The suffix OD in medical terms means Doctor of Optometry. Optometry concerns itself with anything that is related to the eyes, including vision. An optometrist is qualified to deal with everything from testing sight to diagnosing and treating eye diseases including cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Many diseases, often serious, can be detected for the first time and before any noticeable symptoms are experienced during an eye examination, so it is important to have them every two years unless you have been told to have them more regularly. These diseases include diabetes, atherosclerosis and myasthenia gravis, though there are others.
It is believed that the first eyeglasses were invented by the Ancient Chinese 1,000 years ago, and there is evidence that they were being manufactured by 1300 AD in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
Benito Daza de Valdes had a book on optometry published in 1623 that mentioned the fitting and the use of eyeglasses, though it was Edmund Landolt who, it is believed, use the term optometrist in 1886 when he referred to someone who fitted spectacles. Before this time, there was a definite difference in the person who dispensed them and the refracting optician.
William Molyneux’s book in 1692 outlined his ideas on myopia and the problems that were associated with this condition, so it is obvious that the fascination with eyes, and their potential problems, has been around for many centuries.
Europe was the forerunner in anything to do with optometry, with America only becoming aware of eyeglasses when a pilgrim, Peter Brown wore them. Consequently, they were extortionately expensive and hard to find and the first ever pair of eyeglasses to be bought in the US was in 1783 by John McAllister Sr from Philadelphia. In 1811, he and his son, John McAllister Jr began to make the first American eyeglasses.
Many diseases, often serious, can be detected for the first time and before any noticeable symptoms are experienced during an eye examination, so it is important to have them every two years unless you have been told to have them more regularly. These diseases include diabetes, atherosclerosis and myasthenia gravis, though there are others.
It is believed that the first eyeglasses were invented by the Ancient Chinese 1,000 years ago, and there is evidence that they were being manufactured by 1300 AD in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
Benito Daza de Valdes had a book on optometry published in 1623 that mentioned the fitting and the use of eyeglasses, though it was Edmund Landolt who, it is believed, use the term optometrist in 1886 when he referred to someone who fitted spectacles. Before this time, there was a definite difference in the person who dispensed them and the refracting optician.
William Molyneux’s book in 1692 outlined his ideas on myopia and the problems that were associated with this condition, so it is obvious that the fascination with eyes, and their potential problems, has been around for many centuries.
Europe was the forerunner in anything to do with optometry, with America only becoming aware of eyeglasses when a pilgrim, Peter Brown wore them. Consequently, they were extortionately expensive and hard to find and the first ever pair of eyeglasses to be bought in the US was in 1783 by John McAllister Sr from Philadelphia. In 1811, he and his son, John McAllister Jr began to make the first American eyeglasses.
