Blindness News and Research

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Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

WHO-based tropical disease research programme to focus on emerging diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) has adopted a new strategy for strengthening and expanding research to prevent and control 'infectious diseases of poverty.'

22 Jun 2007

Even pre-diabetes 'ups' the risk for heart disease

Australian researchers have found that even before the disease becomes full blown diabetes increases a persons risk for heart disease.

20 Jun 2007

Diabetics' death rate for females stalled

New research has revealed that though the death rate for U.S. men with diabetes has fallen sharply since the early 1970s, for women that is not the case.

19 Jun 2007

Contact lens solution linked to Acanthamoeba keratitis

The use of a particular contact lens solution has a strong association with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare severe eye infection, report researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago in a study published online this week by the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

17 Jun 2007

Drug resistance of parasite which causes river blindness could lead to breakouts of the disease

Development of drug resistance in the parasite which causes river blindness could lead to breakouts of the disease in communities where it has been brought under control, conclude authors of an article in The Lancet.

17 Jun 2007

Thirteenth gene linked to Leber's congenital amaurosis

An international research team has discovered a gene that, when mutated, causes one of the most common forms of inherited blindness in babies.

14 Jun 2007

How and why weight-reducing surgery sometimes cures diabetes

95% of morbidly obese people – those with a Body Mass Index of over 40 – have Type 2 diabetes, sometimes known as maturity-onset diabetes.

5 Jun 2007

Gene responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis

A MUHC-led study identifies a gene responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), the most common cause of congenital blindness in infants and small children.

5 Jun 2007

FDA approves glucose monitoring system

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a device that measures glucose levels continuously for up to seven days in people with diabetes.

5 Jun 2007

Researchers find cure for dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome

If two dogs are any indication, Iowa State University veterinary researchers may have found a cure for a previously incurable disease that causes dogs to go blind suddenly.

1 Jun 2007

The cost-effectiveness of improving diabetes care in U.S. federally-qualified community health centers

The health benefits of a federal diabetes care program are clear, but now researchers say that program upgrades also are economically sound.

28 May 2007

Researchers use gene therapy to restore sight in mice

University of Florida researchers used gene therapy to restore sight in mice with a form of hereditary blindness, a finding that has bearing on many of the most common blinding diseases.

22 May 2007

GSK strongly disagrees with conclusions reached in NEJM article on Avandia

GlaxoSmithKline has issued the following response to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate), a widely used and highly effective treatment for type 2 diabetes.

22 May 2007

Quality improvement effort pays off in diabetes care

Spending money to improve diabetes care at federally qualified community health centers is a sound investment, according to one of the first studies to examine the clinical and economic impact of quality improvement on diabetes care.

18 May 2007

Danube Pharmaceuticals starts trial of DNB-001 in patients with ocular hypertension

Danube Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced the initiation of a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled Phase II study with DNB-001 in 60 patients with ocular hypertension (elevated intraocular pressure).

18 May 2007

Middle-aged men and women with a history of migraine and other headaches are more likely to have retinopathy

Twenty-two percent of the participants had a history of migraine or other headaches. Those with a history of headaches were slightly younger, more likely to be female, and more likely to be white than those without a history of headaches.

16 May 2007

Eating lots of fish plus vitamin D reduces risk of age-related macular degeneration

Individuals who have higher dietary intake of foods with omega-3 fatty acids and higher fish consumption have a reduced risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, while those with higher serum levels of vitamin D may have a reduced risk of the early stages of the disease, according to two reports in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 May 2007

Adult bone marrow stem cells may help cure certain genetic eye diseases

Scientists have completed a study using mice which showed that bone marrow stem cells can switch roles and produce keratocan, a natural protein involved in the growth of the cornea, the transparent, outer layer of the eyeball.

11 May 2007

Structural variation in the human genome

A major new effort to uncover the medium- and large-scale genetic differences between humans may soon reveal DNA sequences that contribute to a wide range of diseases, according to a paper by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Evan Eichler and 17 colleagues published in the May 10, 2007, Nature.

10 May 2007