Age Related Macular Degeneration News and Research

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Smoking doubles the risk of macular degeneration

Smoking doubles the risk of the progressive and irreversible eye condition, macular degeneration, and may account for almost 30,000 cases in the UK, suggests research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

19 Apr 2005

Bionic eyes from Stanford

Stanford physicists and eye doctors have teamed up to design a "bionic eye," of sorts. On Feb. 22 in the Journal of Neural Engineering, Daniel Palanker, Alexander Vankov and Phil Huie from the Department of Ophthalmology and the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory and Stephen Baccus from the Department of Neurobiology published a design of an optoelectronic retinal prosthesis system that can stimulate the retina with resolution corresponding to a visual acuity of 20/80

4 Apr 2005

Research tool for turning off genes may eventually have therapeutic application

A research team based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has identified 80 new genes essential to the process of RNA interference (RNAi), a powerful new research tool for inactivating genes in plants or animals.

28 Mar 2005

Genes play a substantial role in the development of age-related macular degeneration

Genes play a substantial role in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness among older individuals, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 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

An apple a day keeps breast cancer away

An apple a day can help keep breast cancer away, according to a study in rats by food scientists at Cornell University.

1 Mar 2005

Encouraging results in wet age-related macular degeneration study

Novadaq Technologies has announced that Dr. Giovanni Staurenghi, (Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Department of Otorhinolaryngological and Ophthalmological Science University of Milan, Italy), reported preliminary data on 24-patients in an on-going study using the Company's proprietary technology to treat wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

28 Feb 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

Macular degeneration patients benefit from self-management training

A 12-hour self-management program for individuals with advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) leads to lasting improvements in mood and function, especially in depressed patients, and decreases the development of clinical depression in AMD patients over time, according to a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Shiley Eye Center study published in the January 2005 Archives of Ophthalmology.

10 Jan 2005

First program to apply RNA interference (RNAi) technology to asthma

Sirna Therapeutics, Inc. has announced the first program to apply RNA interference (RNAi) technology to asthma, a highly prevalent, chronic disease accounting for an estimated $13 billion in healthcare costs in the United States, a number which is forecast to grow considerably by the end of the decade.

7 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

New poll shows one in five Americans may stop using vitamin E, experts concerned

A new national poll demonstrates that 18 percent of Americans are less likely to take vitamin E based on the news suggesting high doses "may increase risk of dying" among older, high-risk patients.

3 Dec 2004

Scientists have given blind nerve cells the ability to detect light

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have given "blind" nerve cells the ability to detect light, paving the way for an innovative therapy that could restore sight to those who have lost it through disease.

24 Nov 2004

Scientists have found that a protein present in normal body tissues can prevent tumour growth

A team led by Dr Dave Bates, British Heart Foundation Lecturer, and Dr Steve Harper, Senior Research Fellow in the Microvascular Research Laboratories, in the Department of Physiology at Bristol University, have discovered that a type of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) found in normal tissue, including blood, can prevent cancers from growing.

1 Nov 2004

Researchers have developed a novel drug-antidote pair

In a discovery that could give physicians more control over the actions of medications, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have developed a novel drug pair – a potent anti-coagulant with a matched "antidote."

18 Oct 2004

Vitamin E's status as a super supplement questioned

Over the past decade, vitamin E has become one of the top-selling supplements in the United States, in part because research released in the early- to mid-1990s suggested that taking vitamin E supplements might protect against heart disease, boost the immune system and reduce the risk of macular degeneration.

14 Oct 2004

FDA fast tracks Genaera's drug for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration

Genaera Corporation has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to squalamine, an intravenously administered, first in class, small molecule anti-angiogenic drug for the treatment of "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

4 Oct 2004

First generation of human retinal cells in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells

Some of these retinal tissues such as Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for such devastating diseases as macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and other retinal degenerative diseases.

23 Sep 2004