Blindness News and Research

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CUMC vision researchers discover gene that causes myopia

Vision researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a gene that causes myopia, but only in people who spend a lot of time in childhood reading or doing other "nearwork."

1 Sep 2015

Research with UWF imaging may change how diabetic eye disease is assessed and treated

For decades, clinicians have detected and monitored diabetic eye disease with standard retinal photographs that cover about a third of the retina. In recent years, an emerging class of ultrawide field (UWF) cameras has given a substantially larger view of the retina, providing new insight on the presentation and natural history of retinal disease.

28 Aug 2015

High blood sugar may reduce positive effects of exercise on bone health in diabetic patients

Diabetes, which now affects almost 30 million Americans, can cause serious health complications, including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower-extremity amputations.

24 Aug 2015

Temporary postnatal visual deprivation induces permanent auditory responses in the brain's visual area

A brief period of postnatal visual deprivation, when early in life, drives a rewiring of the brain areas involved in visual processing, even if the visual restoration is completed well before the baby reaches one year of age, researchers at the University of Trento, McMaster University, and the University of Montreal revealed today in Current Biology.

21 Aug 2015

Tracking retinal changes may help doctors to adjust schizophrenia treatment in the future

Schizophrenia is associated with structural and functional alterations of the visual system, including specific structural changes in the eye. Tracking such changes may provide new measures of risk for, and progression of the disease, according to a literature review published online in the journal Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, authored by researchers at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and Rutgers University.

18 Aug 2015

Risk for endophthalmitis no higher with Avastin, finds study

Eye injections of the drug Avastin, used to treat retinal diseases, bring no greater risk of endophthalmitis, a potentially blinding eye infection, than injections with the much more expensive drug Lucentis made by the same company, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their findings are published today in JAMA Ophthalmology.

14 Aug 2015

Bio-fortification of sweet potatoes may help combat vitamin A deficiency in South Africa

Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children. It also increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections, according to the World Health Organization.

14 Aug 2015

Researchers receive Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to eliminate neglected tropical diseases

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis, two neglected tropical diseases that annually sicken millions.

14 Aug 2015

First clinical trial to test use of retinal progenitor cells for treating retinitis pigmentosa begins

Participants are being enrolled in the first clinical trial that tests the use of retinal progenitor cells to treat retinitis pigmentosa, reported project director Dr. Henry Klassen of UCI's Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. The product of stem cell research at UCI, these retinal progenitors are similar to stem cells in terms of potential regenerative properties, but they're specific to the retina.

13 Aug 2015

Scientists identify molecular pathway that can contribute to vision loss in macular degeneration

Scientists have identified a pathway that leads to the formation of atypical blood vessels that can cause blindness in people with age-related macular degeneration.

12 Aug 2015

Children exposed to indoor cooking fire at greater risk for severe trachoma

Children who sleep in unventilated rooms with cooking fires are at greater risk for severe trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in developing countries, according to the findings of a recent study conducted in Tanzania. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Aug 2015

Prokarium receives funding to complete pre-clinical development of new Chlamydia vaccine

Prokarium Ltd, a biotechnology company developing transformational oral vaccines, today announced new funding from SynbiCITE, the UK’s Innovation and Knowledge Centre for Synthetic Biology.

4 Aug 2015

Array Biopharma reports strong fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results

Array BioPharma Inc. today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year of its fiscal year ended June 30, 2015.

3 Aug 2015

Integrated treatment required for diabetes-eating disorder combination

As they reach their teens, many with type 1 diabetes discover that the disease provides a secret weapon for losing weight. By restricting or reducing the amount of insulin they inject, they can eat just about anything they want and control their weight.

3 Aug 2015

Researchers reconstruct ancient virus to improve gene therapy

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute have reconstructed an ancient virus that is highly effective at delivering gene therapies to the liver, muscle, and retina. This discovery, published July 30 in Cell Reports, could potentially be used to design gene therapies that are not only safer and more potent than therapies currently available, but may also help a greater number of patients.

31 Jul 2015

New method identifies preferred retinal locations in both eyes of patients with central vision loss

Eyes with central vision loss adapt by developing a new fixation point in a different part of the retina, called the preferred retinal location (PRL). Now for the first time, a new method makes it possible to identify PRLs in both eyes simultaneously, reports a study in the August issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

29 Jul 2015

Biomedical breakthrough reveals never-before-seen details of the body's cellular switchboard

A biomedical breakthrough, published today in the journal Nature, reveals never-before-seen details of the human body's cellular switchboard that regulates sensory and hormonal responses. The work is based on an X-ray laser experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

23 Jul 2015

Research suggests that only one in three older Americans have diabetes under control

Only one in three older Americans have their diabetes under control as measured by guidelines set by the American Diabetes Association, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

22 Jul 2015

MU researcher receives $2.2 million grant to develop system to display clear blood pressure information

Physicians receive lots of information about patients in a short amount of time, and sometimes that information is scattered, disorganized or difficult to comprehend. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri School of Medicine has received funding to develop a simpler and clearer system to display blood pressure information.

21 Jul 2015

Gene therapy used for sight restoration also strengthens visual pathways in the brain

Since 2007, clinical trials using gene therapy have resulted in often-dramatic sight restoration for dozens of children and adults who were otherwise doomed to blindness. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, have found evidence that this sight restoration leads to strengthening of visual pathways in the brain, published this week in Science Translational Medicine.

16 Jul 2015

Blindness News and Research

CUMC vision researchers discover gene that causes myopia

Research with UWF imaging may change how diabetic eye disease is assessed and treated

High blood sugar may reduce positive effects of exercise on bone health in diabetic patients

Temporary postnatal visual deprivation induces permanent auditory responses in the brain's visual area

Tracking retinal changes may help doctors to adjust schizophrenia treatment in the future

Risk for endophthalmitis no higher with Avastin, finds study

Bio-fortification of sweet potatoes may help combat vitamin A deficiency in South Africa

Researchers receive Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to eliminate neglected tropical diseases

First clinical trial to test use of retinal progenitor cells for treating retinitis pigmentosa begins

Scientists identify molecular pathway that can contribute to vision loss in macular degeneration

Children exposed to indoor cooking fire at greater risk for severe trachoma

Prokarium receives funding to complete pre-clinical development of new Chlamydia vaccine

Array Biopharma reports strong fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results

Integrated treatment required for diabetes-eating disorder combination

Researchers reconstruct ancient virus to improve gene therapy

New method identifies preferred retinal locations in both eyes of patients with central vision loss

Biomedical breakthrough reveals never-before-seen details of the body's cellular switchboard

Research suggests that only one in three older Americans have diabetes under control

MU researcher receives $2.2 million grant to develop system to display clear blood pressure information

Gene therapy used for sight restoration also strengthens visual pathways in the brain

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