Blindness News and Research

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Retina-on-a-chip may provide useful alternative to existing models for studying eye disease

The development of a retina-on-a-chip, which combines living human cells with an artificial tissue-like system, has been described today in the open-access journal eLife.

27 Aug 2019

New study provides unprecedented insights into retina's genetic code

Australian scientists have led the development of the world's most detailed gene map of the human retina, providing new insights which will help future research to prevent and treat blindness.

27 Aug 2019

New insights into protein transport could help define strategies for treating eye disease

Many forms of vision loss stem from a common source: impaired communication between the eye and the brain. And at the root of all eye-to-brain communication are the hundreds of proteins generated by the retina's nerve cells.

22 Aug 2019

Type 1 diabetes linked to gut microbiome and genetic factors

A new study has revealed that the gut microbiome of children with a high genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes is markedly different from those who have a low risk of the condition.

20 Aug 2019

Herpes treatment greatly improved by adding charcoal

A novel charcoal-based drug-delivery system to treat herpes infections topically shows greatly improved efficacy over conventional treatment. Here, the medication called acyclovir, commonly used for herpes infection, was combined with activated carbon particles.

15 Aug 2019

Older adults are less distracted by negative information, study shows

A new study shows that compared to younger adults, older adults are less distracted by negative information -- even in the earliest stages of attention.

12 Aug 2019

Finding ways to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in mums

University of South Australia researchers are appealing for greater support mechanisms to help women diagnosed with gestational diabetes return to or maintain a healthy weight post pregnancy.

12 Aug 2019

Scientists announce major breakthrough in understanding dry AMD

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have announced a major breakthrough with important implications for sufferers of a common eye disease - dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) - which can cause total blindness in sufferers, and for which there are currently no approved therapies.

8 Aug 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers use nanotechnology to repair faulty brain circuits

Working with mouse and human tissue, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report new evidence that a protein pumped out of some — but not all — populations of “helper” cells in the brain, called astrocytes, plays a specific role in directing the formation of connections among neurons needed for learning and forming new memories.

31 Jul 2019

Thin photoelectric film can stimulate degenerated retinal tissues

In a study recently published in Advanced Biomedical Engineering, researchers at Okayama University report a thin photoelectric film which can stimulate degenerated retinal tissues of the eye.

29 Jul 2019

On a mission to help people control diabetes — and save money on insulin

In a former church parsonage in Grundy County, Tenn., Karen Wickham ladled out her lentil stew as people arrived for an evening health education class.

25 Jul 2019

Virginia Tech graduate student wins NIH award to map unexplored area of the brain

As you read this article, your eyes are capturing light and your brain is decoding it into tangible fragments of information - things like colors, edges, words, and ideas.

22 Jul 2019

Research team detects novel mechanism of inheritance

Non-Mendelian, oligogenic inheritance could bean unrecognized and important element for occurrence ofhereditary retinal degenerations (HRDs, comprising retinitis pigmentosa) which are caused by ultra-rare mutations and cause progressive blindness.

18 Jul 2019

Marijuana isn’t a great choice for glaucoma treatment, says expert

Marijuana can help reduce the pressure inside the eye (IOP, or intraocular pressure). Being a euphoric drug, it is now a commonly used recreational and medicinal drug. In fact, its use ranks fourth among all substances, behind tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.

18 Jul 2019

New 'molecular scaffolding' could help restore sight loss caused by glaucoma

Fight for Sight is funding scientists at the University of Cambridge to research how a new ‘molecular scaffolding’ could help restore vital nerve connections between the eye and the brain, potentially recovering the sight loss caused by glaucoma and other conditions, and even paving the way for future eye transplants.

16 Jul 2019

Revolutionary gene replacement surgery restores vision in patients with retinal degeneration

More than a year after becoming one of the first medical institutions nationally to complete a revolutionary gene replacement surgery to restore vision in patients with retinal degeneration, surgeons at the of The Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have successfully completed the procedure on an additional 13 patients.

14 Jul 2019

Retina can restructure itself following gene therapy

Following gene therapy, the retina can restructure itself and regain normal light responses, according to research in mice published in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 10 Jul 2019

Fight for Sight poll: Brits put their eyesight at risk through unsafe contact lens habits

Poll results released today by charity Fight for Sight highlight that many Brits are frequently putting their eyesight at risk through unsafe contact lens habits, unaware that these could lead to a painful and sight-threatening eye infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis.

10 Jul 2019

Smartphone-based telemedical DR screening could improve ophthalmic care

About one in ten people in southern India is diabetic. Around one in three suffers from a so-called diabetic retinopathy (DR), a disease of the retina caused by diabetes.

10 Jul 2019

New project reveals beautification processes used by women over the ages

Centuries of dangerous practices used by women in the pursuit of beauty are being showcased in a new project revealing brutal beauty regimes, from sewing hair into eyelids to replacing eyebrows with mouse skin.

9 Jul 2019