105-year old sets new record

On Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 11:31:57 AM UTC-8, Radey Shouman wrote:

Any product, company, or researcher names?

I don't make a habit of questioning someone that is cutting a suture out of my brother's eye but just the slightest look on the Internet shows:

http://tinyurl.com/l27uskq

On Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per :
I do need glasses but sooner or later will have that taken care of.

Think that one through before you make the move.

My rationale (as one who is near-sighted):

- After a certain age, *everybody* has a problem with focusing on
close things. Something about the lens becoming turgid and
unresponsive to the focusing muscles.

- If I got the surgery, my far vision would be better, but then
I would be unable to read without reading glasses.

- OTOH, outside, I need sunglasses anyhow to prevent damage from
UV.... whether they are prescription or not is almost moot
convenience-wise.... so "needing glasses" for distant vision
is a wash - at least outside.


That decision was made about 25 years ago - when my far vision was so
bad that I could not see the big "E" on the eye chart.

Now, for some reason (and I can't imagine it's good... but still...) my
nearsightedness has diminished to the point where I can navigate indoors
quite well.... so well that I tend to put my glasses down somewhere, not
wear them for 2-3 hours, and forget where they are.... -)

Bottom line for me: I am *really* glad I did not get the surgery because
needing glasses to read would be a major PITA for me whereas "Needing"
glasses for distance is really just a matter of prescription sunglasses
instead of plane sunglasses.

In the interest of full disclosure.... my range of focus has now
deteriorated to where I actually do use reading glasses for extended
reading. Not because I cannot see without them, but because it's more
relaxing with them.... still a major improvement over *needing* them to
be able to read.


OTOH, if I were far-sighted, I might have opted for surgery just to get
out of needing reading glasses.....
--
Pete Cresswell

Pete, I'm given to understand that is isn't the muscles but growth along the back of the eyeballs that make them a little stiffer. I see at about 20" and either side I'm fuzzy. But I can pass the driver's eye test without glasses though I can't read the large signs above the freeway and either need glasses or to know where I'm going. And no comments about you know where I'm going as well.

On Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 12:28:02 PM UTC-8, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per :
Why, are you hungry?

DNA sequencing + self-learning AI.

Sooner-or-later we will have the ability to modify a person's genome
on-the-fly.

Feed enough people's DNA sequences to a big-enough AI and ask the right
questions and I would expect it to return instructions as to how to
achieve the desired characteristics.... My bet is that's is how we will
beat cancer.
--
Pete Cresswell

You can't ask the right questions of an AI. For instance - there is a large amount of amyloid-beta in people with Alzheimer's. So they are working very hard on drugs that will wash out these A-beta hormones. The problem is that there is a large number of people that have even large amounts of amyloid-beta in their brains and show no signs. Therefore this has to do with multiple and ever increasing numbers of genes.

AI really isn't artificial intelligence despite what they tell you. I programmed AI quite a bit and it is actually a dead end. You cannot program it to ask questions that you yourself couldn't ask.

The latest results from the super collider in Switzerland turned up some odd results that negates most of Stephen Hawkings life's work and so now he is telling people that AI is going to take over the Earth. I expect it's his condition and losing a large part of his gift to science. I can get a job and do a better project but his physical limitations prevents him from redoing his.

wrote in
:

On Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, (PeteCresswell)
wrote:
Per :
I do need glasses but sooner or later will have that taken care of.

Think that one through before you make the move.

My rationale (as one who is near-sighted):

- After a certain age, *everybody* has a problem with focusing on
close things. Something about the lens becoming turgid and
unresponsive to the focusing muscles.

- If I got the surgery, my far vision would be better, but then
I would be unable to read without reading glasses.

- OTOH, outside, I need sunglasses anyhow to prevent damage from
UV.... whether they are prescription or not is almost moot
convenience-wise.... so "needing glasses" for distant vision
is a wash - at least outside.


That decision was made about 25 years ago - when my far vision was so
bad that I could not see the big "E" on the eye chart.

