hate that air puff.
I don't know if you, you hadthat.
there are other ways to checkyour eye pressure nowadays, so
that's not the only way, but oneof the things they're checking
for is to estimate the pressureat the inside of the eye, in the
front of the eye, and that cangive us an idea of your risk of
glaucoma, and that is treatable,so we can treat those with eye
(17:52):
drops, and help certainprocedures, laser procedures,
and of course sometimesincisional surgery to lower the
eye pressure and treat glaucoma.
But it is a difficult concept,and I think it's difficult to
explain in every particularpatient.
You might have a differentcategory of glaucoma.
So it's important again todiscuss that with your
(18:13):
ophthalmologist.
John (18:14):
Yeah.
You know, I, I, Erin and I havehad many discussions and I love.
Outdoors.
I love adventures.
I love exploring, but I love allthat because of my eyes, right?
Of what I see.
And then it brings all theseamazing memories back to your
brain and you can take picturesand then you can, of course,
look at your phone or howeveryou're taking those photos and
(18:34):
remember those special moments.
And so I'm very, very protectiveover that part of my body.
You know, if one of my handsgoes bad or one of my feet, I'll
make it, but your eyes are suchan incredibly vital.
part of happiness.
I think, you know, it's, it'sincredibly important.
Erin (18:49):
I was going to ask about double vision because I know I
started getting double visionwhen I had my children.
I see fine, but when I close oneeye or the other, I have the
double vision, right?
So I'm just, is there somethingpeople can do?
Is that more common as we age?
is there surgery for it?
Dr. Knight (19:08):
it's important to divide double vision into
different things.
So when we say double vision, weusually mean, Hey, I'm looking
with both eyes open and I'mseeing two of, truly two of
things.
two computer screens, two cups,right?
Now that usually represents amisalignment of the eye muscles.
So one eye is here, another eyeis here.
Here we're here in any directionthat for business is something
(19:34):
we approach completelydifferently, especially if it's
new in an adult, and there's avery broad differential reasons
for that to happen that I wouldthink need to be worked up.
But most people, when they saydouble vision, they're referring
to, like you mentioned, I closeone eye, I have double vision.
Different type of doubling.
You might look at print and feellike the letters don't quite
(19:56):
overlap the way they could, andthat could represent astigmatism
or That usually can be correctedwith a good refraction, glasses,
contact lenses.
But I think it's important tosplit those up, which I think,
it's hard to do, but it's notcommon to actually have true
double vision if it is thatabsolutely needs to be examined
(20:17):
pretty quickly.
Erin (20:18):
And when you have that, normally they would go in and do
like a surgery just to pull themuscle or tighten the most
muscle in whichever side.
Is that sound correct?
Dr. Knight (20:27):
Yeah.
depends on the cause.
for example, a stroke, some ofthe muscle function might be
lost because there's the nerveand the signal from the brain is
not getting there.
So the eye could be pointed inthe wrong direction.
The problem in that case, isn'tthe muscle.
There are kids who have, forexample, esotropia in their
eyes.
Come inward and they mightbenefit from a surgery to
(20:50):
realign the muscles.
So yes, but it's important thatit be worked properly to make
sure that it's the rightideology.
But yeah, we do have surgeries.
And sometimes, even in glasses,they can put prisms bring the
image, so that your brain isperceiving it coming from the
right direction.
those prisms, Can be verysubtle.
(21:12):
There's probably plenty ofpeople walking around with a
little prism in the glasses thatsomeone else might not perceive.
So again, exams yearly.
think it's a great idea.
John (21:23):
when I first get up in the morning, I, or even in the
middle of the night, I'll.
You grab my phone and just usemy phone's light on the face to
help get me to the bathroomsafely however, sometimes I'll
go into the bathroom to use thebathroom and I'll get on my
phone and that bright light, isthat really an unhealthy thing
to do?
And because, I want ourlisteners to know we got to take
(21:45):
care of our eyes.
And so, Is it smart to flip ourlight on directly and then be
faced with that immediatebrightness?
Is it smart to look at somethingin a dark room like your device?
It's really bright.
can you educate our listeners onprobably best practices when it
comes to some of that?
Dr. Knight (22:04):
Yeah, I get those questions a lot.
And I think one thing to thinkabout is our eyes don't turn off
right when we're sleeping.
Our eyes are still functioning.
It's just a connection to ourbrain.
So they are meant to be used allthe time.
You can look at them and look atobjects in the dark and dim
(22:25):
light, right?
You may not see it well, but youare not damaging the eyes.
By doing that.
So I actually, I'll tellpatients, you know, be free.
Use your eyes.
Turn that light on.
feel free.
That's what they're for.
They don't turn off.
Now that being said, as wetalked about earlier, eye
strain, you can feel very tired,fatigued, your eyes can be very
(22:48):
dry, so you may feel like youneed to rest.
I think artificial tears tomoisturize the eye is a good
idea, but I wouldn't worry toomuch about, the amount of light
and, trying to minimize being indim light or strain.
I know that was definitely aconcern that I've heard a few
times.
Erin (23:05):
is there a way to strengthen our eyes for night
vision?
Dr. Knight (23:09):
No, most people.
of course, we see better withmore light.
We get more contracts, but thereare people who in dim light
their need for glasses isslightly different, and they
might benefit from a slightlydifferent prescription for
glasses at night.
but it's not necessarilysomething we can like
strengthening work on.
not like muscle or doing pushups.
(23:30):
but I think that Probably justmaking sure that you're in the
most updated, correct refractionthat you can at all times.
I think that's probably the bestthing you could do for yourself
Erin (23:43):
So we won't send you any selfies where we're sitting in
the dark for hours going, look,we're doing it
John (23:48):
Yeah,
Erin (23:49):
we're staring at it
John (23:50):
it.
So going back for a second toartificial tears and stuff, I've
noticed that, in the newsrecently, there's been a whole
bunch of discussion about eyedrops and some of the dangers of
eye drops.
Certain eyedrops have come outon the market that you should or
shouldn't use.
And that can be very confusing Ido agree with you that our eyes
(24:10):
are very dry and it reallydepends on where you live to,
And so I'm sure those can affectthat.
Trying to make sure that wedon't buy the wrong product for
our eyes is there a few brandsthat you strongly recommend that
we should all be using or?
Dr. Knight (24:25):
I really don't have one brand in particular that I
like endorse or say is superiorto the others, but I think a lot
of the concern and somethingeasy to overlook, but any drop
that comes in.
You know, 10 milliliter bottle.
It has to have the right amountof preservatives to avoid
bacteria growing And, I think inthe news we heard when that's
(24:50):
not controlled.
it actually becomes a greatplace to grow bacteria and then
putting that in your eyes,giving yourself an infection.
and that can migrate.
So I definitely understand thefear across the public.
I think that a lot of the brandsthat are out there.
of course, not saying it thebest, but refresh or sustain,
(25:12):
like those have been around fora long time and have not really
had.
that I know of reports of theseinfections.
So I think using these kind ofbrands that are well known is
probably one way to avoid thatrisk.
And I think another categorythat I would consider is
preservative free drops aremeant to be used, single use,
(25:35):
throw them out, right?
when we keep bottles for a longtime, I've had patients pull out
a bottle and the label's etchedoff cause it's probably been
there for six months.
that's not how they're intendedto be used.
even beyond just expirationdate, usually that bottle will
give you an idea when you'resupposed to throw it out and get
a new one.
I understand that these drops,these.
Costs add up, but, you stillwant to try to function safely.
(25:58):
And I think following theguidelines that are on those
models is key.
John (26:03):
Another thing that I was curious about, is I noticed that
as I've gotten older, the whitesin my eyes have become a little
bit darker.
Sometimes maybe they look alittle bit more tan or whatever.
And I've actually seen drops outthere called bright eyes or
different things that brightenthat white.
(26:25):
are those safe to utilize orshould you not utilize those?
