Our Lady of the New Millennium at Casa Italia, Stone Park, Il

Learning Italian

I'm about to embark on a new adventure....I'm going to try to learn Italian using an online verison of the Rosetta Stone software. I just ordered some headphones and will start the learning experience shortly. Now you should know that the last time I tried to learn a language (high school/college/German) I failed miserably...interms of actually learning the language....so this is going to be a challenge...

Data from the retrospective study that spanned between 1976 and 1997 indicated that there were no significant differences in overall GI symptom preval

...Data from the retrospective study that spanned between 1976 and 1997 indicated that there were no significant differences in overall GI symptom prevalence as defined by three of five diagnostic categories — including diarrhea; abdominal bloating, discomfort or irritability; and gastroesophageal reflux or vomiting — between a matched control group and 121 patients aged younger than 21. These patients lived in Olmstead County, Minn., and met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for autism...

The autism and vaccines decision may help curtail pending lawsuits

...In February, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program rejected the petition of three test cases alleging that autism spectrum disorders were caused by the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and/or mercury-containing compounds. This will undoubtedly influence the decision of the more than 5,000 cases pending. ...These decisions were based on testimony of 28 medical experts, 50 expert reports and more than 500 pages of transcripts and briefs that cited 9,000 scientific articles. One cannot deny that the hearings were thorough and fair....

Building a comprehensive child vision care system

...Even though universal comprehensive eye exams for children prior to starting school would result in more children being diagnosed and successfully treated for vision problems and eye diseases, requirements vary widely from state to state and only three states require eye examinations for school-age children, according to a new report from the National Commission on Vision and Health....

..."This report finds that vision screenings are not the most effective way to determine vision problems," said Deborah Klein Walker, EdD., principal author of the report and past-president of the American Public Health Association. "Screenings missed finding vision conditions in one-third of children with a vision problem and most of the children who are screened and fail the screening don't receive the follow-up care they need. This, despite the fact that many of the vision problems affecting children can be managed or even eliminated if they receive proper care right away." ...
...Studies indicate that one in four children have an undetected vision problem. Additionally, a quarter of school-age children suffer from vision problems that could have been addressed or eliminated if appropriate eye assessment programs and follow-up care had been in place when they started school....

Comments: OK ophthalmology....OK pediatricians...it is past time that you changed your tune regarding vision screening vs comprehensive eye examinations. This report fully supports examinations...in fact...if you search this blog...you will find research that says the research about vision screenings is so poor that they can't tell if screenings are doing what they are supposed to do or not!! Support full, comprehensive eye examines for every child in every state. It's the least we can do to make sure our children receive the eye care they need and deserve. Go to http://www.visionandhealth.org/documents/Child-Vision-Report.pdf for the full report. DM

Alzheimer's Research & Therapy

This is a new, full text journal available on line. If you are interested in Alzheimer's....this may be a must read for you. DM

Face inversion effects in autism: a combined looking time and pupillometric study.

Falck-Ytter T Face inversion effects in autism: a combined looking time and pupillometric study..Autism Res. 2008 Oct;1(5):297-306.

Previous research has found that in typically developing individuals, behavioral performance declines and electrophysiological brain responses are altered when the face is inverted. Such effects are generally attributed to disruption of configural information. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been found to show less pronounced inversion effects, a result in line with the view that featural processing of faces is enhanced in ASD. No study has determined if, or how, such local bias is reflected in the eye movements used in face observation. In this eye tracking study, looking time and pupil dilation were investigated during the presentation of upright and inverted faces in preschool children with ASD and typically developing preschoolers. On average, both children with ASD and typically developing children looked less at the face and the eye areas during inverted presentations than during upright presentations. Nevertheless, individuals with ASD had a stronger tendency than typically developing children to look at the same face features during upright and inverted presentations, which is suggestive of a local bias. Pupil dilation, reflecting increased processing load, was larger for inverted than upright faces in the ASD group only, and pupillary inversion effects were stronger in ASD than in typically developing children.

Specific impairment of face-processing abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder using the Let's Face It! skills battery.

Wolf JM, Tanaka JW, Klaiman C, Cockburn J, Herlihy L, Brown C, South M, McPartland J, Kaiser MD, Phillips R, Schultz RT. Specific impairment of face-processing abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder using the Let's Face It! skills battery.Autism Res. 2008 Dec;1(6):329-40.

