Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R D Newcomb

Publications and source records attributed to R D Newcomb.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Prevalence of preventable blindness in a VA outpatient clinic.

Seventy-nine of 4,005 veteran patients (1.97%) were found to have legal blindness during a retrospective record review of all eye patients examined during a 12-month period. This prevalence rate is almost 10 times the national average for all Americans. Most cases of legal blindness could have been prevented if the patient had presented to our clinic earlier in the natural course of his or her disease. The various causes of blindness are reported, and recommendations to prevent this needless loss of sight are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Epidemiology of essential hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Essential hypertension and diabetes mellitus are highly prevalent and potentially lethal chronic diseases in the US population. Both have ocular complications that can result in permanent vision loss. Ten risk factors for hypertension and six risk factors for diabetes are discussed to help practicing doctors of optometry screen, refer, educate, monitor and co-manage patients who have one or both of these diseases.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1992

Optometry in nursing homes.

Studies predict a 50 percent increase in residential long-term care need by the year 2000. Statistics show that the age group served by these facilities is at a much higher risk for sight threatening eye conditions. A review of the current literature as well as original data collected in Ohio indicates that residents in long-term care facilities are underserved with regard to eye care. This paper discusses the need for increased optometric participation in the primary eye care services for residents of long-term care facilities.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

The yellow condition in Drosophila melanogaster. A biological structuralist approach to the study of phenocopies.

A phenocopy, as defined by Goldschmidt, is an environmentally induced form which resembles a genetic mutant. They have a site of induction at a number of developmental levels and are not only produced by interfering with gene gene expression. Phenocopies and the corresponding genetic mutant, are also not necessarily generated through equivalent developmental pathways. The yellow phenocopy of Drosophila melanogaster, where both cuticle colour and mating behaviour resembles that of the yellow mutant, serves to illustrate the above points. It is suggested that if the term phenocopy is to be used the term should correspond to the generative processes and hence transformations which mutant and phenocopy share, rather than purely on phenotype. Finally, phenocopies are discussed in relation to structuralist biology, showing how they are instructive in describing generative processes, sensitive periods in development and differing modes of inheritance in such a research programme.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The sensitive period for yellow phenocopy induction in Drosophila melanogaster.

Yellow phenocopies of Drosophila melanogaster were produced by raising larvae on alpha-DMT contaminated media. Using a survivorship test, the sensitive period for phenocopy induction was found to occur during the third larval instar of development, with increased survivorship at 1% alpha-DMT compared with lower concentrations. It was also found that treatment with alpha-DMT significantly slowed development. These findings are related to the relevant morphological and behavioral developmental pathways and to phenocopy induction.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Identification of Moraxella bovis by qualitative genetic transformation and nutritional assays.

Strains of Moraxella bovis were identified definitively through the combined use of a qualitative genetic transformation assay and determination of the ability of the organism under examination to grow in a defined medium (medium MB). Except for weak transformation by DNA from strains of M. lacunata, M. nonliquefaciens, and M. (Branhamella) ovis, DNA samples from all other members of the genus Moraxella failed to transform either of the two M. bovis auxotrophs used in this study.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1984

Clinical investigation of the cup/disc ratio.

1,277 white and 387 black male veterans were studied in an attempt to determine the racial difference, if any, between the distribution of cup/disc ratios in these two groups of non-glaucomatous patients. The data show a highly significant statistical difference between white and black patients in regard to normal variation of their C/D ratios. Although there were no differences between the prevalence of C/D ratios of 0.3 and less, there were important differences in the prevalence of ratios of 0.5 and greater. Blacks had C/D ratios of 0.5 and greater at almost five times the frequency of whites.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

How to write an abstract of a paper or a report to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry.

Although the General Papers Program (held on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday afternoons at the Annual Meeting of the Academy) has expanded to a format in which 20-minute papers and 10-minute reports are presented simultaneously in 4 or 5 rooms the committee continues to receive abstracts for approximately 25 percent more papers and reports than the program can accommodate. The committee's task of selecting papers and reports is complicated by the failure of many writers of abstracts to include sufficient and pertinent information in their abstracts. This presentation lists the essential elements of an acceptable abstract, and tabulates the reasons for non-acceptance of abstracts.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1981

Clinical investigation of the foveal light reflex.

Over a 2-month period, 1,516 optometric patients were evaluated by a collaborative study group of 30 staff doctors in Veterans Administration Medical Centers and Outpatient Clinics. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the status of foveal light reflexes in the population, and thereby to establish normative data for this clinical phenomenon. Frequency data, correlation analyses, and literature citations are included in the paper.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Vision care for the nation's elderly: a plea for policy direction.

Eye care services are largely provided by two professional groups--optometrists and ophthalmologists. Professional rivalry between the two exists mainly because both are in direct competition for patients with routine diagnostic and treatment needs. With the advent of Medicare and Medicaid, a substantial amount of health care services rendered to the elderly has been financed by the federal government. The use by the elderly of eye care services and the cost of such services are influenced by Medicare reimbursement policies. Medicare specifically excludes routine eye care and refractive services, but includes diagnosis and treatment of ocular disease. This article examines the impact of eye care benefit exclusions and restrictions and their effect upon the use of ophthalmological and optometric services by the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Part II. Diagnostic outcomes of optometric referrals in a VA medical center.

In a previous study, the authors examined the medical records of patients seen in the optometry clinic of the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center (BVAMC) who were referred to other providers within the BVAMC for diagnosis and/or treatment of health problems outside the scope of optometric clinical privileges. The present study examined an equivalent number of medical records of patients who had been examined in the optometry clinic but were not referred to other health care providers within the BVAMC. By utilizing retrospective clinical judgment, the authors found that 3 of 266 patients (1.13 degrees) that were not referred probably should have been. None of the 3 patients had potentially sight or life threatening disorders. An algorithm for the methodology and case reports of the 3 patients are presented.

Eye Diseases↗
PubMed1979

Vision health education: an idea whose time has come.

Health education has been a cornerstone of public health activities for over one hundred years, but recently it has received renewed interest as a method of promoting preventive health care and individual responsibility for one's own health status. While vision health education has not received the attention that other areas of health education have, the need for such information is apparent, and its anticipated effect upon the visual welfare of the population should be obvious. This paper accentuates some of the common objectives of doctors of optometry and health education specialists.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1979

Diagnostic outcomes of optometric referrals in a VA medical center.

408 conditions affecting the visual system of patients presenting in the optometry clinic of the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center (BVAMC) were referred to other providers within the medical center for care outside the scope of optometric responsibility. Rates of compliance and confirmation are given for nine major categories of eye problems, and the data is analyzed on the basis of age, visual acuity, type of consultation and disposition. Pertinent literature citations are provided.

Alabama↗
PubMed1978

Cone-rod dystrophy: a case report.

Cone-rod dystrophy is considered one of the rarer hereditary retinal degenerations. This disease can be easily mistaken for a number of other conditions because of its unusual characteristics. This paper discusses these characteristics and presents a case report to illustrate how the optometrist can effectively manage patients with this disease.

Adolescent↗