Blindness News and Research

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Post-exposure doxycycline approach leads to two-thirds reduction in STI incidence

The oral antibiotic doxycycline prevented the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when tested among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women who took the medication within 72 hours of having condomless sex, according to findings published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

6 Apr 2023

Membrane attack complex could be a potential therapeutic target to slow or prevent AMD

A study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) identified rare genetic variants that could point to one of the general mechanisms driving age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common cause of vision loss in older adults.

3 Apr 2023

FDA-approved drug keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in lab models of LCA 10

A National Institutes of Health team has identified a compound already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in three models of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA 10), an inherited retinal ciliopathy disease that often results in severe visual impairment or blindness in early childhood.

29 Mar 2023

Dormant cone photoreceptors in the degenerating retina may retain visual function, research suggests

New UCLA research in mice suggests that "dormant" cone photoreceptors in the degenerating retina are not dormant at all, but continue to function, producing responses to light and driving retinal activity for vision.

27 Mar 2023

Blind people superior at sensing their heartbeats than sighted individuals

Blind people are better at sensing their own heartbeats than sighted, shows a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Jagiellonian University in Poland.

24 Mar 2023

California picks generic drug company Civica to produce low-cost insulin

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced the selection of Utah-based generic drug manufacturer Civica to produce low-cost insulin for California, an unprecedented move that makes good on his promise to put state government in direct competition with the brand-name drug companies that dominate the market.

19 Mar 2023

CRISPR-based genome editing restores the vision of mice with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers in China have successfully restored the vision of mice with retinitis pigmentosa, one of the major causes of blindness in humans.

17 Mar 2023

Injectable peptide used for type 2 diabetes shows potential for treating 'blinding' IIH headaches

Patients with 'blinding' headaches known as Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension could be treated with an injectable peptide used for type 2 diabetes, a new trial has found.

13 Mar 2023

Newly identified therapeutic target could lead to more effective treatment of glaucoma

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have identified a new therapeutic target that could lead to more effective treatment of glaucoma.

10 Mar 2023

The role of caffeine in preventing diabetic retinopathy

Moderate and high caffeine intake offered protection against the development of diabetic retinopathy.

5 Mar 2023

Face blindness may be more common than currently believed

Face blindness, a mystifying condition that can trick us into believing we recognize people we've never met or make us fail to recognize those we have, has been previously estimated to affect between 2 and 2.5 percent of people in the world.

27 Feb 2023

Research identifies potential treatment target for infantile spasms syndrome

New research from Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences suggests that the timing of the death of certain inhibitory neurons in the brain shortly after birth may be at least partly to blame for infantile spasms syndrome (ISS), a rare but devastating form of epilepsy that develops most frequently between four and eight months of age but can emerge within weeks of birth until ages 4 or 5.

21 Feb 2023

Two new zebrafish models for studying the most common cause of Leigh syndrome developed

Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) developed two new zebrafish models for studying a specific genetic form of mitochondrial disease that represents the most common cause of Leigh syndrome.

21 Feb 2023

Study provides a rare view of real-world use of off-label drugs prescribed for Type 1 diabetes

Two classes of drugs prescribed off-label for some patients with Type 1 diabetes can provide significant benefits but also come with health concerns, according to a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers.

16 Feb 2023

Researchers aim to better understand how myopia management strategies affect children

Researchers at Aston University specializing in myopia - or short sightedness - are starting work on a project with industry partners to better understand how myopia management strategies affect children.

15 Feb 2023

Intracranial pressure plays a key role in normal-tension glaucoma

An international team of researchers led by Lithuanian scientists provide additional evidence that intracranial pressure plays an important role in normal-tension glaucoma, which accounts for up to 50 per cent of all glaucoma cases.

13 Feb 2023

OHSU researchers confirm first-ever nonhuman primate model of Usher syndrome

Those with Usher Syndrome -- the leading hereditary cause for simultaneous deafness and blindness, for which there is no treatment -- may have a new reason for hope now that researchers have confirmed the first-ever nonhuman primate model of their disease.