Is it just a naturalprogression?
Dr. Knight (26:32):
Some of it's a natural progression.
When we see the whites of oureyes, it's important to know
that's the sclera, and there's alayer on top of that, the
conjunctiva, and those bloodvessels that are within that or
between those, often are why wesay an eye looks injected or
really red and irritated, angry.
So a lot of those drops mighthelp constrict those vessels.
(26:53):
usually they're not intended tobe used chronically.
But I think a lot of peoplemight say, Well, I'm just need
them to look white tonight, wantthem to look good today.
And I think that's fine.
And it's safe.
But, of course, we don't want togo beyond what their label
indicates.
John (27:08):
How about for people that, maybe they're going through some
vanity issues and maybe theydecide to go have some eye
surgery done, upper and lowerlid surgery or whatever.
How does that affect your, youreyes ability to continue to work
the way it's supposed to work,with keeping your eyes moist and
(27:28):
taking care of it is that okayto do?
I mean.
Erin (27:31):
so you're saying that if anyone has an eye surgery,
whether it's an eyelid lift orsome, something that an injury
or whatnot, does that affecttheir eyes?
John (27:40):
Yeah.
How, you know, their tear ductsand stuff like that.
And the moisture, do you haveany recommendations to or
against that?
Dr. Knight (27:49):
Yeah, I guess the first thing is I would advise
that, anyone who's interested inplastic surgery, you just go to
someone who has lots ofexperience with the procedure,
because they'll make sure tomake those decisions that will
protect your eye.
So our eyelids, Every blinkwe're right.
We want to like have a reallynice tight closure, moisturizing
the eye.
(28:09):
So of course, if it's not donewell, creates an increased risk
of drying the eyes out or nothaving a normal blink or I think
people are concerned they mightlose vision.
But with lots of experience,they do steps to protect the
eyes during those procedures,they'll often actually have a
cover over the eye.
itself, the eyeball, whilethey're working on those lids,
(28:30):
just to protect them.
so I think it's totally safe todo those procedures.
you just, it, I think.
When professionals are doing it,they're going to make sure to
protect your eyes for you.
Erin (28:41):
So just do really good research, read the reviews, ask
people that may be of use onthat,
Dr. Knight (28:45):
I don't think anyone who's doing those surgeries will
mind if you, usually a lot ofthem will have some before and
after, like some pictures, justso that you know exactly what
you're getting and what you'relooking for.
because they are going to try toget you to the goals that you
give them.
and sometimes you might wantthat guidance too.
And I don't think they'll mindwanting you to do that.
John (29:08):
Okay.
Now, is there an age, wherewe've heard of Lasix, you know,
that came as this craze of, achunk of years back and people
were saying, Oh my gosh, I'mgoing to save up the money, get
this Lasix and then I won't haveto wear glasses.
And I'm super excited now I canreally see well, is there a
certain age that you advise?
Against that, that procedure andhow long does that procedure and
(29:30):
how helpful is it?
Dr. Knight (29:32):
Yeah, so there's no age where I say you're not
necessarily a candidate forLASIK.
There's just different agepoints where it may not get you
to your goals.
LASIK, they're using a laser,and the cornea, remember that
surface of the eye people putcontact lenses on.
The laser and differenttechniques is creating the
glasses prescription on yourcornea.
(29:53):
if you have a verystraightforward need for
glasses, you're nearsighted,sometimes they can.
Use the laser to give you that.
You no longer need glasses.
You still have the eyes youultimately started with, and
other changes can still develop.
for example, as you age, youmight develop cataracts.
The light's coming through intothe eye, through the cornea, it
still will have to get throughthat cataract.
(30:14):
The LASIK will not address that.
So if someone also hascataracts, they probably won't
get the full effect of LASIK.
for that reason, as people areolder, sometimes, They might go
and get assessed and they'llsay, I don't really recommend
LASIK for you because it's, it'snot going to treat the problem.
And when they treat thecataracts often, nowadays,
(30:34):
they're putting a lens that willgive you some of those same
effects.
They're giving you glassesinside of the eye.
So again, it may not be theright procedure for you.
Another thing is that often whatwe're complaining of as we age
is we lose our ability to adjustfrom far to reading up close.
A lot of people need readingglasses.
That is something different thatwe lose, and it's called
(30:57):
presbyopia, older eyes.
And our lens can no longeradjust as much as it once did.
We all are gradually losingthat.
But once it becomes significant,again, LASIK is just giving you
the glasses in the front of theeye.
If we aim in close, you won'tfeel quite so happy at a
distance, or vice versa.
So LASIK may not be the bestoption for someone with
(31:19):
presbyopia.
And there are options, sometimesthey'll offset the eyes between
one side, make it your readingeye, one at a distance.
There are a lot of options youcan walk with, but there comes a
tipping point where maybecataract surgery is a better
option, or LASIK might just notget you the goals, especially if
you're bothered by your loss ofreading up close.
Erin (31:38):
Are there some myths out there that you might want to
debunk?
If someone's like, Oh, I heardthis surgery or Oh, I heard
this, I think causes this.
And you're like, Whoa, hold on.
Dr. Knight (31:50):
Yeah, I think that, One of the hardest things that I
deal with as a retina specialistis in the treatments have
evolved over time, and, peopleknow someone who had that
procedure for their diabetes andthey lost all of their vision.
And, it's important tounderstand that sometimes we're
trying to treat blindingconditions, and sometimes those
(32:12):
treatments don't succeed, andpeople lose vision anyway.
It doesn't necessarily mean thattreatment's not appropriate, and
might have a different result inyou as an individual.
So, I think it's important todefinitely go online, do your
research, read up on theprocedures.
I encourage my patients to doso.
I send them, if you want towatch a video of the surgery, go
(32:35):
look at it on YouTube.
I don't mind.
I think bring that informationin.
but also understand that I thinkWe can serve as your guide to
work through that informationbecause, all information is
accessible now.
and sorting through it is, Ithink, why you go see your
professional.
Erin (32:51):
Is there any technology coming in the future that you're
super excited about?
Oh my gosh, this is going tochange the way you see things.
Cause before we used to have tocut this and open this part and
get in there and laser, but nowwe're just going to go pop and
you're done.
Dr. Knight (33:06):
Oh, yeah.
so on so many levels.
So from a medicationperspective, I treat a lot of
retinal diseases, maculardegeneration in particular.
And we have, in the past fewyears, there's been tons of new
treatments.
Then on top of that, there arebiosimilars, which are like, I
guess the equivalent of ageneric, but for these
injections where these thingsare going to be much more
accessible.
(33:27):
hopefully it would better costfor patients as well.
and that's just from themedication perspective, as far
as, detection of disease, I'm,I'm really excited for where AI
takes us, ophthalmology, there'sso many, So much imaging.
And the reality is that if wewere to be able to train it
well, it might be an incredibleassistive tool for us, where
(33:48):
they're taking pictures remotelyand we're giving people advice
hundreds of miles away on whatthey need to do for their eyes.
I think it'll help us be betterat delivering care to those who
need it most.
And I'm excited to see wherethat goes.
I think it'll be ultimately likea great assistive tool for us.
Erin (34:05):
It'd be like getting one of those little nanobytes and
you stick it in your eye and itjust goes in and goes, wouldn't
that be cool?
John (34:11):
so interesting.
You know, I, I really believe wehave a, an amazingly forgiving
God to that helps our eyesight.
get worse as we age in orderthat we don't see ourselves as
getting older because I'venoticed with myself, when I look
in the mirror, I don't see allthe wrinkles that are really
there until I throw on myglasses and I look in and I go,
(34:31):
what happened?
Who's, you know, it really lookswhen I don't have my glasses on,
everything looks softer and I'mmuch happier because
Erin (34:39):
I
John (34:39):
see that.
But,
Erin (34:40):
Oh my goodness.
