Vision Loss News and Research

RSS

Study suggests drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration

A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 50, shares a common link with atherosclerosis.

3 Apr 2013

Targeting cholesterol metabolism in eye may prevent age-related macular degeneration, says study

Targeting cholesterol metabolism in the eye might help prevent a severe form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the most common causes of blindness in older Americans, according to indications in a study in mice, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

3 Apr 2013

TSRI receives fund to develop new field test for Onchocerciasis

Philanthropist, businessman and community leader John Moores has given The Scripps Research Institute approximately $2 million to fund the development of a new field test for Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, a parasitic infection that affects tens of millions of people in Africa, Latin America and other tropical regions.

21 Mar 2013

Researchers work on stem cell treatments to halt vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy

Researchers at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute and the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine are on the cusp of perfecting stem cell treatments that would halt - and potentially reverse - vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy.

13 Mar 2013

Lack of very long chain fatty acids does not cause blindness in children with Stargardt type 3

Vision scientists long have thought that lack of very long chain fatty acids in photoreceptor cells caused blindness in children with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration, an incurable eye disease. But researchers at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center have shown in a new study that lack of these fatty acids does not cause blindness, meaning that the search for the mechanism that robs sight from children with the disease must start anew.

12 Mar 2013

Antibiotic prophylaxis after IVT may be harmful

Researchers are warning against routine antibiotic prophylaxis with intravitreal injection after finding that the practice can increase the antibiotic resistance of ocular surface flora.

6 Mar 2013

Subclinical inflammation predicts macular disease

Levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein predict the risk for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema, show results of two independent studies published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

27 Feb 2013

Pediatric blindness etiology varies around the globe

The causes and prevalence of blindness in children vary markedly by geography, presumably as a proxy for socioeconomic factors influencing prevention and treatment schemes, conclude the authors of a literature review.

15 Feb 2013

Novel approach uses adult stem cells to save sight of diabetes sufferers

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast are hoping to develop a novel approach that could save the sight of millions of diabetes sufferers using adult stem cells.

14 Feb 2013

CATT study clarifies value of genetic testing for age-related macular degeneration

New findings from a landmark clinical trial show that although certain gene variants may predict whether a person is likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a potentially blinding eye disease that afflicts more than nine million Americans, these genes do not predict how patients will respond to Lucentis- and Avastin-, the two medications most widely used to treat the "wet" form of AMD.

13 Feb 2013

AAPOS committee revises guidelines for automated preschool vision screening

The Vision Screening Committee of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, the professional organization for pediatric eye care, has revised its guidelines for automated preschool vision screening based on new evidence. The new guidelines are published in the February issue of the Journal of AAPOS.

5 Feb 2013

National Eye Institute’s booklet and videos help people adapt to life with low vision

A 20-page large-print booklet and a series of videos to help people adapt to life with low vision are available from the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health. The materials were released during Low Vision Awareness Month, February 2013.

2 Feb 2013

Central field loss creates driving hazard

People with central field loss experience a range of difficulties when driving that could pose a danger to themselves and pedestrians, researchers believe.

30 Jan 2013

Reprogramming eye cells that enable night vision may one day treat retinitis pigmentosa

Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Jan 2013

Hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and impairment in older adults

Hearing loss appears to be associated with accelerated cognitive decline and cognitive impairment in a study of older adults, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

22 Jan 2013

Macular pigment screening: an interview with Jaquie Finn, Product Line Manager at Elektron Technology

AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in anyone over 50 and globally in 2010 it was estimated to cost $340 billion to treat AMD. The costs are set to spiral over the next 20 years and really over burden the healthcare system unless people start to take preventative action.

18 Jan 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in Phase III IFN-free HCV trial

Today, Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the first patients have been enrolled in the company's pivotal Phase III interferon (IFN)-free hepatitis C (HCV) clinical trial programme, HCVerso.

18 Jan 2013

Spain approves pSivida’s ILUVIEN to treat chronic diabetic macular edema

pSivida Corp., a leader in developing sustained release, drug delivery products for treatment of back-of-the-eye diseases, announced today that the Spanish Agency of Drugs and Medical Devices (Agencia Espanola de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios) granted marketing authorization to ILUVIEN for the treatment of vision impairment associated with chronic diabetic macular edema (DME) considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies.

18 Jan 2013

Abnormal fixation may contribute to deficits in face perception in AMD patients

Abnormalities of eye movement and fixation may contribute to difficulty in perceiving and recognizing faces among older adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggests a study "Abnormal Fixation in Individuals with AMD when Viewing an Image of a Face" appearing in the January issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

9 Jan 2013

Deimination restores inner retinal visual function in murine demyelinating disease

Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), are frequently associated with the progressive loss of vision. The retinal nerve damage is thought to be caused by immune system-mediated inflammation; however, other demyelinating disorders, such as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, do not involve the immune system, suggesting that there are other causes of retinal nerve damage.

3 Jan 2013

Vision Loss News and Research

Study suggests drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration

Targeting cholesterol metabolism in eye may prevent age-related macular degeneration, says study

TSRI receives fund to develop new field test for Onchocerciasis

Researchers work on stem cell treatments to halt vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy

Lack of very long chain fatty acids does not cause blindness in children with Stargardt type 3

Antibiotic prophylaxis after IVT may be harmful

Subclinical inflammation predicts macular disease

Pediatric blindness etiology varies around the globe

Novel approach uses adult stem cells to save sight of diabetes sufferers

CATT study clarifies value of genetic testing for age-related macular degeneration

AAPOS committee revises guidelines for automated preschool vision screening

National Eye Institute’s booklet and videos help people adapt to life with low vision

Central field loss creates driving hazard

Reprogramming eye cells that enable night vision may one day treat retinitis pigmentosa

Hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and impairment in older adults

Macular pigment screening: an interview with Jaquie Finn, Product Line Manager at Elektron Technology

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in Phase III IFN-free HCV trial

Spain approves pSivida’s ILUVIEN to treat chronic diabetic macular edema

Abnormal fixation may contribute to deficits in face perception in AMD patients

Deimination restores inner retinal visual function in murine demyelinating disease

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News