Michael S. Cooper, OD

Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by Borrelia bacteria which is spread by ticks. Editorial Advisory Board member Michael Cooper, OD, explains Lyme disease and the ocular conditions associated with it.

Michael Cooper, OD, takes a look at how the Japanese treat allergic conjunctivitis to gain a different perspective on treatments. What he finds is that we aren't so different after all.

Inflammation may lead to heightened peripheral sensitization and stimulation through a developing concept in which neuroimmune cross-talk causes the confounding interplay of both signs and symptoms in dry eye and allergic disease.

As an allergy sufferer myself, I tend to pore over the journals and literature to learn what new exciting technologies may be on the horizon. When I came across epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT), my mind went in a multitude of different directions about the endless possibilities for both systemic and ocular allergy management.

It is a precarious position considering the desire to find the perfect remedy- yet with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC), there is no magic bullet.

As technology leaps forward with medicine, it is prudent at times to appreciate how far we have come in managing and treating allergic eye disease. In fact, let us look back to the beginning in ancient Rome with the first recorded case of atopy. One of these authors, Suetonius, wrote with great detail in his biographical text De vita Caeserum about the distinctive lives of the first Roman emperors.

What would be the response if I told you that prescribing an allergy medication outright was a bandage or knee-jerk approach? Now, before everyone comes after me with pitchforks, hear me out.

With Earth’s climate change, both higher temperature and carbon dioxide levels have been inducing vigorous amounts of allergen production from multiple plant and tree species blooming faster than expected for at least the past 160 years.