Dr. Knight (34:42):
Love that.
Erin (34:43):
one thing, my advice, I'm wondering if you could give is
any of your patients or peoplethat might be dealing with eye
loss, do you have any advice forthem to help calm or ease their
world and their understanding ofwhat they may be going through?
Dr. Knight (34:58):
Yeah, I occasionally have patients who are truly
completely blind or legallyblind and I think one of the
biggest steps is to get themstarted on the process of
Accepting it and getting intothe hands of there are
professionals who deal withpatients who are low vision or
(35:18):
no vision.
That's what they do every day.
There are so many assistivetools, devices, approaches that
I am not aware of.
That is not my expertise.
you know, at least Where I am,I'll often send patients to the
Braille Institute or some ofthe, Southern California College
of Optometry has low visionexams and support for patients.
(35:40):
And I have been most impressedby how much function people are
able to get.
I think earlier you hadmentioned, a lot of losing your
eyes.
Like, how could I do anything?
Even small things like imaginepushing the buttons on the
microwave, right?
but just small things likeputting kind of print that you
(36:02):
could get the texture on thosenumbers so that those patients
can learn how to heat up theirfood themselves, cook and
prepare food for themselves.
Like they do learn how to dothese things again.
I'm not saying it's easy by anymeans.
but I think that with a lot ofsupport, a lot of.
Life can be restored for thesepatients.
(36:23):
I understand there's a lot offear, but there are a lot of
resources out there.
Erin (36:28):
That's great to know because some people may not know
that that's available, go to theBraille Institute and people can
help you with your microwavenumbers on the microwave and
just helping you set up yourroom so you can adapt to how you
walk in your room and differentthings.
John (36:44):
How important is sleep when it comes to eye health?
Dr. Knight (36:50):
getting good sleep, is very restorative for our
brains, for our eyes.
It is a natural process that weall need.
as far as our eyes themselvesand vision, I think just ties
into you want your brainfunctioning at its best.
It's got to get enough sleep.
easy to say hard to do.
I know sometimes his life getsbusy, but, that's getting
(37:12):
through those sleep cycles isreally critical, at having us at
our best function.
So, doesn't directly help youreyes in that way.
Right.
I mean, I guess.
Closing them, in that sense,will give it time to moisturize
people who have very severe dryeye.
I do have patients,occasionally, where they might
benefit from actually, like asleep mask.
Just to help keep the eyesmoist, because sometimes there's
(37:33):
an element of myopotomus wheretheir eyelids don't shut quite
as tightly as they should.
But that's not as common.
I would tell everyone you needto wear a sleep mask or anything
like that.
John (37:44):
Perfect.
All right.
Erin (37:46):
So one of my favorite things to do and John's as well
as we love to travel.
And so I'm always curious wherepeople have been or where they
would like to go.
So it can expand my knowledgeof, Oh, I got to go check this
place out or do this thing.
What do you guys have on yourlist?
Dr. Knight (38:02):
Oh, you know, I have very young kids.
Big international travel istough right now.
I don't know that we're ready tobrave it, but I, Went to
Southeast Asia and Bali once andI would love to just go back and
just really Island up this timeand just go across Indonesia.
that's one thing on my list.
I also would love to see.
(38:23):
I think they were called thesalt plants and like Argentina.
I just saw pictures and it justlooked incredible.
I don't know that I'm yourresource right now.
I don't have anything coming upquite yet.
But,
Erin (38:35):
You
John (38:35):
Yeah.
Spoke Ugh, yeah.
Dr. Knight (38:38):
and images.
I love
John (38:39):
I love that you talked about Indonesia because we spent
six weeks in Indonesia this lastyear and went to six different
islands.
And so if you ever wanted tocall us up and just have another
conversation, I mean, we went tosome of the most magical places
you could imagine.
The people there, the foodthere, the culture, the
experience was something thatreally changed my life.
(39:00):
so it was pretty amazing.
Dr. Knight (39:02):
Yeah, no, we'll definitely have to
John (39:03):
Yeah.
thank you so much.
It's been amazing.
I'm excited.
I definitely, I think the numberone thing I'm going to work on
is just keeping my eyes moremoist I'm all about health and
nutrition and fitness and reallytrying to live life optimally
and, you're one of my favoriteguests.
guess, because there's so much Ipersonally wanted to learn from
somebody like you.
(39:23):
And whenever I go see an eyedoctor, I don't remember the
right questions to ask.
Sometimes I'm just going throughthe paces.
So, so I appreciate you fortaking the time today to educate
me and Erin and
Erin (39:34):
listeners all of
John (39:35):
of our listeners.
So thank
Erin (39:36):
you.
Well, and as you age too, youknow, there's so many different
parts.
There's parts.
You got your eye.
You got your brain.
You've got your gut.
You've got your feet.
You've got so many parts andit's hard enough keeping up with
life, let alone your body.
But we really want ourlisteners, encourage them.
Just take one piece of advicefrom Dr.
Knight today, just one piece ofadvice and implement it.
(39:57):
And if that's, Hey, I'm doing myannual exams and keeping myself
in check, then that's what youdo.
And that's okay.
John (40:04):
Yeah, those are the two things that I'm going to focus
on is just keeping my eyes moremoist and then making sure that
I'm going in annually andgetting them checked.
Erin (40:12):
Or like he said, oftentimes they're silent
killers, not killers.
I shouldn't say that word.
There are silent.
Dr. Knight (40:19):
silent diseases, for sure.
I think one of the challenges, Ididn't touch on it because, you
can step on toes, but there areoptometrists who go to, go to
college, they go to optometryschool, they're ophthalmologists
or MDs, and then, people canspecialize further.
And in different points inhistory, they have not always
got along well.
(40:40):
Stepping on toes.
But I think, ultimately, likethere are so many patients,
there's more patients than thereare doctors of any type.
And I think we're all workingtowards the same goals.
And I think that anyone thatyou're seeing on the spectrum
will send you to the rightperson if they feel like they
can't provide what you need.
so going to the medicalinsurance, vision insurance,
(41:02):
that divide is actually reallychallenging for people because a
lot of times for optometry,they're coming out of pocket
completely.
Ophthalmology, typically you canuse your medical insurance, but
you may not get the prescriptionfor glasses, which is often why
people are going and it's whatthey wanted.
So it's a lot to navigate.
the system doesn't make thatpart easy, or cheap,
Erin (41:22):
Agree.
John (41:22):
thank you so much for being here today.
Erin (41:24):
thank you again.
Dr. Knight (41:26):
All right.
Thank you guys.
John (41:28):
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect
Empower.
We want to express our gratitudeto you for being part of our
community, and we hope today'sepisode has provided you with
valuable insights andinspiration to enhance your life
and that of a loved one.
Erin (41:43):
We are more than just a podcast.
We are a community dedicated toenhancing the lives of our aging
adults and their support system.
We encourage you to visit ourwebsite now at www.
connect empower.
com.
Explore more information aboutour guests from today's episode
and to access our freeresources.
John (42:04):
resources.
Our mission doesn't end at theconclusion of this episode.
We invite you to take action nowby sharing the knowledge you've
gained today with someone whomay benefit from it.
Whether it's a family member,friend, or colleague, your
influence can spark positivechange.
Erin (42:19):
Remember, Subscribing to our podcast ensures you never
miss an episode and we have moreincredible guests and resources
in store for you.
So hit that subscribe button andstay connected with us.
Your commitment is the drivingforce behind our mission and
together we can create amovement for a brighter future
as we age.
John (42:39):
I'm John.
Erin (42:40):
I'm Erin.
Until next Wednesday.
getting good sleep, is very restorative for our
brains, for our eyes.
It is a natural process that weall need.
as far as our eyes themselvesand vision, I think just ties
into you want your brainfunctioning at its best.
It's got to get enough sleep.
easy to say hard to do.
