Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 9, 1 September 1995 — Keeping an eye on good health [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Keeping an eye on good health

Loan fund recipient offers primary eye care with a personal touch

by Patrick Johnston They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. They are also the windows to a number of fatal diseases including diabetes and brain cancer, and debilitating eye conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts. The American Optometric Association recommends an annual visit to the eye doctor, especially for those over 40 years old. Dr. Charles Holt is a firm advocate of regular eye eheek ups, both for the eontinued health of his client's eyes and the continued heakh of his new business. Holt is the owner of Honolulu Eyecare, a private optometric practice in central Honolulu opened last year with the support of OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund. He offers a variety of optometric services including eye examinations for disease, examinations for the visually impaired and early exams for infants 6 months and older. Holt also provides exams and prescriptions for glasses and contacts, and recently has begun offering specialty eyewear for sports. Holt points out that he ean leam a lot about a person's health by examining their eyes. The severity of diabetes for example, a disease where high blood sugar levels lead to px)or circulation and damaged body organs, ean be detected by looking into a patient's eyes. "When I look into a diabetic's eye," he explains,

"and I don't see any damage, then it is likely there is no damage in the rest of the body. If I do see damage then I know the opposite is true." Holt began his private practice last year after four years of optometric schooling at University of California at Berkeley, three internships on the Mainland, and a year working as an associate optometrist in Wahiawā. He stresses the differences between opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists. "Opticians make glasses. Ophthalmologists are eye sur~geons. Optometrists are in between the two. ... Basically, I'm trained to provide primary eye care." Holt explains that an optometrist's training and practice are very similar to that of a dentist, one major differenee being that a dentist ean do some surgery, while the delicate nature of the eye means surgery is restricted to the specially trained ophthalmologist. Also, only ophthalmologists ean give medical prescriptions for eye conditions, a restriction ^ptometrists face only in

Hawai'i and a handful of other states. And because many eye surgeons also offer primary eye care service, Holt says he faces stiff competition from ophthalmologists in the relatively small Honolulu market. So why go to an optometrist like Dr. Holt and not to an eye surgeon? "We are the best trained in primary eye care," says Holt. He points out that eye surgeons have to focus their time and energies on surgery and have less time to familiarize themselves with the less serious — but far more eommon — problems faced by most people. His practice, he points out, is also free of the crowds and long waits often found in eye surgery clinics, enabling him to provide more personalized service. For Holt, owning a business has been generally positive, but he says it hasn't been easy. "It (owning a business) has all the goods and bads but I enjoy it." He is quick to add that OHA's support was critical. "If it wasn't for OHA's loan program I wouldn't be here." Holt has also received a lot of help from his family, who have helped out with general maintenance and clerical work. Honolulu Eyecare is located at 1704 South King St. and ean be reached at 955-4658. For information about OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund eall 594-1888.

Optometrist Dr. Charles Holt inside his South King Street office.