Ophthalmology News and Research

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Ophthalmology is the specialized field of medicine that focuses on the health of the eye. It includes the anatomy, physiology and diseases that may affect the eye. Historically, the science of ophthalmology encompassed all aspects of visual function, both in health and in illness. Additionally, ophthalmology also includes animal eyes as ocular function and optic diseases are similar among humans and animals.

Laser refractive surgery is a safe, effective way to correct myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism

Hopkins researchers have found that patients experiencing vision problems following cataract removal and intraocular lens implantation (CE-IOL) may have better results from laser refractive surgery, which spares them potential complications of lens implant replacement and the inconvenience of glasses.

19 Apr 2005

Study shows older children also benefit from lazy eye treatment

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and 48 eye centers across North America report that many children between the ages of 7 and 17 with amblyopia, or "lazy eye," may benefit from treatments usually prescribed for younger children.

11 Apr 2005

Level I trauma centers boost head injury survival

Head injury patients transferred to level I trauma centers are more likely to survive than if they're transferred to level II facilities, an Oregon Health & Science University study has found.

7 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

Vernier testing could be a substitute for the traditional Snellen eye chart test

Infant vernier acuity is not as immature as previous research has indicated according to a study published in March in the Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

22 Mar 2005

Preventing eye disease in retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited eye disease that causes visual disability leading to blindness. Over the last 15 years, researchers have pinpointed defects in dozens of genes causing different forms of RP.

22 Mar 2005

Sleeping in contact lenses can lead to an increased risk of severe eye infection

The University of Manchester study found that wearers who failed to remove their lenses before bedtime had an increased risk of developing keratitis than those who routinely took out their lenses before going to sleep.

22 Mar 2005

New contact lenses cause less infections

Sleeping with your contact lenses in can give you a nasty eye infection (keratitis), but now a new generation of silicone hydrogel lenses cuts that risk fivefold, according to research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

21 Mar 2005

Compound found in broccoli is a powerful disease fighter

More than 300 scientific studies point to an antioxidant found in broccoli sprouts, sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS), as a factor in preventing multiple diseases, including several types of cancer, high blood pressure, macular degeneration and stomach ulcers.

21 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

Study indicates need for new standards and training for cornea transplants

Improving the training and standardizing the procedures used by the nation's eye banks to assess corneal cells may help to select corneas with optimal health for transplantation, according to new study led by Jonathan H. Lass, MD, principal investigator of the study and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

14 Mar 2005

People use letters to recognize words and facial features to recognize faces

Although they are dramatically different, words and faces are both recognized by parts, according to a study published in February in the Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

7 Mar 2005

Is that a glimmer in your eye?

A medical procedure, implanting jewelry in your eye, could be outlawed in Illinois. The cosmetic surgery was developed in 2002 in the Netherlands by the Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery and about 100 patients have had the implants in Europe. Dr. Thomas Steinemann, from the American Academy of Ophthalmology says this procedure has only been done a few times in the U.S.

7 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

Scientists have regenerated a damaged optic nerve

This achievement, which occurred in laboratory mice and is described in the March 1, 2005 issue of the Journal of Cell Science, holds great promise for victims of diseases that destroy the optic nerve, and for sufferers of central nervous system injuries.

24 Feb 2005

Researchers have identified a protein called HIF-2a, which is important in retina formation

Hoping to prevent blindness in premature babies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that responds to oxygen levels in cells and tissues and also affects the developing eye.

22 Feb 2005

Screening for toxoplasmosis for all pregnant women and newborns is necessary

Physicians found that signs, symptoms and identifiable risk factors are absent in more than half of the mothers of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis in a national study of children with this disease.

9 Feb 2005

Melanopsin plays a key role in the inner workings of the eye

A Brown University team has found that a protein called melanopsin plays a key role in the inner workings of mysterious, spidery cells in the eye called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or ipRGCs.

26 Jan 2005

New technology an option for severe nearsightedness

A new surgical procedure that has improved eyesight in people who have severe nearsightedness and face a dearth of treatments has made its way to western New York.

17 Jan 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