Vision Loss News and Research

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Senator Bond recognized for providing leadership on health care policy issues

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-MO) has been recognized for providing important leadership on health care policy issues and working to increase access to vision and eye health care by doctors of optometry from his state and their national organization, the American Optometric Association.

10 Mar 2010

World through the eyes of a person with eye disease

Lighthouse International, the non-profit leader in vision healthcare, research, education and advocacy, launches a new website that features the first customizable, low-vision simulator that shows how a person with an eye disease sees the world. Visitors can choose a video from YouTube and select a filter that simulates retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy.

6 Mar 2010

NAF to hold third annual Ataxia Investigators Meeting in Rosemont

The National Ataxia Foundation, in conjunction with the University of Chicago program in pathobiology and translational neuroscience, will hold its third annual Ataxia Investigators Meeting March 9-11, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, in Rosemont, Ill. A three-day meeting for patients, caregivers and families will follow at the same location.

6 Mar 2010

EMA validates Lux Biosciences' voclosporin MAA

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has validated the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) filed by its partner, Lux Biosciences, Inc., for voclosporin. Following validation of the MAA, the dossier is distributed to members of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for formal review, which is expected to take one year.

2 Mar 2010

University of Michigan Health System opens new facility for eye care, diabetes research

On March 1, the first eye patients will enter an innovative new $132 million facility that expands the University of Michigan Health System's capacity for eye care, research and education, and unites diabetes researchers as they work to accelerate the search for a cure and prevention of diabetes.

27 Feb 2010

Over 600 programs for Aboriginal Canadians with diabetes at risk of being shut, renewed federal funding needed

The federal government must renew funding for the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) in next week's budget or more than 600 programs for Aboriginal Canadians living with diabetes are at risk of being shut down, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association and the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association (NADA).

26 Feb 2010

High blood pressure drugs may be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy: Study

Scientists in Massachusetts are reporting new evidence that certain high blood pressure drugs may be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in people with diabetes. The study, the largest to date on proteins in the retina, could lead to new ways to prevent or treat the sight-threatening disease, they say.

25 Feb 2010

Researchers use model organism to test new therapies for retinal degeneration

Research by Johns Hopkins sensory biologists studying fruit flies, has revealed a critical step in fly vision. Humans with problems in this same step suffer retinal dystrophies, which manifest as visual defects ranging from mild visual impairments to complete blindness.

16 Feb 2010

Diabetic retinopathy: 5.3M U.S adults suffer

Despite major progress in diagnosis and treatment, diabetic retinopathy remains the major cause of blindness in adults under 60 in the U.S., said Thomas C. Lee, director, Retina Institute in The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, associate professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and attending physician at Doheny Eye Institute.

12 Feb 2010

Vision of mountain climbers not adversely affected despite presence of edema at altitudes up to 6,300 meters

Swelling commonly occurs in the corneas of mountain climbers, but does not appear to affect vision at altitudes of up to 6,300 meters (about 20,670 feet), according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Feb 2010

Lux Biosciences files NDA with FDA and MAA with EMA for approval of voclosporin

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. today announced that its partner, Lux Biosciences, Inc., has filed a New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a Market Authorization Application (MAA) with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for voclosporin, under the proposed brand name, LUVENIQ(TM).

4 Feb 2010

CPS supports NACI recommendations for new shingles vaccine

The Canadian Pain Society (CPS) supports the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommendations for the use of a vaccine to significantly reduce the risk of developing herpes zoster (shingles) and post herpetic neuralgia in adults over the age of 60 without contraindications.

3 Feb 2010

Unusual molecule in brain and retina can trigger vision loss

Scientists have identified a double agent in the eye that, once triggered, can morph from neuron protector to neuron killer. The discovery has significant health implications since the neurons killed through this process results in vision loss and blindness.

2 Feb 2010

Researchers develop PEG-POD tool for gene therapy

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have developed a new tool for gene therapy that significantly increases gene delivery to cells in the retina compared to other carriers and DNA alone, according to a study published in the January issue of The Journal of Gene Medicine.

28 Jan 2010

FDA clears Notal Vision's ForeseeHome AMD Monitor

Notal Vision's ForeseeHome™ AMD Monitor has received Section 510 (k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

27 Jan 2010

Braille Institute launches Solutions in Sight to help people find fulfillment in different aspects of life

Although there is controversy over almost every detail of health reform legislation, no one disputes the inescapable fact underlying the deepening the health care crisis: the US population is aging.

22 Jan 2010

NIH awards IU School of Optometry $2.35M for glaucoma research

An Indiana University School of Optometry researcher's ongoing work to improve testing for and treatment of one of the world's leading causes of blindness will advance with support from a $2.35 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

18 Jan 2010

Gene therapy may help correct molecular flaws that cause brain disease

Neuroscientists have forged an unlikely molecular union as part of their fight against diseases of the brain and nervous system.

9 Jan 2010

High blood pressure drugs may be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy

7 Jan 2010

Protein interaction linked to AMD

Researchers at University College London say they have gleaned a key insight into the molecular beginnings of age-related macular degeneration, the No. 1 cause of vision loss in the elderly, by determining how two key proteins interact to naturally prevent the onset of the condition.

5 Jan 2010