Blindness News and Research

RSS

More than 1 million babies worldwide born prematurely die in first month, Study says

Each year more than 1 million babies born prematurely - before 37 weeks of development in the womb or within the first month of life - the "March of Dimes said Sunday in the first comprehensive global report on premature births," CNN reports. Nearly 10 percent of total births worldwide, or 12.9 million infants, are preterm, the study found.

6 Oct 2009

Preterm birth rate continues to rise

More than one million infants die each year because they are born too early, according to the just released White Paper, The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth.

5 Oct 2009

Researchers engineer antidotes for blood-thinner aptamers

Imagine a surgical patient on a blood-thinning drug who starts bleeding more than expected, and an antidote that works immediately - because the blood thinner and antidote were designed to work together. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have engineered a way to do this for an entire, versatile class of drugs called aptamers and published their findings in Nature Medicine.

4 Oct 2009

Study finds that visual impairment in T1D patients may be decreasing

People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in recent years are less likely to develop diabetes-related vision loss than those diagnosed in earlier years, says a new study funded by the National Eye Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Forecasts of visual impairment prevalence in T1D patients may need to be amended, the researchers suggest, since current predictions assume that the earlier incidence rates will continue.

3 Oct 2009

Eye treatment reimbursement change could cost Medicare millions

A change in the reimbursement rate for the drug Avastin, used off-label to treat an eye illness in the elderly, could lead Medicare doctors to use a much costlier drug that would cost the system millions, The New York Times reports.

3 Oct 2009

ORBIS' Childhood Blindness Initiative aims to develop 50 pediatric ophthalmology centers across India

ORBIS International's flagship Flying Eye Hospital arrived in Jaipur, India with its international team of volunteer eye care specialists and global sponsor Alcon, Inc. (NYSE: ACL), the world's leading eye care company.

1 Oct 2009

Blood vessels in the retina may help predict risk of heart attack or stroke

For centuries eyes have been seen as windows to the soul. But medical researchers now believe the eyes may also offer vital clues to your risk of heart disease and stroke.

28 Sep 2009

Safety profiles of JANUVIA and JANUMET drugs established through clinical development program

Merck has thoroughly reviewed the safety data for sitagliptin, and sitagliptin was not associated with an increase in the incidence of pancreatitis in preclinical studies or in clinical trials of up to two years in duration with more than 6,000 patients.

28 Sep 2009

$Diabetic patients face increased risk of bone fractures$

Diabetic patients face increased risk of bone fractures

Current research suggests that the inflammatory molecule TNF-α may contribute to delayed bone fracture healing in diabetics. The related report by Alblowi et al, "High Levels of TNF-α Contribute to Accelerated Loss of Cartilage in Diabetic Fracture Healing" appears in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

28 Sep 2009

European CHMP recommends Merck's JANUVIA and JANUMET as add-on to insulin

Merck & Co., Inc., which operates in many countries as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for JANUVIA® tablets and JANUMET® tablets recommending their use as add-on to insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

26 Sep 2009

Symposium on ways to lower preterm birth rate

Journalists are invited to attend a gathering of the nation's leading maternal-child and quality assurance health care experts who will review and develop programs that may help lower the nation's costly preterm birth rate.

26 Sep 2009

Adaptive Eyewear's endeavors to build vision infrastructure in Rwanda

Adaptive Eyewear, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation which aims to provide vision correction solutions to people in the developing world, was recognized yesterday at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Fifth Annual Meeting for its exemplary approach to address the significant shortage of eye care specialists and lack of vision infrastructure in Rwanda. Adaptive Eyewear's commitment to the people of Rwanda was announced at the session "Driving Disruptive Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid" on Wednesday 23rd September at 2:45pm.

25 Sep 2009

Commitments announced at the Clinton Global Initiative

The second day of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) came to a close with a special session on Northern Ireland, following afternoon plenary and breakout sessions that focused on harnessing innovation for development.

24 Sep 2009

Clinton Global Initiative to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination

At the Clinton Global Initiative today, the Inter-American Development Bank joined with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases to announce their commitment to mobilize $30 million from the public and private sectors to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination in the Americas, supported by technical assistance from the Pan American Health Organization, regional office of the World Health Organization for the Americas.

24 Sep 2009

Scientist reveals that selecting optimal radiation dosage for a patient is possible

An international group of scientists has taken the first step on the road to targeting radiotherapy dosage to individual patients by means of their genetic characteristics, a radiation oncologist told Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 - ESMO 34, in Berlin today (Thursday September 24). Professor Dirk de Ruysscher, from Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, said that his team's work might provide the basis for personalised radiotherapy in which, with a simple blood test, doctors may be able to select the optimal radiation dose for a particular patient.

24 Sep 2009

Enrollment for pSivida's pilot FAVOR clinical study commences

pSivida Corp., a leading drug delivery company that has developed two of the only three products approved by the FDA for the long term, sustained release delivery of drug to treat chronic back of the eye disease, today announced that enrollment has begun for a pilot study to assess the safety and efficacy of Iluvien in patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion.

24 Sep 2009

Electrically stimulating nerve cells can restore some vision

Results: MIT engineers have designed a retinal implant for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. The retinal prosthesis would help restore some vision by electrically stimulating the nerve cells that normally carry visual input from the retina to the brain.

24 Sep 2009

Alimera Sciences starts pilot study of Iluvien intravitreal insert

Alimera Sciences, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today reported that enrollment has begun for a pilot study to assess the safety and efficacy of Iluvien(R) in patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion.

23 Sep 2009

Gene variant discovery could lead to future glaucoma treatments

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the National Eye Institute, has discovered gene variants for glaucoma in a black population. The finding could lead to future treatments or a cure for this disease, which leads to blindness in two million Americans each year.

22 Sep 2009

New device for identifying eye conditions in infants

Tell-tale signs of a condition that can blind premature babies are being seen for the first time using a new handheld device in a study at Duke University Medical Center.

22 Sep 2009