Now, for some reason (and I can't imagine it's good... but still...)
my nearsightedness has diminished to the point where I can navigate
indoors quite well.... so well that I tend to put my glasses down
somewhere, not wear them for 2-3 hours, and forget where they are....
-)

Bottom line for me: I am *really* glad I did not get the surgery
because needing glasses to read would be a major PITA for me whereas
"Needing" glasses for distance is really just a matter of prescription
sunglasses instead of plane sunglasses.

In the interest of full disclosure.... my range of focus has now
deteriorated to where I actually do use reading glasses for extended
reading. Not because I cannot see without them, but because it's
more relaxing with them.... still a major improvement over *needing*
them to be able to read.


OTOH, if I were far-sighted, I might have opted for surgery just to
get out of needing reading glasses.....
--
Pete Cresswell

Pete, I'm given to understand that is isn't the muscles but growth
along the back of the eyeballs that make them a little stiffer. I see
at about 20" and either side I'm fuzzy. But I can pass the driver's eye
test without glasses though I can't read the large signs above the
freeway and either need glasses or to know where I'm going. And no
comments about you know where I'm going as well.

I am astigmatic, which makes things blurry for me, especially close up. I
easily meet the requirements for driving with uncorrrected vision, but my
spectacles reduce strain, so I drive with them on.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

On 1/7/2017 12:28 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jan 2017 09:21:58 -0500, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Tim McNamara:
If I get to my 80s and can still ride a bike, I would consider that a
pretty darned big win. I'm delighted to still be riding in my 50s.

I think your chances are pretty good. I'm in my late 70's and can
barely walk - but riding a bike has not yet become a problem

That's encouraging. I think one of the keys to being able to do those
things in our later years is to start them in our younger years and to
keep doing them. My wife is a backpacker and regularly meets people in
their 70s and 80s who are still backpacking.

Keep riding, Pete!

I recall going to a national bike convention in Indianapolis, sometime
in the 1980s and eating dinner with a gentleman who was 80 years old.
He had ridden his bike, with full touring gear, from Toronto.

I think there's a lot of luck involved. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed!


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 1/8/2017 12:37 PM, Andrew Chaplin wrote:
wrote

Pete, I'm given to understand that is isn't the muscles but growth
along the back of the eyeballs that make them a little stiffer. I see
at about 20" and either side I'm fuzzy. But I can pass the driver's eye
test without glasses though I can't read the large signs above the
freeway and either need glasses or to know where I'm going. And no
comments about you know where I'm going as well.

I am astigmatic, which makes things blurry for me, especially close up. I
easily meet the requirements for driving with uncorrrected vision, but my
spectacles reduce strain, so I drive with them on.

I'm a bit myopic, but I'm not required to use glasses for driving. I
have progressive lenses, and it's sometimes nice to get a clearer view
of the instrument panel by using the glasses.

But I've noticed that my night view of the road is significantly better
with the glasses off. It seems at night, anyway, I lose more vision
acuity by glare & reflections with the glasses lenses than I gain from
the slight refractory correction.

BTW, bike content: I'm happy to use the same glasses for riding, as
opposed to special glasses. And as a bonus, my homebrew mirrors clip
onto these glasses. They're tiny enough I stash one in each bike's bag.
No searching for special specs, the funny hat, the mirror that won't
work without it, etc.

--
- Frank Krygowski

"(PeteCresswell)" writes:

Per :
I do need glasses but sooner or later will have that taken care of.

Think that one through before you make the move.

My rationale (as one who is near-sighted):

- After a certain age, *everybody* has a problem with focusing on
close things. Something about the lens becoming turgid and
unresponsive to the focusing muscles.

- If I got the surgery, my far vision would be better, but then
I would be unable to read without reading glasses.

- OTOH, outside, I need sunglasses anyhow to prevent damage from
UV.... whether they are prescription or not is almost moot
convenience-wise.... so "needing glasses" for distant vision
is a wash - at least outside.


That decision was made about 25 years ago - when my far vision was so
bad that I could not see the big "E" on the eye chart.

Now, for some reason (and I can't imagine it's good... but still...) my
nearsightedness has diminished to the point where I can navigate indoors
quite well.... so well that I tend to put my glasses down somewhere, not
wear them for 2-3 hours, and forget where they are.... -)

I'm no expert on vision, but suspect that the improvement is due to
presbyopia, or the natural loss of accomodation you described. Some of
your myopia was probably due to your eye focusing incorrectly. Now that
it no longer can adjust focus, the problem is less.

