LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — New York Giants receiver Amani Toomer used to snicker and scoff when he’d notice pro athletes traipsing around town with personal bodyguards. He isn’t laughing now. Not after hearing about various violent episodes involving NFL players, the latest being when teammate Plaxico Read more

Leonardo Da Vinci had a vision. His insight was for improved vision for people with less than perfect sight. He delved into the science of light and sight and devised a solution to eye defects. What was that science? How did Da Vinci come up with those conclusions? How did he envision the contact lens? We’ll answer those questions here with a look at how contact lenses work.

Perfect vision occurs when light rays converge at a point directly on the retina . If light rays fail to hit that point at exactly the same point, then vision becomes blurry. So the purpose of corrective lenses is to refocus light rays so they do converge at that point on the retina.

There are a number of common eye, or vision defects. Two of the most common are myopia, or short-sightedness, and hyperopia, or long-sightedness. People with myopia can see clearly up close but not at a distance. Those with hyperopia see better at a distance than close up and sometimes experience difficulty bringing their vision into sharp, clear focus for reading and other close-up activities.

A couple of other well-known irregular eye conditions are astigmatism and presbyopia. A person with astigmatism has an irregularly-shaped cornea, which causes light images to focus on two separate points in the eye. Presbyopia is commonly known as an “ageing eye”. In this condition the eye loses its ability to shift focus between far and near objects. An example of difficulty caused by this condition is shifting focus between the road and the speedometer while driving.

So these are the problems that could arise with someone’s sight. However, with advancing contact lens technology, most common vision conditions can be treated with contact lenses, and in the last few years, many more options have been made available for treating each kind of problem.

Contact lenses are small, thin transparent discs, designed to sit on your cornea and correct your vision. You’d think that something that just rests on top of your eye would fall out, but not so. The moisture in your eyes acts as an adhesive, keeping the lenses in place.

The actual shape of your contact lenses is determined by the actual shape of your eye. Of course, they have to be uniform, if the lens is to stay in place. So the inner surface of the lens is fit to the shape of your eye.

The purpose of contact lenses is the same as eyeglasses – to correct vision defects. Many people find wearing eyeglasses a problem. Removing them and putting them on constantly throughout the day, as well as having them slide down their nose or fogging up in the wintertime, can be most frustrating. But with the creation of the contact lens, people could have the vision correction they needed without the hassle of eyeglasses.

In the beginning, the first modern-day contact lenses were made of hard plastic, which was hard on the eyes and required a lot of maintenance to prevent irritation of the eye. A saline solution was applied frequently to keep the eyes moist.

Then came the development of soft flexible contact lenses. The range of possibilities expanded.

Soft contact lenses are made from a gel-like plastic that contains from a good percentage of water. Being softer, they’re more comfortable. And they last longer, too, some for up to a year with proper care.

Contact lens use is widespread these days. The industry is creating more and more different types and uses of contact lenses. Check with your ophthalmologist or optometrist to see which contact lens is best for your lifestyle!

Contact lenses! Would you believe, way back in 1508, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched and described several forms of contact lenses?

Although the idea of contact lenses had been developed, the technology had not. Step by step, the process was built through the years, from spectacles to today’s contact lenses. Let’s look at each of those steps.

1632 – A French philosopher, Ren Descartes, added to his deep reasonings, the idea of a corneal contact lens. 1704 – A French surgeon, Jean Mry, presented a paper to the French Royal Academy of Sciences, reporting that, by submerging the head of a living cat in water, the irregularities of the surface of the cornea were flattened by the water. We’re not sure how he came up with this idea – and we may not want to know! However, the discovery here was that the living eye could be neutralized, or corrected, and that is an essential part of optical contact systems. 1801 – Thomas Young, with his medical education, did experiments with light and glass. His conclusion resulted in the development of Descartes idea – a -inch long, water-filled glass tube, which contained a microscopic lens at the outer end. He used this to correct his own vision. 1827 – An English astronomer, Sir John Herschel, introduced the idea of grinding a contact lens to conform exactly to the eye’s surface. 1887 – A German glassblower, F.E. Muller, manifested Sir John Herschel’s idea into an actual glass lens that covered the entire eye. 1888 – A. Eugen Fick, a Swiss physician, and Edouard Kalt, a French optician, simultaneously, but independently, used contact lenses to correct optical defects.

