Vision Loss News and Research

RSS

Implant improves vision for patients suffering from macular degeneration

Physicians at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center have become the first in Virginia to successfully implant a telescope in a patient's eye to treat macular degeneration.

16 Apr 2013

New combination therapy could help restore vision

Researchers have discovered that using two kinds of therapy in tandem may be a knockout combo against inherited disorders that cause blindness. While their study focused on man's best friend, the treatment could help restore vision in people, too.

10 Apr 2013

Genes for blood vessel growth in retina are "switched on" by SRF protein

Normal functioning of the eye depends on a proper supply of blood to the retina. Light entering the eye passes through the cornea, the lens, and the vitreous body before reaching the retina, where it stimulates the nerves.

9 Apr 2013

Amakem backs new Chair of Ophthalmology Translational Research at KU Leuven

Amakem NV, a kinase platform company focusing on ophthalmology, today announces it has sponsored a new Chair of Ophthalmology Translational Research at the Catholic University Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium.

8 Apr 2013

DSEK surgical procedure for perfect vision

Since she was a child Sarah Mittler knew exactly what she wanted to do−be a wife and mother. She and her husband, Tom, were living their dream of a life complete with five kids, two dogs and a packed schedule of activities, until Sarah's vision started to deteriorate.

5 Apr 2013

Despite discovery of sight-saving drugs, AMD still causes severe vision loss in older Americans

Age-related macular degeneration continues to be the leading cause of visual impairment in the United States for people over age 65, according to a study recently published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

4 Apr 2013

Lund University researchers examine why people suffer vision loss in eye diseases

Using new technology and new approaches, researchers at Lund University in Sweden hope to be able to explain why people suffer vision loss in eye diseases such as retinal detachment and glaucoma.

4 Apr 2013

Study suggests drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration

A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 50, shares a common link with atherosclerosis.

3 Apr 2013

Targeting cholesterol metabolism in eye may prevent age-related macular degeneration, says study

Targeting cholesterol metabolism in the eye might help prevent a severe form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the most common causes of blindness in older Americans, according to indications in a study in mice, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

3 Apr 2013

TSRI receives fund to develop new field test for Onchocerciasis

Philanthropist, businessman and community leader John Moores has given The Scripps Research Institute approximately $2 million to fund the development of a new field test for Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, a parasitic infection that affects tens of millions of people in Africa, Latin America and other tropical regions.

21 Mar 2013

Researchers work on stem cell treatments to halt vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy

Researchers at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute and the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine are on the cusp of perfecting stem cell treatments that would halt - and potentially reverse - vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy.

13 Mar 2013

Lack of very long chain fatty acids does not cause blindness in children with Stargardt type 3

Vision scientists long have thought that lack of very long chain fatty acids in photoreceptor cells caused blindness in children with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration, an incurable eye disease. But researchers at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center have shown in a new study that lack of these fatty acids does not cause blindness, meaning that the search for the mechanism that robs sight from children with the disease must start anew.

12 Mar 2013

Antibiotic prophylaxis after IVT may be harmful

Researchers are warning against routine antibiotic prophylaxis with intravitreal injection after finding that the practice can increase the antibiotic resistance of ocular surface flora.

6 Mar 2013

Subclinical inflammation predicts macular disease

Levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein predict the risk for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema, show results of two independent studies published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

27 Feb 2013

Pediatric blindness etiology varies around the globe

The causes and prevalence of blindness in children vary markedly by geography, presumably as a proxy for socioeconomic factors influencing prevention and treatment schemes, conclude the authors of a literature review.

15 Feb 2013

Novel approach uses adult stem cells to save sight of diabetes sufferers

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast are hoping to develop a novel approach that could save the sight of millions of diabetes sufferers using adult stem cells.

14 Feb 2013

CATT study clarifies value of genetic testing for age-related macular degeneration

New findings from a landmark clinical trial show that although certain gene variants may predict whether a person is likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a potentially blinding eye disease that afflicts more than nine million Americans, these genes do not predict how patients will respond to Lucentis- and Avastin-, the two medications most widely used to treat the "wet" form of AMD.

13 Feb 2013

AAPOS committee revises guidelines for automated preschool vision screening

The Vision Screening Committee of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, the professional organization for pediatric eye care, has revised its guidelines for automated preschool vision screening based on new evidence. The new guidelines are published in the February issue of the Journal of AAPOS.

5 Feb 2013

National Eye Institute’s booklet and videos help people adapt to life with low vision

A 20-page large-print booklet and a series of videos to help people adapt to life with low vision are available from the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health. The materials were released during Low Vision Awareness Month, February 2013.

2 Feb 2013

Central field loss creates driving hazard

People with central field loss experience a range of difficulties when driving that could pose a danger to themselves and pedestrians, researchers believe.

30 Jan 2013