Although it has been well established that individuals with autism exhibit difficulties in their face recognition abilities, it has been debated whether this deficit reflects a category-specific impairment of faces or a general perceptual bias toward the local-level information in a stimulus. In this study, the Let's Face It! Skills Battery [Tanaka & Schultz, 2008] of developmental face- and object-processing measures was administered to a large sample of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing children. The main finding was that when matched for age and IQ, individuals with ASD were selectively impaired in their ability to recognize faces across changes in orientation, expression and featural information. In a face discrimination task, ASD participants showed a preserved ability to discriminate featural and configural information in the mouth region of a face, but were compromised in their ability to discriminate featural and configural information in the eyes. On object-processing tasks, ASD participants demonstrated a normal ability to recognize automobiles across changes in orientation and a superior ability to discriminate featural and configural information in houses. These findings indicate that the face-processing deficits in ASD are not due to a local-processing bias, but reflect a category-specific impairment of faces characterized by a failure to form view-invariant face representations and discriminate information in the eye region of the face.

Illinois College of Optometry PSA

PRO AV Announces 15 Winners of its Second Annual Spotlight Awards

...Best Education AV Project (Under $250K) Illinois College of Optometry, Third Floor Eye Labs (Chicago) AV Integrator: United Visual Inc., Itasca, Ill. Architect/Designer: Jensen & Halstead Ltd, Chicago ...


Comments: If you haven't seen our EyePod on the third floor of the Illinos College of Optometry....well, it's awesome! No wonder it's an award winner. DM

Pessimism Hazardous to Women’s Health

...Optimistic women had a 9 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14 percent lower risk of dying from any cause after more than eight years of follow-up. Women with a high degree of cynical hostility, on the other hand, were 16 percent more likely to die during eight years of follow-up...

Comments: Alright now! Be optimistic! DM

Drug and herb interactions

...Many of the websites found in this study provided limited information
and limited searchability. We found seven webistes out of 100 that
met our selection criteria. A web portal, with risk categorisation of
mild, moderate and severe for drug-herb interactions, can assist
doctors in clinical decision making. Maximum benefits could be
obtained by working corroboratively with the Therapeutic Goods
Administration....

Comments: We should remind all our patients...that just because it's "natural" doesn't mean it's safe! All mushrooms are "natural" .... some natually contain belladonna....but you could die from eating this natural very organic fungus! Full text of article is available by clicking on the title above...

The article suggests these sites and more...

http://www.naturaldatabase.com/(S(dltre1vp0upgc355bpnpy12y))/home.aspx?tab=2

http://www.drugdigest.org/wps/portal/ddigest

http://www.herbmed.org/

http://www.imgateway.net/page.jsp?demoProfRef=ProfLookups_Herbs

Enjoy! DM






DM

Chinese Acupuncture Affects Brain's Ability To Regulate Pain

...researchers at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center showed acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals - specifically the cingulate, insula, caudate, thalamus and amygdala. ... Opioid painkillers, such as morphine, codeine and other medications, are thought to work by binding to these opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. ... "The increased binding availability of these receptors was associated with reductions in pain," says Richard E. Harris, Ph.D....

School children sufficiently apply life supporting first aid: a prospective investigation

Abstract

Introduction
The usefulness of CPR training in schools has been questioned because young students may not have the physical and cognitive skills needed to correctly perform such complex tasks correctly.

Methods
In pupils, who received six hours of CPR training from their teachers during a standard school semester at four months post training the following outcome parameters were assessed: CPR effectiveness, AED deployment, accuracy in checking vital signs, correctness of recovery position, and whether the ambulance service was effectively notified. Possible correlations of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and outcome parameters were calculated.

Results
Of 147 students (mean age 13 ± 2 years), 86% performed CPR correctly. Median depth of chest compressions was 35 mm (inter quartile range (IQR) 31 to 41), and the median number of compressions per minute was 129 bpm (IQR 108 to 143). Sixty nine percent of the students tilted the mannequin head sufficiently for mouth to mouth resuscitation, and the median air volume delivered was 540 ml (IQR 0 to 750). Scores on other life supporting techniques were at least 80% or higher. Depth of chest compressions showed a correlation with BMI (r = 0.35; P < r =" 0.38;" r =" 0.31;" p =" 0.0002)">

Conclusions
Students as young as 9 years are able to successfully and effectively learn basic life support skills including AED deployment, correct recovery position and emergency calling. As in adults, physical strength may limit depth of chest compressions and ventilation volumes but skill retention is good.