A number of years went by until the technology was developed to create the contact lenses as we know them today. But finally, in 1929, a physician, perfected a method of making molds of living eyes and using them to form lenses that fit exactly to the shape of the eye.

Then the United States got into the act – the first hard plastic contact lenses made in America and they were quite bothersome and could only be tolerated for about 4 hours at which point they had to be removed to replace the saline solution that filled the space between the eye and the lens.

As time progressed, so did the science of contact lenses. 1950 marked the beginning of the modern-day contact lens. A buffer solution was no longer needed, so the lenses could be worn all day.

Up to this point, contact lenses had been made of hard plastic. Then, in 1960, a change came – the soft, water-absorbing plastic contact lens and it was so inexpensive that he envisioned they could be worn on a disposable basis.

Nearly every year, there was a new development since 1971 and here’s how fast technology was developing new creations:

1978 – toric contact lens ( for astigmatism) 1979 – rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens 1980 – tinted daily-wear soft contact lens 1981 – extended-wear soft contact lens 1982 – bifocal daily-wear soft contact lens 1983 – tinted RGP contact lens 1986 – extended-wear RGP contact lens 1987 – disposable soft contact lens 1987 – soft contact lens that changes eye color 1987 – multipurpose lens care products 1991 – planned replacement contact lens 1991 – daily-wear 2-week replacement contact lens 1992 – disposable tinted contact lens 1995 – daily disposable contact lens 1995 – RGP contact lens with low silicone content 1996 – disposable contact lens with ultra-violet absorber

There are a number of different types of soft contact lenses. Here are some of the most common:

Disposable lenses – replaced every day, every few weeks or every few months Daily-wear lenses – removed nightly Oxygen permeables (RPGs) – transmit oxygen; they don’t contain water, so they resist deposits and bacteria Color-tinted lenses – change the natural eye color Disposable contact lenses with ultra-violet absorber – protects against the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. These are the most common types of contact lenses. There are also some specialty contact lenses used for special effects in movies. As time goes on, there’ll be many more…Do the research!

As a responsible person with a financial obligations and a family, you certainly realize your need for insurance. Your goal is to purchase the right amount of insurance. If you’re over insured, you’re paying too much. But that is not as dangerous as being underinsured.

There is a simple equation to assist in determining your life cover needs. Your total cover = needs in the short term + needs in the long term – resources. The steps now listed will serves a guide in analyzing your needs. Remember, however, this formula is only approximate, so think carefully when deciding on a policy purchase.

Add short-term needs up which are immediate needs you family has if your death should occur and this falls into either the final expenses, outstanding debt, or emergency expenses category.

Medical expenses a result of your fatality, funeral expenses, attorney and executor fees, probate court costs and any outstanding taxes you would be obligated are termed as final Expenses. usage of Credit cards, vehicle loans, and education loans are outstanding debts. Emergency expenses such as medical treatment and emergencies, house renovations and repair, etc are cash reserve. you will have to overvalue the final expense as none can judge absolute hidden and crisis expenses.

Long-term needs: By using mortgage/rent amount and college Fees you can now calculate your long term obligations.

Operating expenses: Next determine your family’s normally budgeted operating expenses. This will include necessities like childcare, groceries, clothing, utilities, entertainment, and transportation for one year. Multiply this figure by the number of years you want your insurance to cover these expenses. Add the totals of these three expense categories together.

After figuring out how much your family needs to earn, you can begin looking for those resources needed. Consider the sum of your available savings, investments, the insurance payout for death benefits if any is offered at work. Also, see if your family qualifies for any government assistance programs.

The list needs to consider only liquid assets, not items like the home or car. If you had to sell these items to meet you expenses, the lifestyle of your family would really change.