Bottom line for me: I am *really* glad I did not get the surgery because
needing glasses to read would be a major PITA for me whereas "Needing"
glasses for distance is really just a matter of prescription sunglasses
instead of plane sunglasses.

I'm with you there. It would seem technically possible that you could
get your eyes adjusted to focus at any length, not just at infinity,
with either cataract surgery (prosthetic lens) or laser surgery, but I
don't know that eye surgeons do that.

In the interest of full disclosure.... my range of focus has now
deteriorated to where I actually do use reading glasses for extended
reading. Not because I cannot see without them, but because it's more
relaxing with them.... still a major improvement over *needing* them to
be able to read.

OTOH, if I were far-sighted, I might have opted for surgery just to get
out of needing reading glasses.....

Agreed -- hyperopia seems a bigger problem, since as one loses
accomodation he finds that clear vision is possible nowhere. There are
many more myopes than hyperopes in modern times. This seems clearly to have
an environmental cause, but I haven't seen that reflected in treatment.

--

Frank Krygowski writes:

On 1/8/2017 12:37 PM, Andrew Chaplin wrote:
wrote

Pete, I'm given to understand that is isn't the muscles but growth
along the back of the eyeballs that make them a little stiffer. I see
at about 20" and either side I'm fuzzy. But I can pass the driver's eye
test without glasses though I can't read the large signs above the
freeway and either need glasses or to know where I'm going. And no
comments about you know where I'm going as well.

I am astigmatic, which makes things blurry for me, especially close up. I
easily meet the requirements for driving with uncorrrected vision, but my
spectacles reduce strain, so I drive with them on.

I'm a bit myopic, but I'm not required to use glasses for driving. I
have progressive lenses, and it's sometimes nice to get a clearer view
of the instrument panel by using the glasses.

But I've noticed that my night view of the road is significantly
better with the glasses off. It seems at night, anyway, I lose more
vision acuity by glare & reflections with the glasses lenses than I
gain from the slight refractory correction.

BTW, bike content: I'm happy to use the same glasses for riding, as
opposed to special glasses. And as a bonus, my homebrew mirrors clip
onto these glasses. They're tiny enough I stash one in each bike's
bag. No searching for special specs, the funny hat, the mirror that
won't work without it, etc.

So your night vision on the bike is ok with glasses? What's the
difference? I would like to hear some magic for eliminating foggy
glasses and raindrops when riding, but last time the question came up no
good answers were forthcoming.

--

Per :
Sorry to hear of your problems Pete. My experience is that if you cannot get an answer from one doctor you find another.

I've been to a few.... and finally decided that I had a choice: spend a
significant portion of my life in waiting rooms, or just get on with it.

One of the first guys I went to see was a big-time neurologist and The
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia..... 25-30 years ago.

His waiting room was filled with young people twitching and drooling,
old married couples where the wife was holding the husband's hand while
the husband just stared blankly into space.... and so-forth... you get
the picture.

After this guy went through his electrical tests and gave me his spiel,
he unloaded on me: something like "Mr Cresswell, do you have *any* idea
what a relief it is for somebody like *me* to be talking to somebody
like *you* - whose only problem is numb feet?"

For me, that put the whole thing in perspective. He didn't mean
anything helpful by it... he was just venting... but I will be eternally
grateful for him for saying it.
--
Pete Cresswell

Per Radey Shouman:
I would like to hear some magic for eliminating foggy
glasses and raindrops when riding, but last time the question came up no
good answers were forthcoming.

Three words: "Disposable Contact Lenses".

I spend more time on the water than most and there are those maddening
days when the temp/humidity is "just so" so that glasses simply won't
stop fogging up... and disposable contacts are the ticket.

I don't even wear two most of the time.... One is enough and it leaves
me good close vision for reading charts and instruments.

Used to wear contacts 100% of the time on water.

Last season I switched to these things (prescription, Polaroid) and I
think they are going to be my SOP except for those fogging days:
https://www.seaspecs.com/seaspecs-classic-c-5
--
Pete Cresswell