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Minerva Minerva

Minerva

BMJ 2003; 326 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.326.7397.1044 (Published 10 May 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;326:1044

This 70 year old patient with unilateral ocular hypertension was prescribed a topical prostaglandin F2α analogue to the left eye and reviewed two months later. Although the intraocular pressure was then well controlled, there was considerably increased growth of the eyelashes of the left eye and increased pigmentation. While this is a recognised side effect of topical prostaglandin F2 α analogues, this case illustrates how dramatic this can be and therefore the importance of counselling patients and taking care when this treatment is used unilaterally.

Amir Hamid, junior research fellow, Ophthalmology Department, Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Worcester WR5 1DD, Jasmin Singh, senior house officer, Western Eye Hospital, London NW1 6YE, Stephen R Perry, consultant ophthalmic surgeon, Kidderminster Hospital, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 6RJ

In the context of the reality of some people's lives, public health messages about “unhealthy behaviour” may just not be relevant. A writer in the American Journal of Public Health (2003;93:704) says that it's not that the public doesn't fully understand healthy behaviour, it's that unhealthy behaviours start partly as a response to a social environment that fosters no alternatives. In areas …

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