I know sometimes his life getsbusy, but, that's getting
(00:23):
through those sleep cycles isreally critical, at having us at
our best function.
So, doesn't directly help youreyes in that way.
Right.
I mean, I guess.
Closing them, in that sense,will give it time to moisturize
people who have very severe dryeye.
I do have patients,occasionally, where they might
benefit from actually, like asleep mask.
Just to help keep the eyesmoist, because sometimes there's
(00:43):
an element of myopotomus wheretheir eyelids don't shut quite
as tightly as they should.
But that's not as common.
I would tell everyone you needto wear a sleep mask or anything
like that.
John (01:04):
Hi, I'm John,
Erin (01:06):
and I'm Erin.
You're listening to connect andpower.
The podcast that proves age isno barrier to growth and
enlightenment
John (01:13):
tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into
bite sized enjoyable episodesthat will leave you feeling
informed, entertained, and readyto conquer the world
Erin (2) (01:26):
Our guest today is Dr.
Darren Knight, a south baynative M brilliant
ophthalmologists.
After AC ness studies at USC,Dr.
Knight honed his medical skillsat Columbia university and later
specialized in the intricateworld of vitriol retinol
diseases at UC San Diego.
(01:48):
Known for his groundbreakingwork and compassionate approach.
He's on a mission to transformlives through cutting edge
treatments.
From everything diabeticretinopathy to macular
degeneration.
Dr.
Knight.
Isn't just a wizard in theclinic.
He's also a compassionateteacher, an avid researcher, and
(02:09):
a big time Lakers and USC fan.
John (02:12):
let's warmly welcome our guest, Dr.
Darren Knight.
Welcome Darren.
Thank you for being here.
Dr. Knight (02:18):
for having me.
Erin (02:20):
We are so excited, and I know this is such a privilege to
have you today, just yourbackground itself.
we're excited to learninformation from you.
But first I love movies and Ilove TV and I've heard from a
little birdie somewhere that youmight be interested and you
watch lots of movies and TVshows when you have time.
(02:40):
Yeah.
So if you wouldn't mind sharing,what have been some of your
favorite shows?
Maybe you're currently notwatching it, but what are your,
some of your favorite shows?
And then if you wouldn't mindsharing your story, how you got
into eye care and ophthalmology.
Dr. Knight (02:53):
Yeah, I'll say right now just because it's top of
mind just finished Mr.
And Mrs.
Smith The remake.
I think it's on Amazon Prime.
was very, very good.
between that, my wife has mekeeping up with Love is Blind,
which I think the final weeks isnext week.
going to ophthalmology.
I think that I guess just thestructure of medical school.
(03:16):
You start off two years in theclassroom.
The last two years, you are morein the clinic and you rotate
from specialty to specialty.
And I think you'll find thatmost people will find you're
drawn to I'm more of a medicalperson.
I like seeing people in theoffice, your traditional
doctor's visit or more of asurgical person, you know,
surgery.
I think we all can wrap our mindaround that.
(03:36):
and then of course, there'sother things that are a little
bit less both radiology, forexample, pathology.
And They're not that many fieldswhere you get a really good
blend of both, or you have ablend of both, but it's like,
where on the spectrum do youwant to set?
one field might be 50 50 betweenmedical surgical.
I would say ophthalmology, atleast what I do, is probably
(03:57):
more of a 75 25.
Now it depends like how youdefine the surgical.
We do a lot of in officeprocedures, but not necessarily
taking people to the operatingroom.
And I was drawn to that becauseI think Most people, your image
of a doctor, depending on yourexposures in your life, is going
to the office, going for acheckup.
That kind of long, Relationshipwhere you can develop with
(04:20):
patients.
And so I felt like ophthalmologywould let me still do both to do
surgery, which I love, and alsohave that relationship with
patients in the office.
Then I sub-specialized further.
So four years of med school,four years of ophthalmology
residency, and then I did afellowship in vitreoretinal
surgery and medical and surgicalapproach, VIO retinal disease.
(04:43):
So I do, some more advancedsurgeries in some ways, or
they're treating certainconditions that are not as
common.
So retinal detachments, often alot of emergencies, but from a
medical perspective, mostretinal diseases are now treated
in the office.
Macular degeneration beingprobably number one, maybe
(05:03):
number two, some forms ofdiabetic retinopathy number two.
And so I enjoyed doing retina,as we say it, because I liked
That I felt like I was goingback to like stopping blindness,
per se.
nowadays, there's, thankfully,in the States, we have lots of
resources.
You're very rarely coming acrossa cataract that's, blinding
(05:27):
someone, usually.
There's so much access to carehere.
international, of course, thingscan vary.
glaucoma, of course, issomething else I considered,
that can result in blindness,but it felt like retinal
disease.
I liked the urgency.
I liked The surgical approaches,they're not bread and butter
cases.
Every case can vary, and yourapproach can vary, and there's
(05:49):
opinion, right?
How would you approach this typeof retinal detachment versus
another surgeon might have acompletely different approach,
based on somewhat how theytrained and where they've, I
don't know, their priorexperiences.
So I liked that, and that reallydrew me to retina, as we say.
ophthalmology though, I thinkyou've already kind of segmented
yourself out of the hospital.
(06:11):
I do go occasionally, buttypically it's in the office
outpatient care patients go homeafter our surgeries.
Right after some of thosesurgeries, they're not under
general anesthesia.
Yeah.
Like in a MAC anesthesia whereyou're like partially asleep
awake.
I think the comparison I makefor patients is colonoscopy,
similar to that.
(06:32):
and I just loved that I couldstill have those acute
interventions, but then havepatients that I get to know for
years.
I have patients that see memonthly.
for years, you can't help butknow each other as time goes,
and I think, it's kind of abeautiful thing to be able to
keep those relationships andstill have the, solve acute
(06:52):
problems like surgery.
John (06:54):
that's great.
so as we age, our eyes start tochange, you know, and so I'm
somebody that's constantlylooking for ways to maintain my
physique or take care of myhealth, whether it's eating
nutritious food.
But one thing that.
Has been a big challenge for me.
It's really understanding eyehealth.
(07:16):
So if you could just go intomaybe some of the changes that
start to happen and how we canpossibly, slow those changes
down.
I know that they're going tohappen, but how we can slow
those down.
Dr. Knight (07:29):
Absolutely.
I would say number one is youreyes mirror the rest of your
health.
for a diabetic patient, the bestthing they could do is control
their diabetes, high bloodpressure, control your high
blood pressure.
And so diet and exercise woulddefinitely provide benefit
there.
other conditions, such ascataracts, we are all going to
have cataracts, I guarantee.
(07:51):
But they move faster.
in diabetic patients, people whoare still actively smoking.
So smoking cessation probably beone of the best things you could
do for that.
and I think controlling yourcholesterol Just general overall
health, your eyes will tend tomirror.
I get a lot of questions aboutvitamins.
There are vitamins that are formacular degeneration.
(08:14):
Should I use those?
Should I start those early?
I have a family member who hadmacular degeneration.
I would say that Understand thatfor these studies, we have to
select a group of patients.
We create an intervention and wefollow them in time.
and if you don't already havesigns of that damage, we don't
necessarily have proof thatusing those vitamins in advance
(08:35):
would be helpful.
There are other vitamins forother conditions, such as Omega
threes, fresh oil, being verygood for the quality of our tear
film.
And I think that's totallyappropriate.
often, I think that's inmultivitamins, which a lot of
patients use anyway.
but I think if I could drill itdown to one thing I would advise
everyone is to Get your eyeschecked.
(08:57):
believe it or not, I have lotsof patients where my glasses are
fine, I can see, I'm driving,I'm happy, and they haven't had
their eyes checked in years,more than they know, until their
glasses break.
And it doesn't necessarily haveto be a retina specialist,
ophthalmologist,ophthalmologist.
Optometrists, just, I thinkgetting an exam is critical
because so many of these thingswe can treat in advance.
