Treatment available for cataract condition
August is cataract awareness month.
A cataract is a clouding and/or hardening of the lens of the eye. The most common type of cataract is related to the aging process and causes difficulty in identifying colors and seeing at a distance.
Diabetes also can contribute to this condition, resulting in problems with glare and loss of contrast, and difficulty with distance and near vision.
Noticeable symptoms that cataracts may be forming include blurred distance vision (especially outdoors), streaks or rays of light that appear to come from headlights and stop lights, and other changes in vision.
A cataract is treated with surgery as an outpatient.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Michael Reynolds is available to see patients the first Tuesday each month and schedules cataract surgeries for the first Monday of each month at St. Luke Hospital.
Local people invited
to national conference on the Santa Fe Trail
The 2005 National Santa Fe Trail Symposium will be held Sept. 29 through October 2 in McPherson.
The bi-annual conference returns to Kansas this year for the first time since 1999. The event draws hundreds of professionals and trail enthusiasts from across the United States.
Local residents also are invited to participate.
The event includes national speakers, tours of historic sites, educational workshops, special exhibits, and evening entertainment.
Organizers offer a variety of options for participation. People may sign up to attend the entire conference, one day, or even any speaker, tour, or evening event.
"There is something for everyone with an interest in history," said Linda Colle, a member of the planning committee. "This will be a week of fun and a chance to relive some of the adventure of those early days."
The conference will highlight the portion of the trail that runs through Marion, McPherson, Rice, and Barton counties.
Copies of the program and registration form and more information are available online at www.mcphersonks.org.
To receive forms by mail, call 620-257-3941 or send an e-mail to sftasymposium@yahoo.com.
Those registering by August 15 will receive a discount. The deadline is Sept. 19.