Comments: Click on title for full paper. DM

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

Are you interested in sports vision....how about sports and nutrition? You might want to check out this open access journal today:

The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) is a peer-reviewed journal that covers various aspects of sports nutrition, supplementation, exercise metabolism, and/or scientific policies related to sports nutrition. The journal is designed to keep members of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and the public up to date on the latest advances in sport nutrition.

The impact of garlic on lipid parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis

...Garlic reduces TC to a modest extent, an effect driven mostly by the modest reductions in TAG, without appreciable LDL lowering or HDL elevation. Higher baseline line TC levels and the use of dietary modification may alter the effect of garlic on these parameters. Future studies should be conducted evaluating the impact of adjunctive garlic therapy with fibrates or statins on TAG concentrations....

Comments: Since I'm Italian and have been known to eat a bit of garlic from time to time...it's good to know it can help keep my cholesterol down a bit! DM

Self Administered Cognitive Screening Test ™ for Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease: Cross Sectional Study

Self Administered Cognitive Screening Test ™ for Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease: Cross Sectional Study

Jeremy Brown, consultant neurologist, George Pengas, clinical research fellow, Kate Dawson, research nurse, Lucy A Brown, honorary research assistant, Philip Clatworthy, clinical research fellow 1 Department of Neurology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ Correspondence to: J Brown [email protected]

Objective To evaluate a cognitive test, the TYM ("test your memory"), in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Design Cross sectional study.
Setting Outpatient departments in three hospitals, including a memory clinic.

Participants
540 control participants aged 18-95 and 139 patients attending a memory clinic with dementia/amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Intervention Cognitive test designed to use minimal operator time and to be suitable for non-specialist use.

Main outcome measures
Performance of normal controls on the TYM. Performance of patients with Alzheimer’s disease on the TYM compared with age matched controls. Validation of the TYM with two standard tests (the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and the Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination-revised (ACE-R)). Sensitivity and specificity of the TYM in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Results
Control participants completed the TYM with an average score of 47/50. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease scored an average of 33/50. The TYM score shows excellent correlation with the two standard tests. A score of <= 42/50 had a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 86% in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The TYM was more sensitive in detection of Alzheimer’s disease than the mini-mental examination, detecting 93% of patients compared with 52% for the mini-mental state ex[x]amination. The negative and positive predictive values of the TYM with the cut off of <=42 were 99% and 42% with a prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease of 10%. Thirty one patients with non-Alzheimer dementias scored an average of 39/50.
Conclusions The TYM can be completed quickly and accurately by normal controls. It is a powerful and valid screening test for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

[Link to the free TYM test pdf]

© Brown et al 2009
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
© 2009 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Comments: Here is a quick and easy test to administer to your patients to evaluate the likelihood of the presences of Alzheimers disease. Please download this for your patients to use. DM

Dose-response relationship of inhaled corticosteroids and cataracts: A systematic review and meta-analysis

...The risk of cataracts was increased by approximately 25% for each 1000 µg per day increase in the dose of beclomethasone dipropionate or equivalent. These findings reinforce the importance of prescribing within the therapeutic dose-response range for ICS in asthma and the need to determine the dose-response relationship for the efficacy of ICS in COPD. Screening for the presence of cataracts could usefully be undertaken in older subjects with asthma and COPD, particularly current or ex-smokers.....

Comments: I would suggest that all children and teens using steroid enhalers also be evaluated frequently for the presence of cataract. DM

Cognitive Deficits Common at Onset of Seizures

...Risk factors associated with the development of neuropsychological deficits included:

Multiple seizures, OR 1.96 (95% CI 1.46 to 3.31)
Use of antiepileptic drugs, OR 2.27 (95% CI 1.35 to 3.84)
Symptomatic/cryptogenic etiology, OR 2.15 (95% CI 1.29 to 3.56)
Epileptiform activity on an initial EEG, OR 1.90 (95% CI 1.15 to 3.12)

A child with all four risk factors was three times more likely than healthy siblings to exhibit deficits in language, processing speed, verbal memory and learning, and attention/executive/construction factors, the researchers said....

