Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

New textile coating prevents viruses from adhering to the surface

Masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential for protecting healthcare workers. However, the textiles and materials used in such items can absorb and carry viruses and bacteria, inadvertently spreading the disease the wearer sought to contain.

14 May 2020

COVID-19 lockdown exit strategies: deliverance or disaster?

A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge, Universidad de Sevilla, and the University of Massachusetts, published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020, shows that it is essential to choose a restrictive exit strategy while easing COVID-19 lockdowns, because failure to do so may lead to catastrophic results.

13 May 2020

New study to evaluate drug combination treatment for uveitis

Two in 10,000 people are at risk of serious sight loss from a form of eye inflammation known as uveitis. A new clinical research study, led by the University of Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), will evaluate a drug combination treatment for the eye disease thanks to funding of £2.5 million by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

13 May 2020

New project aims to create special glasses for people with keratoconus

A Fight for Sight funded research study will work to create spectacle lenses for people with the eye disease keratoconus.

13 May 2020

U.S. physician survey highlights impact and burden of Thyroid Eye Disease on patients’ quality of life

Horizon Therapeutics plc today announced results of a U.S. physician survey showing that endocrinologists and ophthalmologists perceive Thyroid Eye Disease to have a significant burden on their patients’ quality of life.

13 May 2020

New method to control inflammatory response induced by COVID-19

Severe COVID-19 illness can result in excessive inflammation throughout the body, including the lungs, heart and brain. University of Minnesota Twin Cities student Molly Gilligan recently published an article in the journal Cancer & Metastasis Reviews that studied the human body's robust inflammatory response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is now recognized as a hallmark symptom.

13 May 2020

Eating one meal high in saturated fat may hinder our ability to focus

Fatty food may feel like a friend during these troubled times, but new research suggests that eating just one meal high in saturated fat can hinder our ability to concentrate - not great news for people whose diets have gone south while they're working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

12 May 2020

A comprehensive analysis of evidence-based information to help manage myopia

A new literature analysis published in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, the peer-reviewed journal of The College of Optometrists, gives eye care practitioners (ECPs) a comprehensive analysis of evidence-based information needed to help manage myopia.

12 May 2020

Potential for COVID-19 transmission from human eye

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in May 2020 reports the presence of ACE2 receptors in the eye at high concentrations. These molecules are the entry points for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

12 May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 could spread through surface of the eyes

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus could spread via ocular or eye surfaces. This is because the receptor where the virus binds – the ACE2, is also expressed on human eyes, they note.

11 May 2020

Genomic sequences from all over the world help fight SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the world, killing hundreds of thousands and infecting over 4.1 million, researchers are racing against time to understand the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 genome has now been sequenced in many different regions of the world, and researchers are collaborating by sharing information to better understand the make-up and mutations that the virus has undergone.

11 May 2020

Regeneron and CCPM collaborate to advance human genetics, precision medicine

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus today announced a large-scale research collaboration designed to advance the field of human genetics and precision medicine through the sharing of 450,000 DNA samples and corresponding health records from de-identified, consented patient participants in the expansive UCHealth system.

11 May 2020

Clinical trial launched to evaluate experimental COVID-19 therapies

Clinical leaders from the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center, College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy have launched a clinical trial for experimental therapies to treat patients infected with COVID-19.

11 May 2020

Predictive models could more accurately detect early-stage Parkinson's disease

How is your sense of smell? Do you find yourself frequently dozing off during the day or thrashing about during dreams? Often, early stage Parkinson's disease does not present with typical motor disturbance symptoms, making diagnosis problematic.

11 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Study shows how our eyes recycle vitamin A

Many of us will remember been told as kids when we refused to eat our vegetables that 'carrots are good for your eyes'. Although our parents may not have fully understood it at the time, there is some truth to this. Carrots are a rich source of the vitamin A essential for healthy vision.

11 May 2020