October 3, 2008

                                       The Sharon Kleyne Hour

Radio Talk Show – www.workdtalkradio.com

Power of Water, Global Warming and Your Health

Mind – Eyes – Skin – Body

 

Show Summary

 

Date aired: September 29, 2008

 

Guest #1 – Beth Battaglino Cahill (Red Bank, NJ), Executive Director of the National Woman’s Health Resource Center.

“Dry Eye Hot Spots – Top 100 U.S. Cities”      

Guest #2 – Bob Fuhrmann (West Yellowstone, MT), Education Director, Yellowstone National Park, WY. “Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs”

Sharon Kleyne (paraphrased): Good morning and welcome to the show. Our first guest is Beth Battaglino, Executive Director of the National Woman’s Health Resource Center, which runs an excellent website at www.HealthyWoman.org. Her group recently sponsored an excellent study where they listed the top 100 cities in the United States whose environments put them at risk for dry eye. Hello Beth, could you tell us about yourself and your organization?  

Beth Battaglino (paraphrased): My background is in business and nursing, which is ideal for my present job. My organization runs an extensive women’s health website that has won several awards and was recently voted the top women’s health website.

S: I was intrigued by your study because dry eye is very important to me. As you may know, every product my company makes deals with dry skin or dry eyes. Our product Nature’s Tears EyeMist provides all-natural supplemental moisture to soothe dry eye. Also, the show has had numerous guests talking about dry eye – Dr. Marguerite McDonald, Dr. Scott Jens, Dr. Robert Latkany and others. Could you give us your take on the dry eye problem, which had become the number one reason for visits to ophthalmologists in the U.S?

B: I know Dr. McDonald. For the study, we determined the top 100 cities with environments likely to cause or exacerbate dry eye. Number one was Las Vegas and five of the top ten were in Texas. Also high up were major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Pittsburgh and Phoenix. In California, Bakersfield, Fresno and Sacramento were ahead of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Pacific Northwest was mostly absent from the list, as were states with low populations such as Wyoming and Maine.

S: I can understand Las Vegas. It’s extremely dry and dusty from the desert and has lots of cars. When you go inside to escape the heat, you are subjected to forced-air cooling, which is also dehydrating to the eyes. The same is true in Texas. Cities like Chicago and Atlanta are on the list because they are polluted and crowded. New York City ranks a little lower, I suppose, because it has mass transportation and less heavy industry. 

B: A very good analysis.

S: I have always been concerned about the relationship between indoor air and dry eye. I believe that “techno environments,” with insulated walls and windows and forced-air heating and cooling, can be very dehydrating, and that the public should be made aware of this.

B: Most women don’t recognize dry eye symptoms. If your eyes are frequently uncomfortable or you find yourself repeatedly purchasing artificial tears, I recommend having a doctor check you for chronic dry eye. If left untreated, dry eye could damage your eye’s tear and oil producing glands, or it could permanently damage your cornea, all of which could lead to severe discomfort, other eye diseases, impaired vision and blindness.

S: You know, of course, that eye drops can be addictive and sometimes counter-productive. The eye is the only organ not protected by skin. It is protected only by the microscopically thin tear film, which is 98% water. When there isn’t enough water, the tear film doesn’t protect as well. And since eyes are closely connected to the brain, dry eye symptoms can also include headache, anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc.  

B:  That’s why it is important to have shows like yours, that get the message out. Dry eye can also be aggravated by hormonal changes in menopause, over or under-active thyroid, arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, lupus and much more.

S: What are some other symptoms?

B: Difficulty reading, finding it hard to look at computers for very long.

S: I believe that dry mouth could also be connected to dry eye.

B: That makes sense since both are symptoms of dehydration. That brings up an interesting question. A lot of medications cause dry mouth and I wonder if the same medications might also cause dry eye.

S: That’s why I advocate proactive action and self-education in this era of pollution and global drying.

B: Education is definitely critical and I love the word “proactive.” The average annual physical checkup lasts seven to eleven minutes so it’s up to each individual to do research and preparation on our own and come prepared with a list of questions.. On our website, we have a list of questions to ask doctors.

S: What does “chronic” mean?

B: It’s a condition that doesn’t go away, as opposed to “acute” or “temporary.” If your eyes are dry from medication or being outside, you probably don’t need to worry. If they’re always dry, you should probably have a doctor look at them.

S: I’d like to talk about Nature’s Tears EyeMist, for a minute, if I might. My company has been fortunate that makers of artificial tears appreciate our product. Applying Nature’s Tears first, before artificial tears or in between allowable doses, can make the artificial tears much more effective. That could prevent the impulse to overdose. Pharmaceutical companies want you to buy their products but they also want you to follow the directions and not overuse them. That’s an area of medicine called “compliance.”  

B: So compliance is better with artificial tears of you use nature’s Tears First. Interesting. You also need to be sure and drink enough water.

S: I wonder how many women have even heard of the tear film?

B: Not nearly enough. We have information about the tear film on our website.

S:  Is your website directed at all age groups?

B: Yes but I’d like to see even more emphasis on children. Women seem to be better at absorbing health education and passing it along to their children than men.

S: Any final words?

B: I’d just like to once again invite everyone to our website, which has a “Chronic Dry Eye Tool Kit” that includes a dry eye questionnaire.

S: In the U.S., an estimated 20 million people have chronic dry eye. In China and many other countries, the percentage is much higher. So on balance, the situation in the U.S. isn’t that bad. But it could be much better.

B: Our website walks you through the entire topic of dry eye. It includes lots of suggestions about car heaters, fans, air conditioning, wearing glasses on windy days, keeping a room’s humidity at  optimum levels (30 to 50 percent), etc.

S: Thank you so much and we’d love to have you back to talk about other women’s health issues. My next guest is Bob Fuhrmann, Education Director at Yellowstone National Park, who is going to tell us about Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs, a series of beautiful travertine marble terraces with hot, calcite soaked pools in them.