Blindness News and Research

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U.K Ophthalmologists lead in treatment of wet AMD patients with Oraya therapy across europe

Oraya Therapy was introduced first in the U.K., followed by Switzerland and Germany. The therapy is intended as a one-time, non-invasive treatment that maintains vision with fewer anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections into the eye...

19 May 2015

A pioneering facial recognition cane for the blind

The ‘XploR’ mobility cane, being developed by ICT students Steve Adigbo, Waheed Rafiq and Richard Howlett, uses smartphone technology to recognise familiar faces from up to 10m away. The cane also features GPS functionality to aid navigation...

11 May 2015

Johns Hopkins Ophthalmology professor Bob Massof receives Helen Keller prize

Bob Massof, Ph.D., of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins received the 2015 Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research on May 5...

8 May 2015

UCI receives FDA consent to study stem cell-based treatment for retinitis pigmentosa in clinical trial

A first-of-its-kind stem cell-based treatment for retinitis pigmentosa developed by UC Irvine's Dr. Henry Klassen, Dr. Jing Yang and colleagues has received consent from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for use in a clinical trial.

8 May 2015

Smartphone checks blood for parasitic disease

New Smartphone technology has been developed that can detect and count wriggling parasitic worms in a drop of blood...

7 May 2015

Study finds hospital variation in outcomes for extremely premature infants

Extremely premature infants born at 22 to 25 weeks of gestation have low rates of survival, and many of those infants who live have severe or moderate neurodevelopmental impairments. Thus, clinicians and families face the extremely difficult decision to either provide active, potentially lifesaving treatment at birth, or just provide comfort care.

7 May 2015

JDRF, Lilly partner to make life better for people with type 1 diabetes

JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, and Eli Lilly and Company, a global leader in diabetes care announced a two-year partnership that will provide $1.8 Million in support of JDRF's mission to improving the lives of people with T1D.

6 May 2015

TxCell presents preclinical efficacy and tolerability data for Col-Treg at 2015 ARVO Annual Meeting

TxCell SA, a biotechnology company developing innovative, personalized T-cell immunotherapies using antigen specific regulatory T-cells (Ag-Tregs) for severe chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, today announces that activity and tolerance data for its second lead product Col-Treg were presented through a poster presentation at the 2015 ARVO Annual Meeting, May 3-7, 2015, in Denver, Colorado, US.

5 May 2015

AIDS patients at increased risk of developing intermediate-stage AMD

Patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have a four-fold increase in their risk of developing intermediate-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared to people of the same age who are not infected with HIV, according to results from the Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (LSOCA) presented today at the 2015 ARVO Annual Meeting in Denver, CO.

5 May 2015

New technologies for preventing preterm labor, inducing labor process heading to marketplace

Preventing preterm labor with light and inducing labor using a side effect-free drug are two new technologies based on Florida State University research that are heading to the marketplace.

30 Apr 2015

Papers on antibiotic resistance, neglected diseases and future of the ocean to be discussed during G7 summit

Today the national science academies of the G7 countries handed three statements to their respective heads of government for discussion during the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in early June 2015. The papers on antibiotic resistance, neglected and poverty-related diseases, and the future of the ocean were drawn up by the seven national academies under the aegis of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

30 Apr 2015

New genetic mutation appears to protect people from Type 2 diabetes

An international team of scientists led by a Cedars-Sinai researcher has identified a new genetic mutation that appears to protect people from developing Type 2 diabetes.

29 Apr 2015

Supporting people with macular degeneration: an interview with Dennis Lewis, AMD Alliance International

Once depression sets in, it's very hard to combat. Combinations of medication and talking therapy can help deal with that, but it can be tough when people reach rock bottom and that certainly does happen with macular degeneration...

28 Apr 2015

UC Davis researchers settle long-standing controversy surrounding Canavan disease

UC Davis investigators have settled a long-standing controversy surrounding the molecular basis of an inherited disorder that historically affected Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe but now also arises in other populations of Semitic descent, particularly families from Saudi Arabia.

28 Apr 2015

Blocking Slit2 protein prevents blood vessel development that causes vasoproliferative ocular diseases

Vasoproliferative ocular diseases are responsible for sight loss in millions of people in the industrialised countries. Many patients do not currently respond to the treatment offered, which targets a specific factor, VEGF. A team of Inserm researchers at the Vision Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Pierre and Marie Curie University), in association with a team from the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center, have demonstrated in an animal model that blocking another protein, Slit2, prevents the pathological blood vessel development that causes these diseases.

22 Apr 2015

Current challenges in tackling macular degeneration: an interview with Mark Ackermann, AMD Alliance International

There are two forms of macular degeneration: the wet form and the dry form. The dry form is less challenging as it affects a smaller number of people and the disease progression is far slower...

21 Apr 2015

New OCT angiography can improve clinical management of leading causes of blindness

Research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that technology invented by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Casey Eye Institute can improve the clinical management of the leading causes of blindness.

21 Apr 2015

RetroSense Therapeutics receives Luis Villalobos Award

RetroSense Therapeutics, LLC, a Wayne State University start-up biotechnology company, has received the Luis Villalobos Award from the Angel Capital Association, the world's leading professional association for angel investors.

20 Apr 2015

Study shows epilepsy drug can protect vision of MS patients

A drug commonly taken to prevent seizures in epilepsy may surprisingly protect the eyesight of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, April 18 to 25, 2015.

17 Apr 2015

Researchers use virtual reality to develop new method for measuring balance control in glaucoma patients

Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death and morbidity in older adults, especially those with a chronic eye disease such as glaucoma. To investigate this problem, a multidisciplinary group of researchers has become the first to use virtual reality technology to develop a new method for measuring balance control in those with glaucoma.

16 Apr 2015