(09:19):
we have better interventionsthat will, I think, result in
better outcomes.
we have patients routinely, comein and, I can't, I'm blurry on
this side.
And we find out, you probablyhave had diabetes for years.
and it's some of these thingsare silent.
Until they affect you, andsometimes their eyes are what
bring the patients to see us,and then we plug them into the
rest of their care.
(09:40):
But I think yearly eye exams ata minimum would be one of the
best things I could, I wouldadvise someone.
John (09:46):
Thank you.
Erin (09:46):
I'm a huge advocate for that.
I know my son had keratoconusand it was because that we took
them every year and had thoseeye exams, for school and we're
getting ready.
And, and I'm so glad wediscovered it because who knows
what could have happened if we,if we didn't.
Didn't jump on the bandwagon andget the surgery needed.
I mean, that can lead toblindness, you know, if you let
(10:07):
it go too long.
So definitely I am a firmbeliever of getting there and
you guys are friendly.
That's not like you're doinganything bad to us.
It's like the dentist isdrilling and doctors are giving
you shots and you're just like,let me just open up your eyes
and see and puff some air oncein a while.
John (10:25):
Yeah.
Dr. Knight (10:26):
Well, until if it gets worse, sometimes we do some
interventions, treatments, thatpeople don't love.
But, it's true.
But, it's a long list of thingsto take care of our health.
And understandably, sometimesthe eyes feel like they're in
the background.
Until something's wrong, if Iget it.
Erin (10:42):
That's one of my worst fears is definitely losing the
eyesight because I love thebeauty of everything.
So John had a fun question.
He was talking about I'msurprised.
He hasn't brought it up yet, buthe wanted to know about carrots
Do carrots help your eyesight?
John (10:56):
Or is that just an old myth?
Dr. Knight (10:58):
I think that as adults, again, healthy diet, but
nutritional deficiencies, ofcourse can affect the
development of our eyes aschildren.
So I'm sure like those old wivestales were based in a time when
things weren't as plentiful.
Yeah.
You definitely need enoughvitamin A, different things to
form our eyes and to allow for,the visual cycle to continue
(11:19):
properly.
so vitamin A is, That'sdefinitely one of those
components, but, you know, Idon't think an adult should eat
any more carrots than anyoneelse.
John (11:27):
and one thing that I was thinking about as we've had this
discussion is how much more timewe're spending on our devices
and how that may be affectingour eyes too.
I know that eye strain is bigfor me, I'm in my fifties now
and I noticed that I'm spendingmore time on computers and on my
devices and it does seem toaffect me more than.
(11:50):
I would have thought it wouldhave.
So how is that affecting us?
And is that dangerous?
can you explain maybe what weshould do in regards to our
devices and so forth and
Erin (12:00):
like the blue light glasses maybe
John (12:02):
yeah, and how we should utilize them.
Dr. Knight (12:04):
Yeah.
I'll split that up into twogroups, right?
I think if we're talking aboutchildren, it's definitely
something where I think weshould probably create limits on
the amount of screen time.
And a lot of reasons for that,not just even I was like, I
think for development,dexterity.
but generally there's.
been a gradual increase in theamount of nearsightedness, And
(12:27):
some of that definitely mightultimately be a result of us
being more on our phones, onscreens.
so for children, I think thegeneral advice is make a 20, 20,
20 roll, 20 minutes, 20 secondbreaks, look 20 feet away, and
just to ease some of theeyestrain for children.
For adults, I think a lot of,once our eyes are developed,
(12:49):
they're developed, I think a lotof what we feel with eyestrain
is that our eyes can getextremely dry and irritated.
Anytime we're focusing.
Me focusing on the podcast, ourblink rate decreases.
And as that happens, your eyesget dry, irritated.
You feel like you're trying toclear them, that sensation that
you get.
So I think, using artificialtears to moisturize your eyes.
(13:12):
is definitely somethingbeneficial you can do and
incorporate.
You know, some of us, we'reworking, we can't get away from
the screen, maybe taking thatshort break to put in a set of
drops might help.
There's no particular brand thatI recommend, but generally the
category would be preservativefree artificial tears, I think
are a good option there.
I think wearing the appropriaterefraction, so getting your
(13:33):
glasses updated, contact lenses,so forth, just doing that
regularly, so that you aregetting the most out of your
eyes that you can.
I think that's another piece ofadvice I'd have.
Erin (13:44):
So John does have a bunch of eyeglasses and I'm like, you
gotta wear'em.
You have'em right there.
Stop straining.
Nobody's here but me.
John (13:51):
I have them all over
Erin (13:52):
the place.
yeah And you look sexy with themon.
No, I don't, but thank you.
Thank you.
What are some of the red flagsor signs that maybe something
more significant is going onwith my eyes?
That I really should take itserious and come in
Dr. Knight (14:07):
Yeah.
as I mentioned, many of thesediseases are silent.
that's what's so hard.
in fact, I would bet that thenumber one referrer of cataract
surgery is DMV.
People go and suddenly, theydon't pass and they get sent
over and get their eyes checked.
And it's oh, your cataracts aresignificant enough again.
people aren't always going toget their eyes checked yearly.
but other diseases completelysilent, such as glaucoma, when
(14:30):
you notice loss of differentglaucoma, it's often very late
because it takes the peripheralvision first and it works its
way out to in.
So again, early screenings,early detection.
retinal problems, those that Ispecialize in, some of them are
emergent.
Patients suddenly see a showerof floaters.
Now, floaters to some extent canbe normal, but a sudden change
(14:53):
in them, flashing lights, likecamera flashes or lightning
bolts in the distance, orcurtains where you say it feels
like someone is covering thevision in some direction, those
could be signs of the need forurgent care.
those aren't things I wouldignore, and I think, pretty soon
afterwards, we'd have my eyeschecked.
Erin (15:11):
now?
I don't really know some of theterms.
Like I hear glaucoma.
I don't really know what thatmeans.
So if you could explain maybe acouple of the different terms
you've talked about exactly whatthey are, because it's scary
when you talk about it,
John (15:24):
Yeah.
And especially for, people, ourmain audience, of course, is
going to be people over the ageof 50.
So if you could explain some ofthe terminology and maybe
language that.
We might be able to understand,right?
Erin (15:37):
So basically he's saying kiddie terms.
Dr. Knight (15:39):
Oh, absolutely.
John (15:40):
Yeah.
Dumb it down for me,
Erin (15:42):
for me, please.
Dr. Knight (15:43):
uh, you know, if you think about the eye as a circle
and the cornea is the surface ofthe eye, we put a contact lens
on our eye, the iris, thatbrown, blue part of the eye that
we know, and right behind that,still towards the front of the
eye is what starts off as a lensand it gets cloudy as we age and
we call it a cataract once it'sadjusting the way light comes
through it.
(16:03):
When I say it's inevitable, it'sa natural structure that changes
as we age.
The retina is the lining on theinside of the eye, so I would
call that like the wallpaper inthe room.
And the space in between is thevitreous.
And the optic nerve is thatcable that connects our eyes
back to our brain.
One to each, they come togetherand connect back to our brain.
(16:24):
So that's like our wiring there.
So cataracts is when that lensbecomes cloudy.
Keratoconus, you mentioned, is acorneal problem on the surface
of the eye.
The retina is that lining on theinside where I mentioned retinal
detachments or in tears in theretina.
And glaucoma is probably thehardest to explain because it is
(16:44):
a gradual decline in thefunction of the optic nerve.
And we don't completelyunderstand why.
And there are many differenttypes and subtypes.
But I would say most commonlywe're speaking about primary
open angle glaucoma, meaning theangles are clear where fluid is
moving through clearly in theeye.
