Blindness News and Research

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Researchers discover neural progenitor cells in the optic nerve

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have for the first time identified stem cells in the region of the optic nerve, which transmits signals from the eye to the brain.

30 Jul 2020

Less-lethal weapons blind, maim and kill. Victims say enough is enough.

There's a gap in Scott Olsen's memory for the night of Oct. 25, 2011. The Iraq War vet remembers leaving his tech job in the San Francisco Bay Area and taking a BART train to join an Occupy Oakland protest against economic and social inequality.

24 Jul 2020

Study uncovers dual role for molecule involved in autoimmune eye disease

The inflammatory molecule interleukin-17A (IL-17A) triggers immune cells that in turn reduce IL-17A's pro-inflammatory activity, according to a study by National Eye Institute researchers.

23 Jul 2020

Research suggests a possible new approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.

21 Jul 2020

Researchers identify underlying mechanism for metabolic memory and diabetic complications

For people with diabetes, vascular complications like kidney disease and atherosclerosis, which can lead to poor health and even death, are seen at increased rates.

20 Jul 2020

UC Riverside scientist to shed light on worm infections that escape detection by immune systems

It's likely that billions of people are unaware they have been infected with parasitic worms. A UC Riverside scientist has won $1.8 million to try and understand why.

20 Jul 2020

A new strategy to combat treatment resistance in choroidal neovascularization

An international team of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Methodist has discovered a strategy that can potentially address a major challenge to the current treatment for choroidal neovascularization (CNV), an aggressive form of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly.

16 Jul 2020

Spectral notch filters in glasses enhance color vision for those with red-green CVD

A new UC Davis Eye Center study, conducted in collaboration with France's INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, found that special patented glasses engineered with technically advanced spectral notch filters enhance color vision for those with the most common types of red-green color vision deficiency ("anomalous trichromacy").

14 Jul 2020

7-day levofloxacin/dexamethasone eye drops as effective as standard treatment after cataract surgery

Santen EMEA and NTC are delighted to announce that the results of their phase III clinical study, LEADER7, have been published in Eye.

13 Jul 2020

Face blindness may arise from deficits beyond visual perception

The ability to recognize faces is a complex neurocognitive skill with important social implications. The disorder, which, according to some estimates, affects more than 2 percent of the population, can lead to isolation and anxiety and impair personal and work relationships.

12 Jul 2020

Researchers use nanoparticles to deliver gene therapy for blinding eye disease

In experiments in rats and mice, two Johns Hopkins scientists - an engineer and an ophthalmologist - report the successful use of nanoparticles to deliver gene therapy for blinding eye disease.

7 Jul 2020

New nanoparticle-based artificial retina prosthesis restores vision in blind rats

An international team of scientists, of which the University of Granada (UGR) is a member, has developed a new nanoparticle-based artificial retina prosthesis that can be injected into the eye.

7 Jul 2020

Researchers develop artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of eye disorders

Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) has led to the revolutionary development of an artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that cause the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors of the retina, resulting in blindness.

30 Jun 2020

Researchers develop a promising treatment to prevent blindness

The team was co-led by May Griffith, a researcher at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre, which is affiliated with Université de Montréal and is part of the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.

30 Jun 2020

New eye drops could prevent vision loss after retinal vein occlusion

Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center have developed eye drops that could prevent vision loss after retinal vein occlusion, a major cause of blindness for millions of adults worldwide.

29 Jun 2020

New method spurs production of antibiotic or antiparasitic compounds in actinobacteria

Researchers have developed a method to spur the production of new antibiotic or antiparasitic compounds hiding in the genomes of actinobacteria, which are the source of drugs such as actinomycin and streptomycin and are known to harbor other untapped chemical riches.

25 Jun 2020

Hungarian physician to receive the Körber Prize for European Science 2020

The Körber Prize for European Science 2020, which is endowed with one million euros, is being awarded to the Hungarian physician Botond Roska.

23 Jun 2020

Fractured skulls, lost eyes: Police often break own rules using ‘rubber bullets’

Megan Matthews thought she was dying. "I thought my head was blown off," said Matthews, 22, who was hit in the eye with a sponge-tipped projectile fired by law enforcement at a May 29 protest in Denver. "Everything was dark. I couldn't see."

19 Jun 2020

Study reveals new insight into Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy

The molecular changes that lead to Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) occur decades before the disease causes blurry vision and other noticeable symptoms in patients, new research by UT Southwestern scientists shows.

17 Jun 2020

Researchers question the mechanism of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers who made a knock-in mouse-model of the genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa 59, or RP59, expected to see retinal degeneration and retinal thinning. As reported in the journal Cells, they surprisingly found none, calling into question the commonly accepted -- though never proved -- mechanism for RP59.

12 Jun 2020