iSight: Eye Health in the Digital Age

Technology is all pervasive in our lives these days, and with digitization, gadgets have taken over nearly all aspects of our lives. Today with the smartphone, we can literally now carry an endless source of information on a screen that fits the size of our palm and pocket. We have become so attached to the screens that it does not matter whether we are at home, at work or with friends, our eyes are glued to the screen whether we like it or not.

Our vision is among our greatest wealth and now more than ever, there is a great need to take notice, and care about our EYES!

With this concern uppermost, on 18th November 2020,  V Citizens Action Network (VCAN) organized a session of their fully-digital Social Sanchar v2.0 series to facilitate citizens interaction with Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane, Padma Shri, Ophthalmic Surgeon, Director – DMER, State of Maharashtra, on the importance of understanding that ‘the new normal is abnormal for our Eyes’ and how to take care of our vision in a digital age.

The session was broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube, with Twitter linked to the YouTube channel, and was joined by many college students & viewers across the city, and around the globe.

Smt. Indrani Malkani, Chairman & Managing Trustee of VCAN, welcomed the viewers to the Social Sanchar with a brief introduction about VCAN, mentioning its overarching objective, which is to establish effective linkages between Government and Citizens and that VCAN works in partnership with several Government Authorities. She touched upon the focus areas of VCAN’s work, the interactive Web Portal and the live interactive talk show titled TogetherVCAN’s Social Sanchars.

She shared that during these uncertain times of COVID 19, multiple anxious questions have been raised about our health.

With this in mind VCAN decided to expand their Social Sanchars with a new series called ‘Health and Wellbeing’ featuring leading Doctors and Healthcare Professionals as our Speakers.
Of course, VCAN’s regular Social Sanchar programmes, would also continue in due time.

Smt. Malkani conveyed her grateful thanks to VCAN’s Support Partner, for this Social Sanchar, Lawrence & Mayo.

She specially thanked the Student Council, the NSS Team and the Students of VCAN’s College Partner Jai Hind College and all the other *Colleges who have associated with us.

She also conveyed her appreciative thanks to Team Teknowlegion for powering the fully digital Social Sanchars and for always being vigilant and keeping VCAN’s Web portal active. She thanked VCAN’s social media consultant Mr. Sumit Lulla, colleagues and networking partners and friends in the media and all the viewers.

To see the list of *colleges, click here

Smt. Malkani thereafter invited her fellow Trustee Shri V. Ranganathan to introduce Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane.

To read the brief profile of Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane, Padma Shri click here

Post the introduction of Dr. Lahane by Shri Ranganathan, Smt. Malkani informed the viewers that several questions; both general as well as some individual patient related, had already been received and that the questions, including a set of questions received from VCAN’s networking partner CACR, which related to Municipal school children, had been passed on to Dr. Lahane for him to take up whilst making his presentation.

She then requested Dr. Lahane to give his opening remarks keeping the current situation in mind and to educate us, with respect to our Eye Health, on issues including;

• What are the appropriate guidelines for the usage of mobile and laptop usage?
• What is Digital Eye strain?
• Can digital usage lead to early cataract?
• Is COVID a factor for eye issues?
• How does contact lens affect the eyes with respect to digital usage?

Dr. Tatyarao Lahane began his presentation by showing the basic structure of the eye, and the functions of the various parts of the eye and explaining about a common condition ‘dry eye’ and what causes it. He emphasised that while this condition usually happens with age and owing to certain medical conditions, the ‘new normal’ of COVID, has now made our eyes ‘abnormal’, and this condition has also started impacting a large number of children.

He spoke about ‘CVS’, or Computer Vision Syndrome, and how increased screen time has led to digital eye strain and chronic dry eye. However, CVS is not just caused by computers, but can be caused by any screen and symptoms include itchy eyes, blurred vision, eye fatigue and dryness. Even air conditioning, and prolonged exposure to low humidity chilled areas can exacerbate dry eye conditions.

Dr. Lahane gave some tips to reduce dry eye including using lubricating eye drops, blinking more often, scaling font on the computer to reduce strain, reducing glare, doing eye exercises and so on. He also gave the 20-20-20 rule – every twenty minutes, look away from your computer for twenty seconds, and be at least twenty feet away.

Importantly, he emphasised the significance of consuming the appropriate food items which can facilitate tear production, and which include sources of omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil, almonds), fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins A and E. Dr. Lahane recommended avoiding meat, fats and carbohydrates. He concluded his presentation with instructions on when to contact a professional.

The opening remarks by Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane and his presentation were detailed and answers to many questions were addressed, please see the Video to get a comprehensive understanding.

Thereafter the Q & A session was started.

Dr. Lahane’s presentation and Q&A starts at 9:40 minutes click here

Click here to view the PDF version of the Presentation of Dr. Lahane

At the end of the exhaustive session, Smt. Malkani and Shri. Ranganathan thanked Dr. Tatyarao Lahane for his detailed and informative presentation and clear responses.
Smt. Malkani informed the viewers that questions that would have been received during the session and could not be taken up, will be sent to Dr. Lahane and the answers will be later published with a link in the Report on VCAN’s Web Portal.

With this, Smt. Malkani closed the session, confirming that there was a necessity to create community awareness on Eye Health in the Digital Age.
An online memento of appreciation on behalf of VCAN was presented by Smt. Malkani to Dr. Lahane.

Smt. Malkani then thanked VCAN’s Trustees, Support Partner Lawrence and Mayo, Jai Hind College and the viewers for joining the session and ended the digital Social Sanchar.

To view the video of the session, click here

To view the PPT** of Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane, click here

**Please be advised, the information in the presentation was prepared by Dr. Tatyarao Pundlikrao Lahane, Padme Shri, Ophthalmic Surgeon, Director – Directorate Medical Education and Research, State of Maharashtra  India, and was presented at the TogetherVCAN’s Social Sanchar held on 18th November 2020.
All Rights are reserved with the Author and due acknowledgement is to be given to the Author should this presentation in part or in full be used by anyone anywhere. The contents of the slideshow presentation are by the Author and not by VCAN.
The presentation file is lengthy, therefore please wait for it to be fully downloaded before clicking on individual slides. It is advisable to use Google Chrome to download the presentation