But for some reason that patternof vision loss is following
(17:07):
damage to the optic nerve.
when your eye professionallooked at your optic nerve and
they saw thinning, it mightcorrelate to areas of your
peripheral vision that aredeclined or shortened or
lessened that you might not havenoticed.
glaucoma is a very broadcategory, and many of those
types of glaucoma, not all, havehigh eye pressures.
(17:28):
So, when you go to exams, mostpeople, when they get glasses,
they say, I hate that air puff.
I don't know if you, you hadthat.
there are other ways to checkyour eye pressure nowadays, so
that's not the only way, but oneof the things they're checking
for is to estimate the pressureat the inside of the eye, in the
front of the eye, and that cangive us an idea of your risk of
glaucoma, and that is treatable,so we can treat those with eye
(17:52):
drops, and help certainprocedures, laser procedures,
and of course sometimesincisional surgery to lower the
eye pressure and treat glaucoma.
But it is a difficult concept,and I think it's difficult to
explain in every particularpatient.
You might have a differentcategory of glaucoma.
So it's important again todiscuss that with your
(18:13):
ophthalmologist.
John (18:14):
Yeah.
You know, I, I, Erin and I havehad many discussions and I love.
Outdoors.
I love adventures.
I love exploring, but I love allthat because of my eyes, right?
Of what I see.
And then it brings all theseamazing memories back to your
brain and you can take picturesand then you can, of course,
look at your phone or howeveryou're taking those photos and
(18:34):
remember those special moments.
And so I'm very, very protectiveover that part of my body.
You know, if one of my handsgoes bad or one of my feet, I'll
make it, but your eyes are suchan incredibly vital.
part of happiness.
I think, you know, it's, it'sincredibly important.
Erin (18:49):
I was going to ask about double vision because I know I
started getting double visionwhen I had my children.
I see fine, but when I close oneeye or the other, I have the
double vision, right?
So I'm just, is there somethingpeople can do?
Is that more common as we age?
is there surgery for it?
Dr. Knight (19:08):
it's important to divide double vision into
different things.
So when we say double vision, weusually mean, Hey, I'm looking
with both eyes open and I'mseeing two of, truly two of
things.
two computer screens, two cups,right?
Now that usually represents amisalignment of the eye muscles.
So one eye is here, another eyeis here.
Here we're here in any directionthat for business is something
(19:34):
we approach completelydifferently, especially if it's
new in an adult, and there's avery broad differential reasons
for that to happen that I wouldthink need to be worked up.
But most people, when they saydouble vision, they're referring
to, like you mentioned, I closeone eye, I have double vision.
Different type of doubling.
You might look at print and feellike the letters don't quite
(19:56):
overlap the way they could, andthat could represent astigmatism
or That usually can be correctedwith a good refraction, glasses,
contact lenses.
But I think it's important tosplit those up, which I think,
it's hard to do, but it's notcommon to actually have true
double vision if it is thatabsolutely needs to be examined
(20:17):
pretty quickly.
Erin (20:18):
And when you have that, normally they would go in and do
like a surgery just to pull themuscle or tighten the most
muscle in whichever side.
Is that sound correct?
Dr. Knight (20:27):
Yeah.
depends on the cause.
for example, a stroke, some ofthe muscle function might be
lost because there's the nerveand the signal from the brain is
not getting there.
So the eye could be pointed inthe wrong direction.
The problem in that case, isn'tthe muscle.
There are kids who have, forexample, esotropia in their
eyes.
Come inward and they mightbenefit from a surgery to
(20:50):
realign the muscles.
So yes, but it's important thatit be worked properly to make
sure that it's the rightideology.
But yeah, we do have surgeries.
And sometimes, even in glasses,they can put prisms bring the
image, so that your brain isperceiving it coming from the
right direction.
those prisms, Can be verysubtle.
(21:12):
There's probably plenty ofpeople walking around with a
little prism in the glasses thatsomeone else might not perceive.
So again, exams yearly.
think it's a great idea.
John (21:23):
when I first get up in the morning, I, or even in the
middle of the night, I'll.
You grab my phone and just usemy phone's light on the face to
help get me to the bathroomsafely however, sometimes I'll
go into the bathroom to use thebathroom and I'll get on my
phone and that bright light, isthat really an unhealthy thing
to do?
And because, I want ourlisteners to know we got to take
(21:45):
care of our eyes.
And so, Is it smart to flip ourlight on directly and then be
faced with that immediatebrightness?
Is it smart to look at somethingin a dark room like your device?
It's really bright.
can you educate our listeners onprobably best practices when it
comes to some of that?
Dr. Knight (22:04):
Yeah, I get those questions a lot.
And I think one thing to thinkabout is our eyes don't turn off
right when we're sleeping.
Our eyes are still functioning.
It's just a connection to ourbrain.
So they are meant to be used allthe time.
You can look at them and look atobjects in the dark and dim
(22:25):
light, right?
You may not see it well, but youare not damaging the eyes.
By doing that.
So I actually, I'll tellpatients, you know, be free.
Use your eyes.
Turn that light on.
feel free.
That's what they're for.
They don't turn off.
Now that being said, as wetalked about earlier, eye
strain, you can feel very tired,fatigued, your eyes can be very
(22:48):
dry, so you may feel like youneed to rest.
I think artificial tears tomoisturize the eye is a good
idea, but I wouldn't worry toomuch about, the amount of light
and, trying to minimize being indim light or strain.
I know that was definitely aconcern that I've heard a few
times.
Erin (23:05):
is there a way to strengthen our eyes for night
vision?
Dr. Knight (23:09):
No, most people.
of course, we see better withmore light.
We get more contracts, but thereare people who in dim light
their need for glasses isslightly different, and they
might benefit from a slightlydifferent prescription for
glasses at night.
but it's not necessarilysomething we can like
strengthening work on.
not like muscle or doing pushups.
(23:30):
but I think that Probably justmaking sure that you're in the
most updated, correct refractionthat you can at all times.
I think that's probably the bestthing you could do for yourself
Erin (23:43):
So we won't send you any selfies where we're sitting in
the dark for hours going, look,we're doing it
John (23:48):
Yeah,
Erin (23:49):
we're staring at it
John (23:50):
it.
So going back for a second toartificial tears and stuff, I've
noticed that, in the newsrecently, there's been a whole
bunch of discussion about eyedrops and some of the dangers of
eye drops.
Certain eyedrops have come outon the market that you should or
shouldn't use.
And that can be very confusing Ido agree with you that our eyes
(24:10):
are very dry and it reallydepends on where you live to,
And so I'm sure those can affectthat.
Trying to make sure that wedon't buy the wrong product for
our eyes is there a few brandsthat you strongly recommend that
we should all be using or?
Dr. Knight (24:25):
I really don't have one brand in particular that I
like endorse or say is superiorto the others, but I think a lot
of the concern and somethingeasy to overlook, but any drop
that comes in.
You know, 10 milliliter bottle.
It has to have the right amountof preservatives to avoid
bacteria growing And, I think inthe news we heard when that's
(24:50):
not controlled.
it actually becomes a greatplace to grow bacteria and then
putting that in your eyes,giving yourself an infection.
and that can migrate.
So I definitely understand thefear across the public.
I think that a lot of the brandsthat are out there.
of course, not saying it thebest, but refresh or sustain,
(25:12):
like those have been around fora long time and have not really
had.
that I know of reports of theseinfections.
So I think using these kind ofbrands that are well known is
probably one way to avoid thatrisk.
And I think another categorythat I would consider is
preservative free drops aremeant to be used, single use,
(25:35):
throw them out, right?
when we keep bottles for a longtime, I've had patients pull out
a bottle and the label's etchedoff cause it's probably been
there for six months.
that's not how they're intendedto be used.
even beyond just expirationdate, usually that bottle will
give you an idea when you'resupposed to throw it out and get
a new one.
I understand that these drops,these.
Costs add up, but, you stillwant to try to function safely.
(25:58):
And I think following theguidelines that are on those
models is key.
