Optometry News and Research

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New optometry programme to begin at University of Portsmouth

Healthcare in the region has been given a significant boost with the announcement of provisional approval being granted for a professional Master of Optometry course at the University of Portsmouth.

3 Aug 2016

New research aims to understand, manage contact lens discomfort

Do you have dry eyes or other symptoms related to wearing contact lenses? If so you're not alone—up to 50 percent of contact lens wearers experience dryness or discomfort at least occasionally.

3 Aug 2016

Waterloo researchers unveil new screening tool and data at 2016 AAIC

Two studies involving University of Waterloo researchers presented this week at the 2016 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto highlight a new diagnostic tool that can identify Alzheimer's disease long before the onset of symptoms as well as the increasing prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in Ontario.

27 Jul 2016

Are your sunglasses safe? An interview with Omar Hassan

All sunglasses that carry the CE mark block all UV rays, particularly if they're marked with the UV 400 label.

From Vision Express 19 Jul 2016

IU researchers create virtual tissue model of diabetic retinopathy

By combining data on optometry patient's eyes with advanced computational methods, Indiana University researchers have created a virtual tissue model of diabetes in the eye.

15 Jul 2016

New eye test could help detect glaucoma earlier than current techniques

UNSW Australia scientists have developed a testing protocol that identifies the blinding eye disease glaucoma four years earlier than current techniques.

12 Jul 2016

Shire’s Xiidra receives FDA approval for treating dry eye disease in adult patients

Shire plc announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xiidra (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution) 5%, a twice-daily eye drop solution indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease in adult patients.

12 Jul 2016

Routine eye examinations lead to change in vision prescription or care in asymptomatic patients

Do you really need to get your eyes checked—even if you haven't noticed any vision problems or eye-related symptoms? More than half of routine eye examinations in asymptomatic patients lead to a change in vision prescription or other changes in care, according to a study in the June issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

4 Jul 2016

Researchers investigate why N14Y, N14K mutations have distinct effects in KID syndrome patients

A team of New York-based researchers has compared the effects of two disease-causing mutations, potentially explaining why patients with the rare genetic disorder keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome can experience different sets of symptoms.

28 Jun 2016

Visual blurring could lead to risk of tripping and falling in older adults

Visual blurring -- like that produced by bifocals or multifocal lenses -- may cause errors in foot position when walking.

3 Jun 2016

Researchers use high-power prisms to design new eyeglasses to expand visual fields of hemianopia patients

Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School have designed three new eyeglasses using high-power prisms to optimally expand the visual fields of patients with hemianopia, a condition in which the visual fields of both eyes are cut by half.

18 May 2016

Researchers identify role of darks in visual brain maps

Scientists have been studying how visual space is mapped in the cerebral cortex for many decades under the assumption that the map is equal for lights and darks. Surprisingly, recent work demonstrates that visual brain maps are dark-centric and that, just as stars rotate around black holes in the Universe, lights rotate around darks in the brain representation of visual space.

28 Apr 2016

ADHD highly prevalent among children with vision problems

Children with vision problems not correctable with glasses or contact lenses may be twice as likely to have a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), suggests a study in the May issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

26 Apr 2016

Exposure to blue light may lead to eyestrain but does not damage retina

Nearly 90 percent of adults use digital devices for two or more hours per day, according to The Vision Council's 2016 Digital Eye Strain Report, exposing consumers to blue light that some suggest is dangerous.

26 Apr 2016

Increasing exposure to outdoor light key to reducing short-sightedness in children

Increasing exposure to outdoor light is the key to reducing the myopia (short-sightedness) epidemic in children, according to ground-breaking research by Australian optometrists.

7 Apr 2016

New technologies go far beyond traditional use of contact lenses for vision correction

Imagine contact lenses that can deliver medicines directly to the eye, slow progression of nearsightedness in children, or monitor glucose levels in patients with diabetes.

1 Apr 2016

$Uncorrected refractive error responsible for vision impairment in 101 million people worldwide$

Uncorrected refractive error responsible for vision impairment in 101 million people worldwide

Uncorrected refractive error (URE)--nearsightedness, farsightedness, and other focusing problems correctable by prescription lenses--is responsible for moderate to severe vision impairment in 101 million people and blindness in seven million people worldwide, reports a study in the March issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

27 Feb 2016

New UAB study shows connection between ADHD and vision problems in children

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most frequently encountered neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood, and a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham recently published in Optometry and Vision Science shows a relationship between ADHD and vision impairments in children.

25 Feb 2016

Wearing glasses could significantly improve reading speed for children with severe astigmatism

For children with severe astigmatism, wearing glasses to correct blurred vision can significantly improve accurate reading speed, reports a study in the February issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

28 Jan 2016

Uncorrected hyperopia may affect reading ability among preschoolers

A study funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, has shown that uncorrected farsightedness (hyperopia) in preschool children is associated with significantly worse performance on a test of early literacy.