Urban raccoons may pose a health risk to children

From AOA First Look:

MedPage Today (8/12, Smith) reported, "Urban raccoons" may "pose a health risk to children," according to a paper appearing in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Wheaton College researchers explained that the "risk arises from the animals' habit of creating latrines that many animals use regularly." And, "if the animal is infected with a parasite known as Baylisascaris procyonis," which is "spread via the fecal-oral route," children who come in contact with it can potentially develop "serious and sometime fatal neurological illness." In fact, the "larvae migrate through the body -- including the eyes and brain -- where they form granulomas that can cause severe and permanent damage." Specifically, "in cases where the larvae have encysted in the brain -- neural larva migrans -- the complications range from mild central nervous system symptoms, such as mood changes and lethargy, to late-stage symptoms, including blindness, paralysis, and seizures." Although the "disease, dubbed baylisascariasis, is rare (only 14 reported US cases in the past 30 years), it's still an important public health issue because of the seriousness of the disease."

Gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis appears promising, research suggests.

From AOA First Look:

HealthDay (8/12, Preidt) reported that, according to a study published in the Aug. online edition of Human Gene Therapy and in a letter to the editor in the Aug. 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, "gene therapy for an inherited form of blindness," called Leber congenital amaurosis, "shows promise." Researchers from the National Eye Institute conducted a phase I trial that "included three patients, aged 22, 24 and 25, with a form of Leber congenital amaurosis caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene," the "proper functioning of" which "is required for the production of a retina-specific form of vitamin A that's required for light-sensitive photoreceptor cells to function." The investigators "injected healthy copies of the RPE65 gene under the retina in the eyes of the participants, who'd been legally blind since birth."
Notably, the "three patients with mutations in the gene encoding retinal pigment epithelium-specific 65-kD protein had improved vision within weeks of subretinal injection of" the "gene-containing vector into one eye," MedPage Today (8/12, Bankhead) reported. The "gene therapy for Leber's congenital amaurosis led to unexpected late improvement in vision, apparently by inducing development of a pseudofovea." MedPage Today pointed out that "Leber's congenital amaurosis is the first human genetic disease of the retina to show improved vision in response to treatment." The authors suggested that the study's "results raise the possibility that this gene-based therapy may further improve visual function in an unexpected and useful way in previously untreated congenital blindness."
In the Time (8/12) Wellness blog, Laura Blue noted "an unexpected benefit of the gene therapy. After treatment, vision may continue to improve with time -- because the brain can re-wire itself to better accommodate the new site of perception." In a sign of its "remarkable plasticity," the brain made "more effective use of the signal it now receives from the treated part of the eye."
Reuters (8/13, Emery) illustrates that point, noting that one patient has had her vision improve so much that she can now read a digital clock display in her parent's automobile. The UK's Telegraph (8/13, Devlin) also covers the story.

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Have Impaired Balance Function: Involvement of Somatosensory, Visual, and Vestibular Systems

Selina B.M. Shum, MSc, Marco Y.C. Pang, PhD Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Have Impaired Balance Function: Involvement of Somatosensory, Visual, and Vestibular Systems Journal of Pediatrics Volume 155, Issue 2, Pages 245-249 (August 2009)

Children with ADHD-C had significant deficits in standing balance performance in all conditions that included a disruption of sensory signals. The visual system tends to be more involved in contributing to the balance deficits in children with ADHD-C than the somatosensory and vestibular systems.

Babies’ brains ‘reach’ for toys, study shows

...The look of amazement in the eyes of an infant suggests the wheels are churning away inside that noggin. New research confirms they are. Scientists have shown that when 9-month-olds watch people reach for objects, the motor region in their brains gets activated, as if the babies were doing the reaching themselves.
The brain ability is likely due to so-called mirror neurons, which fire both when we do an action ourselves, and when we watch others do a similar action. While such neurons have only been directly measured in monkeys, scientists think they exist in adult humans, and now in infants. ...

