|
Eye Health Headlines
The Molecular Basis Of Touch Sensation
A gene known to control lens development in mice and humans is also crucial for the development of neurons responsible for mechanosensory function, as neurobiologists of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have now discovered. They found that in mice in which they had removed the c-Maf gene in the nerve cells, touch sensation is impaired...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Braille-Like Texting App Eliminates Need To Look At Mobile Screen
Imagine if smartphone and tablet users could text a note under the table during a meeting without anyone being the wiser. Mobile gadget users might also be enabled to text while walking, watching TV or socializing without taking their eyes off what they're doing...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Video Games Improve Eyesight
How we perceive the world tells us a lot about how the brain processes sensory information. At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, McMaster University psychologist Daphne Maurer reported on how vision develops in individuals born with cataracts in both eyes...
Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Dame Judi Dench Determined To Beat Macular Degeneration
Actor of film and stage, Dame Judi Dench, now filming her seventh James Bond film, Skyfall, where she plays 007's MI5 boss M, has given a moving interview where she talks about her determination to beat macular degeneration, an eye condition that is the leading cause of blindness in the western world. The interview, with UK's Daily Mirror, was published on Saturday...
Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Omega-3 Slows Down Retinitis Pigmentosa Progression
A report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, reveals that adults with retinitis pigmentosa who took vitamin A supplements over a period of four to six years, showed slower decline in annual rates of distance and retinal visual acuities by consuming a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids...
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Prostaglandin Analogs And Laser Trabeculoplasty Prove Cost Effective For Treating Glaucoma
A study published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, reveals that glaucoma medication known as prostaglandin analogs (PGAs) and laser trabeculoplasty (LTP), a small invasive procedure both seem cost-effective options for patients with newly diagnosed mild open-angle glaucoma...
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
New Operation For Complex Strabismus Or Cross Eyes Offers Faster Recovery, More Precise Results
People with strabismus (misalignment and limited movement of one or more eyes) are often teased about their crossed-eye appearance; those with more complex, disfiguring strabismus can become socially isolated and develop neck and back problems from having to turn their head to see properly...
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
New Glaucoma Drug Zioptan Wins FDA Approval
On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Merck's Zioptan, a once-daily preservative-free opthalmic solution of tafluprost, a prostaglandin analog for lowering high intra-ocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or with high intra-ocular pressure...
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Technology Lends Product Packaging A Voice To Aid Visually And Hearing Impaired
As the proportion of senior citizens grows, their special needs are gaining momentum. Human eyesight, for example, weakens with age. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has been developing new NFC-based applications that make life easier for the visually impaired...
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Stress Pathway Identified As Potential Therapeutic Target To Prevent Vision Loss
A new study identifies specific cell-stress signaling pathways that link injury of the optic nerve with irreversible vision loss. The research, published by Cell Press in the February 9 issue of the journal Neuron, may lead to new strategies that will help to protect vulnerable neurons in the retina after optic nerve damage and diseases...
Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Successful Gene Therapy For Inherited Blindness
Gene therapy for congenital blindness has taken another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. After receiving the same treatment in their other eye, the patients became better able to see in dim light, and two were able to navigate obstacles in low-light situations. No adverse effects occurred...
Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Gene Therapy Proves Effective In Treating Blindness
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have conducted a recent study, published in Science Translational Medicine which focuses on gene therapy for congenital blindness. The scientists were able to improve sight in 3 adult patients who had previously been treated in one eye...
Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Windows To The Mind
The eyes are the window into the soul - or at least the mind, according to a new paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Measuring the diameter of the pupil, the part of the eye that changes size to let in more light, can show what a person is paying attention to...
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Researchers Develop Gene Therapy That Could Correct A Common Form Of Blindness
A new gene therapy method developed by University of Florida researchers has the potential to treat a common form of blindness that strikes both youngsters and adults. The technique works by replacing a malfunctioning gene in the eye with a normal working copy that supplies a protein necessary for light-sensitive cells in the eye to function...
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Retinitis Pigmentosa In Dogs Cured By Gene Therapy
Members of a University of Pennsylvania research team have shown that they can prevent, or even reverse, a blinding retinal disease, X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa, or XLRP, in dogs. The disease in humans and dogs is caused by defects in the RPGR gene and results in early, severe and progressive vision loss. It is one of the most common inherited forms of retinal degeneration in man...
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Stem Cell Treatment For Blindness Shows Promise In Trials
The first published results of trials using cells derived from human embryonic stem cells appear to show they have passed an initial safety hurdle...
Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
How Protein In Teardrops Annihilates Harmful Bacteria
A disease-fighting protein in our teardrops has been tethered to a tiny transistor, enabling UC Irvine scientists to discover exactly how it destroys dangerous bacteria. The research could prove critical to long-term work aimed at diagnosing cancers and other illnesses in their very early stages...
Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Risk Of Blindness Halved Over Last Decade
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the Western World. A report from the University of Copenhagen and Glostrup Hospital in Denmark shows the number of new cases of blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark has been halved during the last ten years...
Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Invention Makes Children Eye Exams Inexpensive, Comprehensive, And Simple To Administer
Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics say. When they do, the vision screenings they typically receive can detect only one or two conditions...
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Extended Pain Relief For Laser Eye Surgery Patients Via Contact Lenses
Scientists are reporting development of contact lenses that could provide a continuous supply of anesthetic medication to the eyes of patients who undergo laser eye surgery - an advance that could relieve patients of the burden of repeatedly placing drops of medicine into their eyes every few hours for several days. Their report appears in ACS' journal Langmuir...
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Glaucoma Origins May Lead Potential Cure
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. Nearly 4 million Americans have the disorder, which affects 70 million worldwide. There is no cure and no early symptoms. Once vision is lost, it's permanent...
Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Vitamin D Could Help Combat The Effects Of Aging In Eyes
Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found that vitamin D reduces the effects of ageing in mouse eyes and improves the vision of older mice significantly...
Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Brain Circuits For Visual Categorization Revealed By New Experiments
Hundreds of times during a baseball game, the home plate umpire must instantaneously categorize a fast-moving pitch as a ball or a strike. In new research from the University of Chicago, scientists have pinpointed an area in the brain where these kinds of visual categories are encoded...
Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Glaucoma Measurements Can Be Affected By Contact Lenses
A study about how wearing contact lenses affects glaucoma measurements has been named the top presentation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine's annual St. Albert's Day research symposium. First author of the study is Marie Brenner, a fourth-year student at Stritch School of Medicine...
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
Gene Identified As A New Target For Treatment Of Aggressive Childhood Eye Tumor
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project findings help solve mystery of retinoblastoma's rapid growth in work that also yields a new treatment target and possible therapy New findings from the St...
Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST - Source:MedNewsToday
|
|
|
