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To: Peter Sherman who wrote (8975)	10/27/1999 9:34:00 AM
From: Percival 917	Respond to of 54805

Hi Peter, If you don't mind, I would like to comment on your post: 1 - why do ophthalmologists NOT have the procedure done - I have many patients and friends who are eye docs and NONE of them have it done on themselves - they all wear glasses I am not certain this holds completely true for Lasik. I know for a fact that none of the Ophthalmologists were have Radial Keratotomy down because of the scars and night vision problems. I am not as certain on Lasik though. I have seen numerous procedures and while it is not without it's possible problems it is eons above RK. I will check on this and get back to you. 2 - the eye docs I talk to all say that the long term story with Lasik is not clear, and that as young people have it done to see the golf or tennis ball better, they are accelerating the later time in their life when they will have other eye problems that necessitate lenses - in other words, a short-term fix and a later on problem The later on problem I believe they are referring to is presbyopia, which is the technical term for old fart's disease (And no, I am not directing this to you Unq or you LB)<ggg> Actually it is when the lens of the eye loses enough of it's flexibility that it can't focus at near as well necessitating bifocals or reading glasses. I have not seen any information that having the Lasik procdure speeds up this phenomenon unless the procedure might overcorrect the myopia and then you would have some early problems. Once the initial surgery is done and there are no complications initially, I have seen no reports that show any unusual problems down the road. I realize Lasik is in it's infantcy and potential problems may crop up. I just haven't seen anything mentioned in the journals. If you can, ask them for more info on what specific problems long term are they referring to? JMHO, Joel

To: Peter Sherman who wrote (8975)	10/27/1999 10:55:00 AM
From: StockHawk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

Peter, It is interesting that you mention the opinion of eye doctors and then the next post after yours is from an eye doctor. Anyone who does serious research on corrective vision eye surgery (and I submit, as unlikely at that seems it is probably a Minority of potential patients) will come across a web site known as "Eye Know Why" which is critical of the procedures - all of them. The full title of that site is "Eye Know Why Refractive Surgeons Wear Glasses" and the argument that they themselves were not getting the surgery was cause for pause. However, while that was true two years ago I am hearing about, and reading about, more and more doctors that have had it done. There are published articles on this - and eye surgeons who have had the surgery are their own best marketing tool, so we will likely be hearing more. Personally, if I were a potential patient I would wait. I think the systems will get better in the coming years with features such as idividual corneal mapping, enhanced eye tracking, preprogrammed computer aided laser sequencing patterns, etc. (I know one eye surgeon who said - in jest - one day they'll probably have a pill!) Also, one thing that can never be produced in Labs is the long term effects. It will take twenty years to know the twenty year effect of a surgery on an individual. However, Lasik corrects a problem that results from the way light is refracted within the eye. The use of reading glasses that most of us require in later years is due to loss of muscular flexibility - that's entirely different. One thing I have learned about laser eye surgery is that it is often discussed passionately - especially by patients. For some it is a miracle while for others it is a nightmare. Fortunately, most cases seem to be successful. Perhaps all of us can agree on several issues: 1. the field of vision correction is rapidly changing 2. there will be lots of Beta vs. VHS arguments regarding who's machine is best, but VISX currently dominates the US market 3. everyone should do their own due diligence before making any investment - and should do ten times more before undergoing elective surgery on their bodies StockHawk