Over the past 30 years, supermarkets have tended to abandon inner cities for out of town locations. Some nutritionists believe that this has contributed to the poor diet of urban residents on low incomes, who are forced to pay more for groceries in nearby convenience stores. An economic analysis points out that, as the out of town market becomes saturated, the potential for community organisations to attract supermarkets back to urban neighbourhoods is increasing. This sort of initiative may be more successful in improving peoples' eating habits than repeated exhortations to consume five portions of vegetables a day (Economic Development Quarterly 2005;19: 232-44).

A 26 year old man was referred with sudden visual loss in his left eye. The deterioration had occurred 12 hours earlier after an episode of persistent coughing. Ophthalmoscopy showed dense subhyaloid haemorrhage in the macular area (left). Valsalva retinopathy was diagnosed and treated by neodymium: yttrium-aluminium-garnet laser vitreotomy. The blood drained into the inferior vitreous, clearing the fovea and visual axis (right). His vision improved from counting fingers to 6/9 immediately. The procedure is safe, quick, and requires only topical anaesthetic drops. It can be effective for subhyaloid haemorrhage …