Rare Tattoo-Related Eye Condition Can Cause Vision Loss, Experts Warn Getting a tattoo can be a thrilling, albeit painful, experience. About one-third of Australians have a tattoo, with many getting inked as a rite of passage. However, a small but increasing number of Australians are being diagnosed with a rare tattoo-related eye condition. It's known as tattoo-associated uveitis and can cause permanent vision loss. So what is this condition? And what do tattoos have to do with eye health? How might a tattoo impact my eyes? Tattoo inks used in Australia and other countries may contain toxic chemical, which have been linked to the development of certain cancers. This is a concern from a regulation perspective. That's because Australia, compared to other jurisdictions, has less strict rules around what ingredients go into tattoo ink. The European Union, for example, bans many of the inks that are allowed in Australia. From a health perspective, the vast majority of people don't react to these chemicals. But in some cases, they may trigger a harmful immune response. This happens when a person's immune system recognizes the ink as being dangerous and starts attacking the tattoo site. This can cause inflammation, both of the tattooed skin and other parts of the body. Inflammatory cells from a tattoo may breach the blood-ocular barrier, which is a wall-like structure designed to protect the inside of the eye. If that happens, inflammation can spread to various parts of the eye. This includes the uvea, the middle layer of the eye, which helps it focus on nearby objects. The uvea also contains the colored part of the eye, the iris. If your uvea becomes inflamed, you may develop the rare condition known as tattoo-associated uveitis. Symptoms include sudden pain, red eyes, and increased sensitivity to light. In severe cases, this condition can lead to glaucoma, which refers to several eye diseases caused by damage to the optic nerve, or scarring on your eye. Both complications can cause blindness, if left untreated or if treatment is delayed.

March Madness: Vasectomies Spike During Major Basketball Event, But Why? I had to laugh at the picture with this story 🤣 For some men, the time of year when college basketball teams take to the court to go head-to-head in a heated tournament is the perfect moment to schedule the snip. According to data from a large US insurance claims database, the month of March, during which the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament takes place, can see a spike in vasectomies performed. The trend was evident in data from 2007 to 2015, and there's a plausible reason why this could be happening: men deciding to make the most of their recovery time. "Major sporting events are a popular time for men to schedule a vasectomy because we advise them to take it easy for two to three days after the procedure," medical doctor James Dupree of Michigan Medicine. "For most men, this means sitting on the couch in front of their television, and sporting events offer them something to watch while resting." It's a narrative that makes perfect sense. If you're going to be laid up with an ice pack on your nethers, why not take full advantage and spend the time also doing something fun? But that explanation may only be a small part of the story. The idea appears to have entered the public conversation in 2008, when an Oregon urology clinic ran a radio ad campaign during March Madness, cheekily dubbed, "Snip City.". "When March Madness approaches, you need an excuse to stay at home in front of the big screen," the ad asserted. "Get your vasectomy at Oregon Urology Institute the day before the tournament starts. It's snip city." Within a week, the campaign was being reported on globally. Other clinics started picking up on the trend, running their own Vas Madness promotions. By the time Ostrowski's team analyzed nearly a decade of insurance claims and confirmed that vasectomies increase in March, they may have partly been measuring the downstream effects of that original radio ad. Further, a 2018 press release about the phenomenon centered around an announcement that the urology clinic was expanding its vasectomy services in anticipation of the rush.

My son that died, his daughter's other grandmother died unexpectedly. I'm now her only living grandparent. Grandparents dropping like flies. Oy vey! My granddaughter. I don't have a picture of her other grandmother.

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