Blindness News and Research

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People with hemianopia have difficulty detecting pedestrians, study cautions against allowing them to drive

Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that--when tested in a driving simulator--patients with hemianopia (blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes) have significantly more difficulty detecting pedestrians (on their blind side) than normally sighted people. These results, published in the November 2009 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, fly in the face of some recent on-road studies that have found most people with hemianopia safe to drive.

13 Nov 2009

Series of holiday cards to help build ORBIS Kids Sight treatment centres launched

ORBIS Canada, a non-profit global development organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide, is launching a series of holiday cards available for purchase this season. Proceeds of these cards will be used to build ORBIS Kids Sight treatment centres in the developing world.

12 Nov 2009

Goethe University professors discuss cataract surgery and artificial lens implantation

As many as 10 million people around the world suffer from cataracts. Thomas Kohnen of the Goethe University in Frankfurt and his coauthors discuss cataract surgery with the implantation of an artificial lens in the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[43]: 695).

10 Nov 2009

Compugen discovers new biomarker for predisposition to type 2 diabetes using its GeneVa platform

Compugen Ltd. announced today the discovery and experimental confirmation of a genetic biomarker, CGEN-40001 for predisposition to type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.

9 Nov 2009

Experts gather to outline the latest creative applications of DNA barcoding

The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others.

7 Nov 2009

Rituximab drug potentially effective for treating Graves' eye disease, shows study

A small group of patients with severe Graves' eye disease experienced rapid improvement of their symptoms - and improved vision - following treatment with the drug rituximab. Inflammation around their eyes and damage to the optic nerve were significantly reduced. The same patients had not previously responded to steroids, a common treatment for Graves' eye disease.

7 Nov 2009

Lifestyle changes prevents type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease: Study

Sustaining modest weight loss for 10 years, or taking an anti-diabetic drug over that time, can prevent or lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease, according to the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), a long-term follow-up to a landmark 2001 diabetes prevention study.

3 Nov 2009

Interim data from Schering-Plough's narlaprevir Phase IIa study

Schering-Plough Corporation reported that interim results from an ongoing Phase IIa study of narlaprevir (SCH 900518), its investigational, once-daily protease inhibitor, demonstrated potent antiviral activity in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1.

3 Nov 2009

American Diabetes Association launches "Stop Diabetes" campaign

Americans earn a failing grade on diabetes awareness, based on survey results released today by the American Diabetes Association. In general, Americans earned a 51% when asked a series of questions about a disease so common that it strikes every 20 seconds. The survey results revealed that many diabetes myths and misconceptions still exist, while the disease's prevalence continues to rise.

2 Nov 2009

Multicenter study finds AMD patients can benefit from cataract surgery

This month's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) reports on a national study that finds cataract surgery is likely to benefit patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at all stages of the disease, on a clinical trial showing that the steroid triamcinolone may be effective in advanced diabetic macular edema (DME) patients when standard treatment fails, and on the public's use of two Academy-sponsored online eye health forums.

2 Nov 2009

Combination of inhibitor and antioxidants may help prevent diabetes complications

In diabetes patients, high blood glucose levels can end up killing certain cells in the eyes and kidneys, which is why diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness and of kidney failure. Years ago, scientists identified one main route for this destruction—high glucose produces oxidative stress through the NF-kB molecular pathway—but success has been elusive for drugs targeting that pathway.

2 Nov 2009

Schering-Plough receives FDA complete response letter regarding PEGINTRON

Schering-Plough Corp. announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter to the company's supplemental Biologics License Application regarding PEGINTRON® (pegylated interferon alfa-2b) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III malignant melanoma after complete lymphadenectomy.

31 Oct 2009

Johns Hopkins researchers find life in blood-starved retinas; shed light on vision loss

Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly. Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness. While many of the molecules involved in guiding the development of the intricate blood vessel architecture are known, only now are we learning how these molecules work and how they might affect sight.

31 Oct 2009

Annual dilated eye exam helps prevent vision loss in people with diabetes

Diabetes causes more new cases of legal blindness among working-age Americans than any other disease. If diabetics are monitored regularly by their ophthalmologist, this vision loss is almost always avoidable. Yet, tragically, more than half of all people living with diabetes do not get the recommended annual dilated eye exam.

30 Oct 2009

USC to develop stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration with CIRM grant

Physician-researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) received a nearly $16 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to fund the development of a stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among the elderly.

29 Oct 2009

Promedior granted European Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for PRM-151

Promedior, Inc., a leader in the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of fibrotic diseases and tissue remodeling, announced today that the European Commission has granted Orphan Medicinal Product Designation to its lead drug candidate PRM-151 for use in the prevention of scarring post glaucoma filtration surgery.

29 Oct 2009

USC researchers receive grant to develop stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration

29 Oct 2009

Roche discloses the results of first Phase III clinical study using Taspoglutide

Ipsen (Paris:IPN), an innovation-driven global specialty pharmaceutical group, today announced that its partner Roche has disclosed the results of a first phase III clinical study using Taspoglutide, the first human once weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue originating from Ipsen’s Research.

29 Oct 2009

Isotechnika Pharma reports voclosporin Phase 2/3 clinical trial results at the AAO meeting

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. today announced that results of the international Phase 2/3 clinical trials studying voclosporin, conducted by its partner Lux Biosciences, were the subject of two podium presentations at the American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting and of a presentation at the satellite meeting of the American Uveitis Society (AUS) in San Francisco, October 24-27.

27 Oct 2009

LX211 may become the first approved oral treatment for modifying the course of uveitis

An experimental drug, LX211 (LUVENIQ - oral voclosporin), may become the first approved oral treatment capable of modifying the course of uveitis, a group of serious eye conditions inevitably associated with either severe vision loss or substantial morbidity from steroid use.

27 Oct 2009

Blindness News and Research

People with hemianopia have difficulty detecting pedestrians, study cautions against allowing them to drive

Series of holiday cards to help build ORBIS Kids Sight treatment centres launched

Goethe University professors discuss cataract surgery and artificial lens implantation

Compugen discovers new biomarker for predisposition to type 2 diabetes using its GeneVa platform

Experts gather to outline the latest creative applications of DNA barcoding

Rituximab drug potentially effective for treating Graves' eye disease, shows study

Lifestyle changes prevents type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease: Study

Interim data from Schering-Plough's narlaprevir Phase IIa study

American Diabetes Association launches "Stop Diabetes" campaign

Multicenter study finds AMD patients can benefit from cataract surgery

Combination of inhibitor and antioxidants may help prevent diabetes complications

Schering-Plough receives FDA complete response letter regarding PEGINTRON

Johns Hopkins researchers find life in blood-starved retinas; shed light on vision loss

Annual dilated eye exam helps prevent vision loss in people with diabetes

USC to develop stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration with CIRM grant

Promedior granted European Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for PRM-151

USC researchers receive grant to develop stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration

Roche discloses the results of first Phase III clinical study using Taspoglutide

Isotechnika Pharma reports voclosporin Phase 2/3 clinical trial results at the AAO meeting

LX211 may become the first approved oral treatment for modifying the course of uveitis

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