The bottom line: Take the income necessary to meet your family’s full financial obligations and subtract from it your concrete resources to obtain a guideline for the amount of life insurance cover you will need.

U have to be insured adequately and this analysis should be taken every three years.Adding a new baby will cause you to readjust for childcare. Also college tuition expences is very high.when you are paying this u should remember the payment because the balance decreases with every paymen.

Acne is a relatively common skin condition that typically starts around puberty, in fact about 80-85% of people will suffer from some degree of acne during their teenage years and this frequently continues into adulthood. Unfortunately we are not yet aware of the precise causes of acne and there is no single cure which works for everyone. There are however a variety of tried and tested treatments which can help or even completely eradicate the condition.

So, what exactly is acne? Basically acne is a disease which causes spots and redness on the skin, most often on the face, neck, chest and back. These spots can be either whiteheads, blackheads, red or yellow spots or hard red swellings just below the surface of the skin. It occurs when the little glands below the surface of the skin produce too much sebum. This is an oily substance, used to keep the skin soft and supple. However if much sebum is produced it tends to clog up the tiny pores through which hairs grow out of the skin and this causes blackheads and whiteheads. To make matters worse, this build up of oil creates a perfect environment for a bacterium (Propionibacterium acnes) to grow. Your bodies immune system tries to fight this growth in bacteria causing the redness and inflammation which often comes with spots.

There are some factors which are known to contribute to acne. Hormones, for example testosterone, known to be high in both boys and girls during their teenage years seems to aggravate acne. Stress is also a contributing factor, one theory being that stressed people touch their face frequently and so help to spread bacteria. Acne also seems to have a genetic cause, since if your parents had acne, you are more likely to suffer from it too. There are however a lot of misconceptions about acne – that it is caused by poor hygiene, or eating chocolate, for example, these are not true.

There are a number of treatments available for acne and your doctor will be able to advise you of these. In addition there are things you can do yourself to help improve the condition. Cleansing the skin is obviously very important as this helps to reduce bacteria levels. You should use a gentle cleanser twice a day and a facial steamer two to three times per week.

Steaming the face or other affected parts can be a useful addition to your acne treatment programme. Although people with very severe acne are advised not to use steam treatment, for the vast majority of suffers, steaming can really help clear the complexion since it opens up the pores and at the same time increases sweating and so helps to flush impurities out of the skin. Since sweat is salty, it can also act as an antimicrobial agent, killing some of the bacteria found on the skin. Steaming also increases blood circulation, bringing greater amounts of oxygen and nutrients to the skin.

To increase the effectiveness of a home steam, some people add herbs or essential oils to the water. These can have very beneficial effects. Rose hip for example is high in vitamin A and useful for skin regeneration. Mint can help to break down the dirt and oil in your pores making it easier for them to be flushed away. Since stress is thought to play a role in acne outbreaks, adding lavender a known relaxant to your steam treatment may help.

There are a variety of ways to steam your face. Perhaps the most basic is to do it yourself at home over a very hot bowl of water! However, there are a selection of fantastic facial steamers available to buy, which can make the job a whole lot simpler and safer too, no wandering about with kettles of boiling water. Perhaps the cheapest model available is the portable steamer. This is lightweight and very easy to use, just fill up the reservoir with water and turn it on. You can safely add essential oils to the water reservoirs of commercial steamers and one great advantage is that you can control the steam volume, having either a fine mist or a strong steam spray delivered. Some facial steamers are designed to be used with ozone which is antibacterial and dries the skin, giving even greater benefits to users.

In addition to a facial steam, using a steam room can also help acne found in other parts of the body. Generally steam treatments need to be done 2-3 times per week for the most beneficial results. Whatever kind of steam treatment you use, it is important to wash your skin immediately afterwards with a gentle cleanser to remove all the impurities which have been flushed out. As with all acne treatments, you may have to continue for a few weeks before seeing results, but since using a facial steamer is a relaxing and enjoyable experience, you should easily be able to stick to this regime. Good luck!