Blindness News and Research

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New strategy found to delay onset of blindness in mice

More than 2 million people worldwide live with inherited and untreatable retinal conditions, including retinitis pigmentosa, which slowly erodes vision.

2 May 2018

Researchers develop new methods to diagnose glaucoma and detect disease progression

Two new research studies demonstrate that imaging technologies can help to diagnose and detect the progression of glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S.

2 May 2018

New studies show potential for using genetic information to create personalized vision care

Two new studies demonstrate potential future opportunities to use genetic information to treat vision conditions. The new studies are being presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Honolulu, Hawaii, Sunday, April 29 – Thursday, May 3.

30 Apr 2018

Sweet potato-fortified bread may help fight vitamin A deficiency in Africa

You won't find sweet potatoes growing in South Dakota fields, but sweet potato-fortified bread developed at South Dakota State University might help fight vitamin A deficiency in Africa.

27 Apr 2018

MU researchers use new techniques to fight against diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a retinal microvascular disease that often causes blindness in adults who have had diabetes mellitus for 10 years or more. Estimates are that 600 million people will have some sort of diabetic retinopathy by 2040.

25 Apr 2018

Meningitis in Newborns: What to Look Out For

Claire is Evidence & Policy Manager at the UK and international charity Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF). She discusses the signs and symptoms of meningitis in newborns, and the aims for the recent diagnostic eTool developed by the MRF.

24 Apr 2018

Tattoo sensor: A needleless glucose monitor for diabetes patients

For Angela Valdez, being diagnosed with diabetes was an awakening. The disorder ran in her family, but she didn't think it would happen to her. And when it did, she acted by modifying her diet and physical activity. She was doing everything right--almost.

20 Apr 2018

Human brain processes sight and sound in the same way, shows study

Although sight is a much different sense than sound, Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists have found that the human brain learns to make sense of these stimuli in the same way.

19 Apr 2018

Researchers use smartphone to diagnose people infected with Loa loa worm

The Berkeley researchers figured out that they could quickly determine who has the Loa loa worm using a smartphone, customized to work like a microscope. They could then skip the medication for those people and give it to everyone else. Kamgno, who received the latest version of the phones in 2016, dubbed the mobile microscopes "revolutionary."

19 Apr 2018

Faith-based diabetes support program launched by UTSA research team

Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio are taking diabetes education to church. Through the Building a Healthy Temple program, they're working with Hispanics who have type 2 diabetes to help them manage the disease and develop a healthier lifestyle.

18 Apr 2018

FDA approves marketing of AI device to detect diabetic retinopathy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday (11th of April 2018), released a statement approving the marketing of world’s first artificial intelligence using medical device that can detect diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients.

12 Apr 2018

FDA authorizes marketing of first AI device to detect diabetic retinopathy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today permitted marketing of the first medical device to use artificial intelligence to detect greater than a mild level of the eye disease diabetic retinopathy in adults who have diabetes.

12 Apr 2018

Telemedicine enables accurate detection of devastating cause of blindness in premature babies

Accurately detecting a rare, but devastating cause of blindness in premature babies can be done as effectively with telemedicine as with traditional, in-person eye exams, a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology suggests. This is believed to be the first study to directly compare the two approaches.

6 Apr 2018

Weekly nutrition education improves diabetes management

Prescriptions are not enough--diet changes and nutrition education make the difference in people with diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

6 Apr 2018

Aging immune cells increase risk for macular degeneration

As people age, their immune systems age, too. And new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that aging immune cells increase the risk for age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness in the United States.

5 Apr 2018

NTU Singapore and SERI team invents new 'pen camera' to detect patients with glaucoma

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with clinicians from the Singapore Eye Research Institute, have invented a new 'pen camera' that makes it easier for doctors to diagnose patients with glaucoma.

5 Apr 2018

First-in-human clinical trial of retinal implant to treat dry AMD

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the United States. Because the population is aging, that number will increase to almost 3 million by 2020. Between 80 and 90 percent of cases in this country are the dry version of the condition, for which no effective treatment exists.

5 Apr 2018

New trial to test stem cell-based retinal implant for dry age-related macular degeneration

Physicians and researchers at the USC Roski Eye Institute have collaborated with other California institutions to show that a first-in-kind stem cell-based retinal implant is feasible for use in people with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration.

4 Apr 2018

Cataract surgery can be safely performed on Ebola survivors with eye disease

Cataract surgery can be safely performed on Ebola virus disease survivors with impaired vision, Emory Eye Center ophthalmologists and 40 colleagues around the world report.

4 Apr 2018

FDA-approved drug for chemical abortion shows promise for treatment of vestibular schwannoma

Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers have shown that mifepristone, a drug currently FDA-approved for chemical abortion, prevents the growth of vestibular schwannoma cells. This sometimes-lethal intracranial tumor typically causes hearing loss and tinnitus

3 Apr 2018