Make Eye Exams Part of the Back to School Routine | SciVee

Make Eye Exams Part of the Back to School Routine SciVee

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Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr. Mike Earley with the American Optometric Association help parents and teachers understand the importance of comprehensive eye exams and the risks that vision impairments can pose to a child’s health and education.

Back to School Eye Exams

From the MomFormation Blog: There’s a new Illinois law requiring children entering kindergarten at public schools to have vision exams. It turns out, though, that even big boys like mine who transfer into public school need to have exams, too.

Does your child need a back to school eye exam?

...Here's some things to look for if you think your child could have a vision problem:
*Losing their place when they read.
*Taking a long time to do homework
*Reversing letters*Trouble focusing/short attention span
*Trouble with reading comprehension....

Comments: See video by clicking title above. Are you now convinced that taking your child to your family optometrist BEFORE school starts is a good idea? I hope so! DM

Lots of Schoolkids Squint to See Chalkboard

...More than 20 percent of kids aged 12 to 17 have trouble seeing the classroom chalkboard....of ...1,500 children surveyed, more than 25 percent of the teen age group complained of headaches, even though 45 percent of them wore some type of prescription eyewear. About 25 percent of children aged 6 to 11 wear prescription glasses, ... Eye problems among children increase with age.The most common vision problem in older children was nearsightedness (myopia),.....All children should have their vision checked regularly, according to Prevent Blindness America. Unfortunately, more than 66 percent of those under the age of 6 have never had their eyes examined by an eye doctor,..."The good news is that most common eye problems in older children, including myopia, can be effectively treated if diagnosed early. We urge all parents and caregivers to have their child's vision checked regularly to promote a lifetime of healthy vision.....

Comments: Why do we not treat this as a national health crisis? If 20% of any other population had health problems it would be in the news constantly. Do we care so little for our children? Do parents have so little understanding of what's at stake that they do not take their children in for comprehensive eye examinations? What about those individuals with headaches? Have they ever had a complete work up of the binocular vision system? Accommodative (focusing) problems have been shown to cause many symptoms...including headache. The greatest return on health care invested dollar would be to have all children examined on a regular basis. We can hand out $$$ to banks and car companies, but cannot support eye and vision care for our little ones. This is quite sad. DM

Psychologists Find That Those With Lots Of Working Memory Are Not Easily Distracted

...Based on a study of 84 students divided into four separate experiments, University of Oregon researchers found that students with high memory storage capacity were clearly better able to ignore distractions and stay focused on their assigned tasks...

Visual Processing 'Hinders Ability' To Read Body Language: Autism Study

...The research showed that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) found it difficult to identify emotions, such as anger or happiness, from short video clips of body movements without seeing faces or hearing sound. ...

Mainos Memos Featured Blog on AOA Website

The American Optometric Association News From AOA website (http://newsfromaoa.org/) has chosen Mainos Memos to be prominently displayed on the site. The Mainos Memos blog offers the very latest research in eye and vision care of children, those with disabilities and more. It is maintained by Dominick M. Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A, Professor of Pediatrics/Binocular Vision at the Illinois Eye Institute/Illinois College of Optometry, private practitioner in Harwood Heights, Il. , author of hundreds of articles, international lecturer and editor of Optometry & Vision Development.

Effects of convergent strabismus on the development of physiologically identified retinogeniculate axons in cats

Effects of convergent strabismus on the development of physiologically identified retinogeniculate axons in cats by: P. E. Garraghty, A. W. Roe, Y. M. Chino, M. Sur The Journal of Comparative Neurology, Vol. 289, No. 2. (1989), pp. 202-212.

We have studied the effects of surgically induced convergent strabismus (esotropia) on the morphological development of retinogeniculate X and Y axon arbors in cats. ....Our data demonstrate that while X axon arbors are relatively normal, the arbors of Y axons are profoundly affected by rearing with strabismus. Y axons, whether originating from the deviated or the nondeviated eye, have substantially smaller arbors and fewer boutons in the A-laminae of the lateral geniculate nucleus compared to Y axons in normal cats. .... These results suggest that the postnatal development of retinogeniculate Y axon arbors in the A-laminae is strongly influenced by abnormalities in postnatal visual experience. Furthermore, ... in addition to intraocular competitive interactions between X and Y axons previously proposed to account for the effects of other rearing conditions, interactions between afferents from the two eyes must also be involved in the development of at least Y axons.

