Blindness News and Research

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Sirion Therapeutics sNDA for Durezol to treat uveitis accepted for FDA review

Sirion Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking market approval of Durezol(TM) (difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% to treat endogenous anterior uveitis has been accepted for review.

16 Mar 2009

Shining light on diabetic retinopathy

A group of scientists in California is trying to develop a cheaper, less invasive way to spot the early stages of retinal damage from diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in American adults, before it leads to blindness.

11 Mar 2009

A nanotech coating for brain implants

Biomedical and materials engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a nanotech coating for brain implants that helps the devices operate longer and could improve treatment for deafness, paralysis, blindness, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.

11 Mar 2009

Diabetes linked to cognitive deterioration

Blindness, renal failure, stroke and heart disease are potential complications of type 2 diabetes, which currently afflicts more than 15 million Americans.

5 Mar 2009

Discovery of new gene that causes Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa

The team of Dr. Robert Koenekoop which includes Dr. Irma Lopez from the Research Institute of the MUHC at the Montreal Children's Hospital played a crucial role in the international collaboration that led to the discovery of a new gene that causes Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), two devastating forms of childhood blindness.

5 Mar 2009

Experts discuss factors that may contribute to glaucoma

Although scientists know progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells and their axons is the primary cause of glaucoma, researchers have yet to identify a way to stop or prevent the degeneration.

4 Mar 2009

Genetic link between cats and humans for retinitis pigmentosa

About one in 3,500 people are affected with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease of the retina's visual cells that eventually leads to blindness.

4 Mar 2009

Study offers clues to beating hearing loss

Researchers at the University of Leeds have made a significant step forward in understanding the causes of some forms of deafness.

4 Mar 2009

Study sheds light on underlying neural mechanism behind macular degeneration

In macular degeneration, the most common form of adult blindness, patients progressively lose vision in the center of their visual field, thereby depriving the corresponding part of the visual cortex of input.

3 Mar 2009

Universal vaccination associated with decreased Canadian cases of most deadly strain of meningitis

Universal childhood vaccination against meningococcal C appears to reduce Canadian incidence of the most deadly strain of bacterial meningitis, reports new research published in the March issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

2 Mar 2009

Compounds that trigger beta cell replication identified

Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified a set of compounds that can trigger the proliferation of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, using sophisticated high-throughput screening techniques.

25 Feb 2009

New technology could save vision of millions

In the blink of an eye, people at risk of becoming blind can now be screened for eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

18 Feb 2009

GlaxoSmithKline starts phase III trial of Syncria (albiglutide) type 2 diabetes medication

GlaxoSmithKline has announced initiation and dosing of the first patient of the Phase III clinical trial programme to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the investigational GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) agonist Syncria (albiglutide) in men and women with type 2 diabetes.

18 Feb 2009

Lots of exercise may help prevent vision loss

There's another reason to dust off those running shoes. Vigorous exercise may help prevent vision loss, according to a pair of studies from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

10 Feb 2009

Study tests salsalate anti-inflammatory for poorly controlled type 2 diabetes

Researchers in 20 medical centers across the country are enrolling adults with type 2 diabetes who have poorly controlled blood glucose to participate in a clinical study, Targeting Inflammation with Salsalate in Type 2 Diabetes (TINSAL-T2D).

5 Feb 2009

Gene-targeting approach for herpes treatment

A new therapy being developed at the University of Florida could, in time, produce another weapon for the fight against herpes.

3 Feb 2009

Diabetes epidemic shows no signs of abating

In the United States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

27 Jan 2009

Genetic testing may not lead to demand for 'designer babies'

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center found a high desire for additional genetic testing among consumers for life altering and threatening medical conditions including mental retardation, blindness, deafness, cancer, heart disease, dwarfism and shortened lifespan from death by 5 years of age.

27 Jan 2009

Protease inhibitor found to aid diabetic retinopathy treatment

Researchers from Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, and ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Francisco, announced today that they have demonstrated that a specific inhibitor of the protease plasma kallikrein, ASP-440, developed by ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, may provide a new therapeutic approach for treatment of diabetic retinopathy, the most common eye-related complication of diabetes.

21 Jan 2009

New cataract early detection device

A compact fiber-optic probe developed for the space program has now proven valuable for patients in the clinic as the first non-invasive early detection device for cataracts, the leading cause of vision loss worldwide.

8 Jan 2009