Christmas cheer! Together!!

Blog vol 4.26. Christmas cheer! Together!!


What a great time!  Last night was our annual Christmas Party. I was once again reminded of the wonderful people that I spend my days with throughout the year. I was also reminded what a joy it is to get together in person, real-life people, the best kind. Going through COVID was a great reminder of the importance of people and relationships: vital.  The past four years have been a challenge here at Burlington Eyecare with Covid, of course, but even more so, with the illness and death of two dear members of our little community.  You do find out a lot about yourself, others, and what matters through such adversity. In my readings of Churchill, he comments on Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken) being “a good friend in foul weather.”  We have been “good friends”.


We had a lovely evening last night. The Edgewater Manor on Lake Ontario created the setting, with a fully decorated dining room, ample space, and a cozy fireplace. The wine list was unsurpassed, the food delicious, the service attentive (but not obtrusive), and of course the table guests, the most wonderful company. Karen, our office manager/social coordinator, outdid herself in creating a warm and fun environment for all. 


The last time we did our Christmas party at the Edgewater was December 2019, on the brink of Covid. We were a different group. Dr. Jerilee Nyman was two months away from the diagnosis that would ultimately take her life; she and her husband were full of good cheer and health. Clint, Karen’s (office manager) husband, though undergoing treatment for his cancer, was able to join us with his usual good humour. We had a lovely evening.

Mixed feelings about going back… but it was good, very good.     


We have a gift exchange every year. One of the directions given during the gift exchange was to switch your gift with the person you have known the longest at the table. I looked over at Roger, “the Rog”, who I have known for over 30 years.  We first met working at Skinner’s Optical with Barb and Rick Skinner and Val Haslam. That was not so long ago, our relationship like old wine, getting better with time. That was special, to realize the continuity and the camaraderie we have shared over the years. It is times like these that you pause and reflect on just how precious these relationships are. I look forward to spending more time with the Burlington Eyecare team and so many of my patients that I have known for years. 


Perspective is so important. At Burlington Eyecare we help people to see better, or keep their sight, or even enhance their sight, and perspective is an integral part of all aspects of this sighted world. I am looking forward to Santa bringing me some newly translated novels and books from MIT Press by Stanislaw Lem. No surprises here, I got my list to the North Pole early on, and Lem is one of my favourite writers. I first began to enjoy his writing years ago with a reading of his novel, Solaris, which I highly recommend. Two movies were made of it, one in 1972 by the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, which I am enjoying on YouTube at the present time, and the other a Hollywood version in 2002.


The earlier Russian version is beautiful to watch, with Tarkovsky doing his cinematic magic. The director tells his story, which to the modern viewer, can be a challenge to watch. He provides a perspective that forces you to take a look at life from a different lens, to slow it down, to change angles, to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, so to speak.  Without getting too philosophical, we need to have new horizons that help us to Stop.  And. Think. and appreciate the life around us. Over this busy Christmas season, let’s slow down and appreciate what we do have, especially the people in our lives. Let’s slow down and actually see them (no prescription possible here, it’s perspective that we need).  




Do sleduyushchey nedeli (til next week, in phonetic Russian, I’m pretty sure:)   

 

 

The good doctor

 


The good doctor take a deeper look at how gut health is connected to eye tissues.

The Gut and the Eyes

By Dr. Mark Germain • April 29, 2026
Blog vol 6.40. The Gut and the Eyes. One of my biggest jobs is to keep abreast of new research and advances in eye health. Most recently, we have seen new stem cell research, gene therapies, as well as new drugs for dry and wet macular degeneration. In January of this year, there was an article in the journal, Cell Death and Disease, that looked at cell apoptosis, specifically with the photoreceptors of the eye. (Read the article here ). Apoptosis is the genetic programming of deliberate and constructive cell death, allowing for the maintenance of healthy structures and systems in the body. Some estimates have the body replacing 50 to 70 billion cells daily by this process. Necrosis, on the other hand, is unplanned cell death caused by injury, toxins, or other negative outside factors; this causes inflammation and disrupts the body’s balance of things. There are stressors that speed up cell turnover. The study looked at photoreceptors in the retina and were able to demonstrate cellular recovery, even in late stages of apoptosis, recovery not breakdown. When certain stressors were reduced, by working with the mitochondria, there was recovery of the photoreceptor cells. How? Mitophagy, the mitochondria’s own process of programmed breaking down and then repurposing the recycled components for new ones. This mitochondrial repair helps to reverse the sequence of apoptosis for the photoreceptors. Mitochondria, how cool. How is this helpful for our eyes? Conditions like retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration directly involve the photoreceptors and may be slowed or reversed by helping the mitochondria. So, let’s take care of those mitochondria. There is some evidence for nutritional support for the mitochondrial system. The nutrient, Urolithin A (UA), which is a compound made in our gut from fiber found in pomegranates, berries, and nuts is the only clinically proven substance known to trigger mitophagy, made in the gut no less. Vitamin B3 is critical for mitochondria function, however vitamin B3 based supplements are still to be clinically tested for their support of cell recovery. Nutrients Coenzyme Q10 and L-carnitine are known to help the mitochondria generate energy, and interestingly, infrared light therapy has also been shown to benefit mitochondrial function. Again, food for thought. The gut and its function needs a lot of research. How do probiotics and nutrient precursors affect eye tissues? It is so interesting that the gut can be a factor in eye health. Maybe adding Urolithin A as a supplement is wise, along with the antioxidants in Lutein and Zeaxanthin we use to combat photoreceptor degeneration. Will keep you posted on any new developments.  The good doctor

Paying attention with your eyes

By Dr. Mark Germain • April 16, 2026
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Artemis II and the Dark Side of the Moon

By Dr. Mark Germain • April 10, 2026
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A New Treatment for Nystagmus

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