Ophthalmology News and Research

RSS

Ophthalmology is the specialized field of medicine that focuses on the health of the eye. It includes the anatomy, physiology and diseases that may affect the eye. Historically, the science of ophthalmology encompassed all aspects of visual function, both in health and in illness. Additionally, ophthalmology also includes animal eyes as ocular function and optic diseases are similar among humans and animals.

UAB experts seek to improve patient adherence recommendations for DR screenings

The prevalence of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the United States is 9.3 percent and expected to increase, along with complications associated with diabetes that include diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults ages 20 to 74 in the United States.

19 Sep 2016

Researchers identify and treat new variant of antibiotic-resistant E. coli

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have discovered a new mutation in a highly antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli that resists clearance by the body's own immune system by inhibiting white blood cells that ordinarily kill and remove bacteria.

16 Sep 2016

Research findings hold promise for new therapies using proliferating cells to treat patients with FECD

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, identified rapidly proliferating cells (known as "neural crest-derived progenitor cells") in the corneal endothelium of specimens from normal corneas and from corneas with Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), a condition in which the cells responsible for keeping the cornea clear die prematurely — often leading to blindness.

14 Sep 2016

Study opens door to new class of therapies for Ras-dependent cancers

New research from The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai identifies a protein that may be an unexplored target to develop new cancer therapies.

9 Sep 2016

Patients with noninfectious uveitis can get effective treatment from corticosteroid alternative

Patients suffering from noninfectious uveitis, a group of diseases that causes eye inflammation, can get effective treatment from a corticosteroid alternative that has previously been approved for treatment of arthritis and Crohn's disease, according to a study led by a Duke Health researcher.

8 Sep 2016

Researchers find genomic material from Zika virus in tears

Researchers have found that Zika virus can live in eyes and have identified genetic material from the virus in tears, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

7 Sep 2016

Study shows link between steroid use and poor outcomes in Lyme disease-associated facial paralysis

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have found that patients who were prescribed corticosteroids as part of treatment for Lyme disease-associated facial paralysis had worse long-term outcomes of regaining facial function than those who were prescribed antibiotic therapy alone.

7 Sep 2016

New stem-cell model of heart tissue unravels mechanisms linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Using advanced stem cell technology, scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have created a model of a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) — an excessive thickening of the heart that is associated with a number of rare and common illnesses, some of which have a strong genetic component.

31 Aug 2016

Penn scientists find striking similarities between human patients with LCA and dogs

Ciliopathies are diseases that affect the cilia, sensory organelles that most mammalian cells possess and which play a critical role in many biological functions.

30 Aug 2016

Novel drug-dispensing contact lens effective in providing better pressure reduction in glaucoma model

A contact lens designed to deliver medication gradually to the eye could improve outcomes for patients with conditions requiring treatment with eye drops, which are often imprecise and difficult to self-administer.

29 Aug 2016

Telemedicine could be more convenient to provide monitoring for diabetic eye care

Electronic eye exams could become popular in the U.S. among patients who see them as an easy way to visit the eye doctor.

29 Aug 2016

Research opens way towards making promising advances in retinal prostheses

A major therapeutic challenge, the retinal prostheses that have been under development during the past ten years can enable some blind subjects to perceive light signals, but the image thus restored is still far from being clear.

25 Aug 2016

Avoiding foods high in AGEs could help protect from developing diabetes

Simple changes in how we cook could go a long way towards preventing diabetes, say researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

25 Aug 2016

Scientists discover underlying mechanisms of proptosis in patients with thyroid eye disease

Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified new underlying mechanisms of proptosis, or bulging of the eyes, in patients with acute thyroid eye disease.

18 Aug 2016

Children living in poor communities less likely to receive diagnosis for strabismus, study shows

Children are less likely to be diagnosed with crossed eyes, a condition known as strabismus, if they live in poor communities, according to an analysis led by researchers at the University of Michigan's Kellogg Eye Center.

17 Aug 2016

Steroid treatment linked to increased risk of retinopathy in very low birth weight infants

Because of the beneficial effect of corticosteroids on lung function, especially in infants who are ventilator dependent, corticosteroids are, at times, administered to very low birth weight neonates to treat established or evolving lung disease. However, it has long been suspected that steroids may have negative neurodevelopmental effects on very premature infants.

16 Aug 2016

Novel dual molecular tuner offers easy way to perform in-depth analyses in mammalian cells

A research team headed by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has developed a tool that allows scientists to quickly manipulate levels of two proteins in the same cell.

5 Aug 2016

Young children appear to be at great risk of chemical ocular burns

One- and two-year-old children are at the highest risk of burning their eyes with chemicals, despite the long held belief that working-age adults were the most at risk from this type of severe eye injury, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.

5 Aug 2016

Research shows alcohol abuse drug inhibits ocular conjunctival scarring in mouse model

New research from University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Duke University School of Medicine has identified a gene that drives scarring, together with a rapidly translatable therapy, for the UK's most common cause of blinding conjunctivitis.

4 Aug 2016

Mount Sinai neurosurgeon first to use CaptiView image injection system during microscopic surgery

Joshua Bederson, MD, Professor and System Chair for the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Health System, is the first neurosurgeon to use CaptiView - a microscope image injection system from Leica Microsystems that overlays critical virtual reality imaging directly onto the brain when viewed through the eyepiece, known as the ocular, during surgery.