Blindness News and Research

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Low birth weight infants overcome difficulties by adulthood

As young adults, the majority of extremely low birth-weight infants are attaining similar levels of education, employment and independence as normal birth-weight infants, according to a study by researchers at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in the February 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

9 Feb 2006

$3.7 million to improve high blood pressure control

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a $3.7 million, three-year educational effort to improve high blood pressure control nationwide.

5 Feb 2006

New inhaled drug for diabetics an alternative treatment option for some

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has given it's approval for the sale of a new drug to treat diabetes.

29 Jan 2006

Weight loss and exercise reduces urinary incontinence in women with prediabetes

Losing a modest amount of weight through dietary changes and increased physical activity reduces the occurrence of urinary incontinence (UI) in women with prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet diabetic.

27 Jan 2006

Aston Academy investigates macular oedema

Aston Academy of Life Sciences, the clinical research hospital of Aston University, has recently been commissioned to assess the efficacy and safety of a specialist drug, Posurdex (Allergan Ltd, UK), which is used in the treatment of patients who suffer from a sight threatening condition, called macular oedema.

26 Jan 2006

University of Florida researchers restore vitality to cells in lab experiments

University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like molecular maintenance men - traveling throughout the body to repair damaged blood vessels - become too rigid to move in patients with diabetes, fueling the disease's vascular complications.

25 Jan 2006

New real-time test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Abbott today announced that a highly sensitive new test for the simultaneous detection of the sexually transmitted pathogens Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neissera gonorrhoeae (NG) has received CE Mark certification, allowing it to be marketed in the European Union.

23 Jan 2006

Retinal degeneration - researchers advance understanding

Researchers have labored for decades to understand blindness-inducing neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

18 Jan 2006

Diabetes gene found in 40% of population

Researchers in Iceland say they have identified a single genetic change which could predispose close to 40 percent of the population to type-2 diabetes.

16 Jan 2006

Treating glaucoma early significantly reduces economic health burden

Treatments that delay the progression of glaucoma may significantly reduce the economic health burden on people with the disease and on the U.S. health system, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University Eye Center and elsewhere. Their findings appear in the January 9, 2006, issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 Jan 2006

Elevated homocysteine levels may be a biomarker for increased risk of AMD

People who have elevated homocysteine in their blood, an amino acid that is a known biomarker for cardiovascular disease, may also be at an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

5 Jan 2006

Diet rich in antioxidants protects against Age-Related Macular Degeneration

New research has shown that a diet high in beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc is associated with a substantially reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration in elderly people.

28 Dec 2005

Second-hand smoke increases the risk of eye disease

According to a British study, smoking cigarettes, or living with someone who does, increases a person's risk of developing a progressively degenerative eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration or AMD.

22 Dec 2005

Early, aggressive treatment of type 1 diabetes reduced risk heart disease and stroke

Intensive and early treatment of type 1 diabetes substantially lowers the risk of cardiovascular ailments such as heart disease and stroke, a new multicenter study shows.

22 Dec 2005

A crucial role for TGF-beta signaling in congenital eye disorders

The lens in the developing eye acts as a TGF-beta signaling center that controls differentiation, survival and formation of multiple eye structures deriving from the neural crest.

15 Dec 2005

$Bone quality regulator identified - possible target for preventing and treating bone fractures$

Bone quality regulator identified - possible target for preventing and treating bone fractures

University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have determined that the quality of bone matrix, a key component of bone, is regulated by a molecule known as transforming growth factor beta.

13 Dec 2005

Dog gene map may help explain human diseases

U.S. scientists say a detailed analysis of the dog genome answers such questions as how dogs of a different breed still belong to the same species, and may also explain some aspects of human health and biology.

11 Dec 2005

Spinal cord cells to be repaired by using nose cells

Plans are afoot next year for British surgeons to attempt to make the first repairs of spinal cord nerves using a revolutionary new stem cell technique.

30 Nov 2005

Chlamydia pneumoniae may cause vision problems

Researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) have found that Chlamydia pneumoniae, a bacterium linked to heart disease and capable of causing chronic inflammation, was present in the diseased eye tissue of five out of nine people with neovascular, or "wet," age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

7 Nov 2005

First steps taken to treat human hereditary blindness

A team led by Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., chair of pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has taken the first steps in treating an eye disease causing irreversible congenital blindness in millions of people worldwide by successfully testing two new treatments in mice.

3 Nov 2005