Dr. Shalu Pal

  • "If you want quality and wonderful service, please go to Dr. Shalu Pal! The patience, care, and true concern that Dr. Pal has for her clients is wonderful. "

    --Seleena J
  • " I was pleasantly surprised by finding a hidden gem within Dr. Pal's office"

    --Naveed
  • "Finally a doctor who is extremely knowledgeable, patient and explains things clearly. She is a wonderful human being who really takes the time to care for your needs. The office has a wonderful atmosphere and the staff are just as helpful as Dr. Pal. "

    --Mikail
  • "I couldn't ask for a better Optometrist. She is a delight to deal with, very patient, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. She was very good with my kids who can be very fussy at times.. And who could ask for a more beautiful location. Highly Recommend! "

    --Natalie M.
  • "My wife and I, highly recommend Dr. Pal. The staff, the service, the merchandise, are all top notch. They really make you feel welcomed. It has been several years since I have been able to see this well !!! You and your staff are the best !!!! "

    --Steve and Maria L.
  • "We barely go to optometrists so when we do, we should look for the best! I am super pleased I chose Dr. Pal\'s office. They were helpful from beginning to end, from booking on the phone to my actual visit. Dr. Pal was very detailed and went in-depth about my eye health. She is very patient and made me feel calm. The optician helped me pick a great pair of glasses, they were genuinely friendly which is a huge bonus."

    --Ahmad S
  • "I have been going to Dr. Pal for several years now. My most recent visit on June 6, 2016 was the best experience there that I have ever had. Firstly, the women on the desk were friendly and efficient - a very good prelude to my examination. Dr. Pal, herself, was, as usual, very thorough and encouraging in her examination. And she puts you at ease before we get into the eyes examination by discussing other things in life. That helps to ease any stress I may have. And they now have a man in the office who does that difficult examination (name of which I do not know!). He is so patient and encouraging and made the exam not so difficult for me this time. After all that, I saw Dr. Pal again before I left and she told me my eyes were good! Even had the news been not so good, I believe that I would be able to handle it because I truly believe that Dr. Pal and her staff would have taken good care of me. I will always go back to Dr. Pal and members of her team because I truly believe"

    --A. Howlett
  • " I have been to a few appointments at Dr. Pal\'s office over the last year for dry eye issues and every time it has been a very positive experience. The 3 receptionists at the front desk are warm and friendly. They are attentive and provide a very high level of customer service. I appreciate that they call me by name and remembered conversations we had at previous visits. I find Dr. Pal to be an excellent practitioner who is very thorough with her exams, has a lovely personality and takes the time to answer any and all questions that may arise. I am happy with the computer glasses I purchased and value the honest opinions I received from the staff when selecting frames. It was refreshing to have multiple opinions on styles and I felt they truly wanted me to walk out with a frame that was best suited to me. I highly recommend Dr. Pal \'s office! As a health care practitioner myself, I think all health care experiences should be this personilzed and friendly!"

    --A. Mclean
Central Retinal Artery Occlusion



Central Retinal Artery Occlusion

When people are cautioned to maintain a healthy lifestyle they usually think it is solely to prevent obesity or heart disease. Most people do not realize that our eyes are as dependent on our life choices as other organs in the body. As we age a natural plaque begins to form in our arteries just as plaque forms on our teeth if we don’t brush them. This happens to everybody but only escalates into a problem if the amount of plaque creates a loss of elasticity and hardens onto the arterial wall. These deposits are made up of calcium cholesterol or fatty tissue and eventually may cause a blockage of the inner wall of the artery. The following risk factors increase the production of plaque along the arterial wall:

  • family history of artery hardening (atherosclerosis)
  • smoking
  • high cholesterol
  • high blood pressure
  • diabetes
  • hypertension

A complication with heavy plaque build-up is the potential for “debris”; some hardened pieces of plaque get knocked off the wall by flowing blood and then enter into the bloodstream.

A central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) occurs when the central retinal artery is blocked by a clot or debris (emboli). The debris most often originates in the carotid artery and sometimes from a heart clot. When the debris lodges in the artery oxygen is effectively cut off causing total visual loss of the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive layer of tissue that lines the back of the eyeball sending visual impulses through the optic nerve to the brain The retina plays a very important role in the eye and as such it requires a lot of blood to function properly. When it is deprived of it even for a short period of time it’s likely that vision damage incurred during the occlusion is permanent.

CRAOs most commonly occur in people between 50 and 80 years old. There is often a history of systemic illness like hypertension heart valve abnormalities carotid artery disease or diabetes. The patient usually presents with a sudden onset of profound unilateral painless visual loss. A less visually-threatening condition is known as a branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) whereby there is an obstruction of one of the smaller retinal arteries branching from the central retinal artery. In this case there is only partial visual loss but both situations require immediate medical attention.

Currently treatment options for both CRAOs and BRAOs are few and usually unsuccessful. Unless the occlusion can be diagnosed and treated in the first 90 minutes vision damage will be permanent. By the time someone who has suffered a CRAO realizes something is wrong he/she arrives at the hospital too late – the retina is already damaged and difficult to fix. Anyone who has had a CRAO is at an increased risk for stroke and heart attack. For this reason and to prevent further damage it is imperative to visit your general practitioner (and perhaps a cardiologist) plus your eye doctor more than once a year. On the positive side doctors are looking into laser surgery and how it may help rectify retinal damage and fix the visual impairment caused by the occlusion.

 
2024 © EyeconX. All rights reserved          Home    |    About Us    |    Media    |    Lens Reorder    |    Our Practice    |    Education    |    Contact Us