John (26:03):
Another thing that I was curious about, is I noticed that
as I've gotten older, the whitesin my eyes have become a little
bit darker.
Sometimes maybe they look alittle bit more tan or whatever.
And I've actually seen drops outthere called bright eyes or
different things that brightenthat white.
(26:25):
are those safe to utilize orshould you not utilize those?
Is it just a naturalprogression?
Dr. Knight (26:32):
Some of it's a natural progression.
When we see the whites of oureyes, it's important to know
that's the sclera, and there's alayer on top of that, the
conjunctiva, and those bloodvessels that are within that or
between those, often are why wesay an eye looks injected or
really red and irritated, angry.
So a lot of those drops mighthelp constrict those vessels.
(26:53):
usually they're not intended tobe used chronically.
But I think a lot of peoplemight say, Well, I'm just need
them to look white tonight, wantthem to look good today.
And I think that's fine.
And it's safe.
But, of course, we don't want togo beyond what their label
indicates.
John (27:08):
How about for people that, maybe they're going through some
vanity issues and maybe theydecide to go have some eye
surgery done, upper and lowerlid surgery or whatever.
How does that affect your, youreyes ability to continue to work
the way it's supposed to work,with keeping your eyes moist and
(27:28):
taking care of it is that okayto do?
I mean.
Erin (27:31):
so you're saying that if anyone has an eye surgery,
whether it's an eyelid lift orsome, something that an injury
or whatnot, does that affecttheir eyes?
John (27:40):
Yeah.
How, you know, their tear ductsand stuff like that.
And the moisture, do you haveany recommendations to or
against that?
Dr. Knight (27:49):
Yeah, I guess the first thing is I would advise
that, anyone who's interested inplastic surgery, you just go to
someone who has lots ofexperience with the procedure,
because they'll make sure tomake those decisions that will
protect your eye.
So our eyelids, Every blinkwe're right.
We want to like have a reallynice tight closure, moisturizing
the eye.
(28:09):
So of course, if it's not donewell, creates an increased risk
of drying the eyes out or nothaving a normal blink or I think
people are concerned they mightlose vision.
But with lots of experience,they do steps to protect the
eyes during those procedures,they'll often actually have a
cover over the eye.
itself, the eyeball, whilethey're working on those lids,
(28:30):
just to protect them.
so I think it's totally safe todo those procedures.
you just, it, I think.
When professionals are doing it,they're going to make sure to
protect your eyes for you.
Erin (28:41):
So just do really good research, read the reviews, ask
people that may be of use onthat,
Dr. Knight (28:45):
I don't think anyone who's doing those surgeries will
mind if you, usually a lot ofthem will have some before and
after, like some pictures, justso that you know exactly what
you're getting and what you'relooking for.
because they are going to try toget you to the goals that you
give them.
and sometimes you might wantthat guidance too.
And I don't think they'll mindwanting you to do that.
John (29:08):
Okay.
Now, is there an age, wherewe've heard of Lasix, you know,
that came as this craze of, achunk of years back and people
were saying, Oh my gosh, I'mgoing to save up the money, get
this Lasix and then I won't haveto wear glasses.
And I'm super excited now I canreally see well, is there a
certain age that you advise?
Against that, that procedure andhow long does that procedure and
(29:30):
how helpful is it?
Dr. Knight (29:32):
Yeah, so there's no age where I say you're not
necessarily a candidate forLASIK.
There's just different agepoints where it may not get you
to your goals.
LASIK, they're using a laser,and the cornea, remember that
surface of the eye people putcontact lenses on.
The laser and differenttechniques is creating the
glasses prescription on yourcornea.
(29:53):
if you have a verystraightforward need for
glasses, you're nearsighted,sometimes they can.
Use the laser to give you that.
You no longer need glasses.
You still have the eyes youultimately started with, and
other changes can still develop.
for example, as you age, youmight develop cataracts.
The light's coming through intothe eye, through the cornea, it
still will have to get throughthat cataract.
(30:14):
The LASIK will not address that.
So if someone also hascataracts, they probably won't
get the full effect of LASIK.
for that reason, as people areolder, sometimes, They might go
and get assessed and they'llsay, I don't really recommend
LASIK for you because it's, it'snot going to treat the problem.
And when they treat thecataracts often, nowadays,
(30:34):
they're putting a lens that willgive you some of those same
effects.
They're giving you glassesinside of the eye.
So again, it may not be theright procedure for you.
Another thing is that often whatwe're complaining of as we age
is we lose our ability to adjustfrom far to reading up close.
A lot of people need readingglasses.
That is something different thatwe lose, and it's called
(30:57):
presbyopia, older eyes.
And our lens can no longeradjust as much as it once did.
We all are gradually losingthat.
But once it becomes significant,again, LASIK is just giving you
the glasses in the front of theeye.
If we aim in close, you won'tfeel quite so happy at a
distance, or vice versa.
So LASIK may not be the bestoption for someone with
(31:19):
presbyopia.
And there are options, sometimesthey'll offset the eyes between
one side, make it your readingeye, one at a distance.
There are a lot of options youcan walk with, but there comes a
tipping point where maybecataract surgery is a better
option, or LASIK might just notget you the goals, especially if
you're bothered by your loss ofreading up close.
Erin (31:38):
Are there some myths out there that you might want to
debunk?
If someone's like, Oh, I heardthis surgery or Oh, I heard
this, I think causes this.
And you're like, Whoa, hold on.
Dr. Knight (31:50):
Yeah, I think that, One of the hardest things that I
deal with as a retina specialistis in the treatments have
evolved over time, and, peopleknow someone who had that
procedure for their diabetes andthey lost all of their vision.
And, it's important tounderstand that sometimes we're
trying to treat blindingconditions, and sometimes those
(32:12):
treatments don't succeed, andpeople lose vision anyway.
It doesn't necessarily mean thattreatment's not appropriate, and
might have a different result inyou as an individual.
So, I think it's important todefinitely go online, do your
research, read up on theprocedures.
I encourage my patients to doso.
I send them, if you want towatch a video of the surgery, go
(32:35):
look at it on YouTube.
I don't mind.
I think bring that informationin.
but also understand that I thinkWe can serve as your guide to
work through that informationbecause, all information is
accessible now.
and sorting through it is, Ithink, why you go see your
professional.
Erin (32:51):
Is there any technology coming in the future that you're
super excited about?
Oh my gosh, this is going tochange the way you see things.
Cause before we used to have tocut this and open this part and
get in there and laser, but nowwe're just going to go pop and
you're done.
Dr. Knight (33:06):
Oh, yeah.
so on so many levels.
So from a medicationperspective, I treat a lot of
retinal diseases, maculardegeneration in particular.
And we have, in the past fewyears, there's been tons of new
treatments.
Then on top of that, there arebiosimilars, which are like, I
guess the equivalent of ageneric, but for these
injections where these thingsare going to be much more
accessible.
(33:27):
hopefully it would better costfor patients as well.
and that's just from themedication perspective, as far
as, detection of disease, I'm,I'm really excited for where AI
takes us, ophthalmology, there'sso many, So much imaging.
And the reality is that if wewere to be able to train it
well, it might be an incredibleassistive tool for us, where
(33:48):
they're taking pictures remotelyand we're giving people advice
hundreds of miles away on whatthey need to do for their eyes.
I think it'll help us be betterat delivering care to those who
need it most.
And I'm excited to see wherethat goes.
I think it'll be ultimately likea great assistive tool for us.
Erin (34:05):
It'd be like getting one of those little nanobytes and
you stick it in your eye and itjust goes in and goes, wouldn't
that be cool?
John (34:11):
so interesting.
You know, I, I really believe wehave a, an amazingly forgiving
God to that helps our eyesight.
get worse as we age in orderthat we don't see ourselves as
getting older because I'venoticed with myself, when I look
in the mirror, I don't see allthe wrinkles that are really
there until I throw on myglasses and I look in and I go,
(34:31):
what happened?
