Eye Disease News and Research

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Eye diseases are widespread around the globe. According to the World Health Organization, the most important three eye diseases or conditions that are a potential threat to the global population are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. One more vital reason for visual harm is refractive errors. Some of the important reasons for vision loss or low vision are age, healthcare, gender, genetic problems and the prevalence of family history.

Patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes should be screened for retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy has been found in nearly 8 percent of pre-diabetic participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), according to a report presented today at the American Diabetes Association's 65th Annual Scientific Sessions.

12 Jun 2005

Major advances in the global fight against eye disease

Now research offering a better understanding of the genetics controlling endemic eye diseases will be advanced by an international collaboration between Cardiff University’s School of Optometry and Vision Sciences and the Department of Opthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.

6 Jun 2005

Allergies increase risk for corneal transplant rejection

Corneal transplant patients who suffer from eye allergies are at a significantly higher risk of transplant failure than those without allergies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have shown.

22 May 2005

Older adults with diabetes in managed care networks have higher rates of untreated eye disease

Medicare beneficiaries at high risk for eye disease due to diabetes are more likely to have unrecognized and untreated eye disease if they are enrolled in managed care than if they have fee-for-service (FFS) health insurance, according to an article in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 May 2005

New laser-surgery technique to perform cornea-transplant surgery

A UC Irvine ophthalmologist and his team have invented a new laser-surgery technique to perform cornea-transplant surgery that can replace the use of traditional handheld surgical blades and potentially improve recovery time for patients.

3 May 2005

Glaucoma therapy patients often do not comply with their doctor’s prescribed medicine regimen

A study that appears in the May edition of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, shows that as many as 47 percent of patients receiving glaucoma therapy do not comply with their doctor’s prescribed medicine regimen. This is in startling contrast to the 90 percent of doctors who believe that their patients are following the prescribed treatment.

2 May 2005

Researchers present information on artificial retina

Researchers from the University of Southern California and the Doheny Eye Institute will be presenting data on the first six patients implanted with an intraocular retinal prosthesis-more popularly referred to as an artificial retina-developed and manufactured in partnership with Second Sight Medical Products, of Sylmar, Calif.

2 May 2005

Glaucoma therapy recipients do not comply with doctor's prescribed medicine regimen

A study that appears in the May edition of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, shows that as many as 47 percent of patients receiving glaucoma therapy do not comply with their doctor's prescribed medicine regimen. This is in startling contrast to the 90 percent of doctors who believe that their patients are following the prescribed treatment.

1 May 2005

Study shows older children also benefit from lazy eye treatment

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and 48 eye centers across North America report that many children between the ages of 7 and 17 with amblyopia, or "lazy eye," may benefit from treatments usually prescribed for younger children.

11 Apr 2005

Preventing eye disease in retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited eye disease that causes visual disability leading to blindness. Over the last 15 years, researchers have pinpointed defects in dozens of genes causing different forms of RP.

22 Mar 2005

Gene identified that confers susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration

By combining the tools of high-throughput biology and statistical genetics, scientists at Rockefeller University, Yale University School of Public Health and the National Eye Institute have identified a gene that confers susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in the United Sates for those over 60.

14 Mar 2005

Gene for AMD has now been identified by researchers

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a debilitating eye disease affecting about 15 million people in the United States.

13 Mar 2005

Mutations in newly discovered gene, NPHP5 cause Senior-Loken syndrome

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have discovered a gene called NPHP5 and found mutations in this gene that cause a rare genetic disease called Senior-Loken syndrome. Children with this syndrome develop a type of cystic kidney disease called nephronophthisis, as well as a form of blindness called retinitis pigmentosa.

3 Mar 2005

Oak Ridge technology used to understand semiconductor defects helps people at risk of becoming blind

Millions of people at risk of becoming blind could one day be helped by an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology originally intended to understand semiconductor defects.

10 Feb 2005

Herpes virus is everywhere and it's unavoidable

While not the first, the researchers report that this study uses the most sensitive techniques in a cross-sectional assessment performed to date of the presence of HSV-1 DNA in the eyes and mouths of healthy individuals, in terms of population size and total samples collected.

6 Jan 2005

Pegaptanib (Macugen) is an effective treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Results from two concurrent, prospective, double-blind, multi-center clinical trials show that pegaptanib (Macugen), an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, is an effective treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a paper in the Dec. 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Macugen was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 17.

30 Dec 2004

Macugen approved for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer have announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection) for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease associated with aging that destroys central vision.

20 Dec 2004

Spinach can help prevent cataracts

A new study from Ohio State University provides the first laboratory evidence that certain antioxidants found in dark leafy green vegetables can indeed help prevent cataracts.

3 Dec 2004

Computer use may be linked to the development of glaucoma

So, you spend all or part of your day working with computers. Then take notice, a new Japanese study has found that computer use may be linked to the development of glaucoma (an increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that may lead to loss of vision), especially among those who are short sighted.

16 Nov 2004

Patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension who kept their blood pressure very tightly controlled had fewer eye disorders caused by their diabetes

According to the article, type 2 diabetes and hypertension are often associated. At age 40, approximately 32 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes are also hypertensive, and that proportion increases to 47 percent by age 60, the article states.

8 Nov 2004