Seeing in Class - More Than One In Five 12 to 17-Year-Olds Have Trouble

...VSP® Vision Care and Prevent Blindness America announced today the results of their joint nationwide survey of nearly 1,500 participants. The study revealed more than one in five 12 to 17-year-olds have difficulty seeing the classroom whiteboard/chalkboard, with more than one in four complaining of headaches. These complaints are noted even though nearly half (45 percent) of the children in this age group reported wearing some type of prescription eyewear.

“The survey provides a clear example of why regular eye exams are so important as children progress in school.” said Gary Brooks, VSP Vision Care President. “Most parents probably assume once a prescription is given, there isn’t a need for further follow up. However, the survey results reinforce the need for regular eye exams as kids’ eyes continue to change and adapt. There are growing demands on their vision as they advance academically. The headaches the older children are experiencing may be a natural result of their eyes experiencing more strain and stress but not receiving updated prescriptions to accommodate the changes.”

Additional findings of the survey show that:

§ Almost two-thirds (66 percent) of children under the age of six have never had an eye exam by an eye doctor.

§ One in four 6 to 11-year-olds wears prescription glasses.

§ The prevalence of common eye conditions, as reported by parents, increases with the child’s age.

The most common vision problem in older children is nearsightedness, also called myopia. ...

Comment: Have your child's eyes examined today. DM

Polypharmacy and the lack of oculo-visual complaints from those with mental illness and dual diagnosis.

Robert J. Donati, Ph.D., Dominick M. Maino, O.D., M.Ed., Heidi Bartell, O.D., Mindi Kieffer, O.D. Polypharmacy and the lack of oculo-visual complaints from those with mental illness and dual diagnosis. 2009;Volume 80, Issue 5, Pages 249-254

Abstract

Background Individuals with mental illness (MI) and intellectual disability (ID) are characterized as dually diagnosed (DD). These individuals are known to have numerous systemic and oculo-visual anomalies. This comorbidity of conditions should elicit frequent oculo-visual complaints from these patients during the initial review of systems. A search of MedLine yielded one article that was published on oculo-visual symptomology/pain associated with MI and DD. This report appears to be the first to assess the frequency of these symptoms within these 2 unique populations.

Methods
A retrospective analysis of all medical records for patients (N = 202) evaluated at the Neumann Association (NA) Developmental Disabilities Service of the Illinois Eye Institute was completed. Only the records of patients who had either MI or DD and who were prescribed antipsychotics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or tranquilizers/anxiolytics were used for our analysis. Upon record review, 89.9% of MI and 59.4% of DD individuals met the above subject criteria. We determined the frequency of ocular anomalies, drugs taken, and complaints reported by patients during the initial review of systems.
Results
The most common documented side effects for the targeted drug types were decreased or blurred vision (near or far), visual hallucinations, decreased accommodation, and eyelid/conjunctiva irregularities. In our sample, the most frequent ocular anomalies encountered were astigmatism (50% MI and 37.84% DD), myopia (60.71% MI and 62.16% DD), presbyopia (35.71% MI and 37.84%DD), and blepharitis (32.14% MI and 32.43%DD). Additionally, the most frequently encountered complaints were no complaints (45.16% MI and 46.84% DD), blurry vision (17.74% MI and 17.72% DD), and need new glasses (11.29% MI and 17.72% DD).

Conclusions
It has been established that MI and DD populations exhibit a higher incidence of oculo-visual anomalies (uncorrected refractive error, binocular vision anomalies, ocular pathology) than noted in the general population. They are also typically taking 1 or more neuropsychotropic medications that are frequently associated with undesirable visual side effects. Individuals with MI and DD should report numerous complaints associated with the medications they take and the oculo-visual anomalies they exhibit during the initial case history and the review of systems. The data from this study suggest that this is not the case and that only about 50% of those who should have complaints actually report them.

The Artists of Casa Italia Summer Exhibition 2009

The Artists of Casa Italia Summer Exhibition 2009 was a huge success! Friends, family and lovers of art came from all over Chicago-land to view the exhibition and meet the artists. Italian American artists from the Chicago area and internationally came to show their work. Enjoy! Buon appetito! Magnifica Arte! Pittura, Scultura, Potografia!