Who's, you know, it really lookswhen I don't have my glasses on,
everything looks softer and I'mmuch happier because
Erin (34:39):
I
John (34:39):
see that.
But,
Erin (34:40):
Oh my goodness.
Dr. Knight (34:42):
Love that.
Erin (34:43):
one thing, my advice, I'm wondering if you could give is
any of your patients or peoplethat might be dealing with eye
loss, do you have any advice forthem to help calm or ease their
world and their understanding ofwhat they may be going through?
Dr. Knight (34:58):
Yeah, I occasionally have patients who are truly
completely blind or legallyblind and I think one of the
biggest steps is to get themstarted on the process of
Accepting it and getting intothe hands of there are
professionals who deal withpatients who are low vision or
(35:18):
no vision.
That's what they do every day.
There are so many assistivetools, devices, approaches that
I am not aware of.
That is not my expertise.
you know, at least Where I am,I'll often send patients to the
Braille Institute or some ofthe, Southern California College
of Optometry has low visionexams and support for patients.
(35:40):
And I have been most impressedby how much function people are
able to get.
I think earlier you hadmentioned, a lot of losing your
eyes.
Like, how could I do anything?
Even small things like imaginepushing the buttons on the
microwave, right?
but just small things likeputting kind of print that you
(36:02):
could get the texture on thosenumbers so that those patients
can learn how to heat up theirfood themselves, cook and
prepare food for themselves.
Like they do learn how to dothese things again.
I'm not saying it's easy by anymeans.
but I think that with a lot ofsupport, a lot of.
Life can be restored for thesepatients.
(36:23):
I understand there's a lot offear, but there are a lot of
resources out there.
Erin (36:28):
That's great to know because some people may not know
that that's available, go to theBraille Institute and people can
help you with your microwavenumbers on the microwave and
just helping you set up yourroom so you can adapt to how you
walk in your room and differentthings.
John (36:44):
How important is sleep when it comes to eye health?
Dr. Knight (36:50):
getting good sleep, is very restorative for our
brains, for our eyes.
It is a natural process that weall need.
as far as our eyes themselvesand vision, I think just ties
into you want your brainfunctioning at its best.
It's got to get enough sleep.
easy to say hard to do.
I know sometimes his life getsbusy, but, that's getting
(37:12):
through those sleep cycles isreally critical, at having us at
our best function.
So, doesn't directly help youreyes in that way.
Right.
I mean, I guess.
Closing them, in that sense,will give it time to moisturize
people who have very severe dryeye.
I do have patients,occasionally, where they might
benefit from actually, like asleep mask.
Just to help keep the eyesmoist, because sometimes there's
(37:33):
an element of myopotomus wheretheir eyelids don't shut quite
as tightly as they should.
But that's not as common.
I would tell everyone you needto wear a sleep mask or anything
like that.
John (37:44):
Perfect.
All right.
Erin (37:46):
So one of my favorite things to do and John's as well
as we love to travel.
And so I'm always curious wherepeople have been or where they
would like to go.
So it can expand my knowledgeof, Oh, I got to go check this
place out or do this thing.
What do you guys have on yourlist?
Dr. Knight (38:02):
Oh, you know, I have very young kids.
Big international travel istough right now.
I don't know that we're ready tobrave it, but I, Went to
Southeast Asia and Bali once andI would love to just go back and
just really Island up this timeand just go across Indonesia.
that's one thing on my list.
I also would love to see.
(38:23):
I think they were called thesalt plants and like Argentina.
I just saw pictures and it justlooked incredible.
I don't know that I'm yourresource right now.
I don't have anything coming upquite yet.
But,
Erin (38:35):
You
John (38:35):
Yeah.
Spoke Ugh, yeah.
Dr. Knight (38:38):
and images.
I love
John (38:39):
I love that you talked about Indonesia because we spent
six weeks in Indonesia this lastyear and went to six different
islands.
And so if you ever wanted tocall us up and just have another
conversation, I mean, we went tosome of the most magical places
you could imagine.
The people there, the foodthere, the culture, the
experience was something thatreally changed my life.
(39:00):
so it was pretty amazing.
Dr. Knight (39:02):
Yeah, no, we'll definitely have to
John (39:03):
Yeah.
thank you so much.
It's been amazing.
I'm excited.
I definitely, I think the numberone thing I'm going to work on
is just keeping my eyes moremoist I'm all about health and
nutrition and fitness and reallytrying to live life optimally
and, you're one of my favoriteguests.
guess, because there's so much Ipersonally wanted to learn from
somebody like you.
(39:23):
And whenever I go see an eyedoctor, I don't remember the
right questions to ask.
Sometimes I'm just going throughthe paces.
So, so I appreciate you fortaking the time today to educate
me and Erin and
Erin (39:34):
listeners all of
John (39:35):
of our listeners.
So thank
Erin (39:36):
you.
Well, and as you age too, youknow, there's so many different
parts.
There's parts.
You got your eye.
You got your brain.
You've got your gut.
You've got your feet.
You've got so many parts andit's hard enough keeping up with
life, let alone your body.
But we really want ourlisteners, encourage them.
Just take one piece of advicefrom Dr.
Knight today, just one piece ofadvice and implement it.
(39:57):
And if that's, Hey, I'm doing myannual exams and keeping myself
in check, then that's what youdo.
And that's okay.
John (40:04):
Yeah, those are the two things that I'm going to focus
on is just keeping my eyes moremoist and then making sure that
I'm going in annually andgetting them checked.
Erin (40:12):
Or like he said, oftentimes they're silent
killers, not killers.
I shouldn't say that word.
There are silent.
Dr. Knight (40:19):
silent diseases, for sure.
I think one of the challenges, Ididn't touch on it because, you
can step on toes, but there areoptometrists who go to, go to
college, they go to optometryschool, they're ophthalmologists
or MDs, and then, people canspecialize further.
And in different points inhistory, they have not always
got along well.
(40:40):
Stepping on toes.
But I think, ultimately, likethere are so many patients,
there's more patients than thereare doctors of any type.
And I think we're all workingtowards the same goals.
And I think that anyone thatyou're seeing on the spectrum
will send you to the rightperson if they feel like they
can't provide what you need.
so going to the medicalinsurance, vision insurance,
(41:02):
that divide is actually reallychallenging for people because a
lot of times for optometry,they're coming out of pocket
completely.
Ophthalmology, typically you canuse your medical insurance, but
you may not get the prescriptionfor glasses, which is often why
people are going and it's whatthey wanted.
So it's a lot to navigate.
the system doesn't make thatpart easy, or cheap,
Erin (41:22):
Agree.
John (41:22):
thank you so much for being here today.
Erin (41:24):
thank you again.
Dr. Knight (41:26):
All right.
Thank you guys.
John (41:28):
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect
Empower.
We want to express our gratitudeto you for being part of our
community, and we hope today'sepisode has provided you with
valuable insights andinspiration to enhance your life
and that of a loved one.
Erin (41:43):
We are more than just a podcast.
We are a community dedicated toenhancing the lives of our aging
adults and their support system.
We encourage you to visit ourwebsite now at www.
connect empower.
com.
Explore more information aboutour guests from today's episode
and to access our freeresources.
John (42:04):
resources.
Our mission doesn't end at theconclusion of this episode.
We invite you to take action nowby sharing the knowledge you've
gained today with someone whomay benefit from it.
Whether it's a family member,friend, or colleague, your
influence can spark positivechange.
Erin (42:19):
Remember, Subscribing to our podcast ensures you never
miss an episode and we have moreincredible guests and resources
in store for you.
So hit that subscribe button andstay connected with us.
Your commitment is the drivingforce behind our mission and
together we can create amovement for a brighter future
as we age.
John (42:39):
I'm John.
Erin (42:40):
I'm Erin.
Until next Wednesday.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.