Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Researchers assemble first high-resolution, 3-D maps of folded genomes

In a triumph for cell biology, researchers have assembled the first high-resolution, 3-D maps of entire folded genomes and found a structural basis for gene regulation -- a kind of "genomic origami" that allows the same genome to produce different types of cells. The research appears online today in Cell.

14 Dec 2014

Two MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics open inside CVS/pharmacy stores in Northern Nevada

Two MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics opened today inside CVS/pharmacy stores in Reno and Sparks. They join eight MinuteClinic locations inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in the Las Vegas area in Southern Nevada.

14 Dec 2014

Expert panel recommends vision health screening in preschool-aged children

All children should undergo vision health screening between age 36 and 72 months--preferably every year--using evidence-based test methods and with effective referral and follow-up, according to recommendations published in the January issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

12 Dec 2014

UR researchers on track to solve mystery of weight gain

University of Rochester researchers believe they're on track to solve the mystery of weight gain - and it has nothing to do with indulging in holiday eggnog.

12 Dec 2014

MU researcher recognized as AAAS Fellow for contributions to ophthalmology research

Cataracts, a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to vision loss, affects more than 24 million people in the United States, according to National Institutes of Health estimates. Often linked to the natural process of aging, cataracts are a major cause of blindness worldwide. K. Krishna Sharma, an ophthalmology researcher at the University of Missouri, has worked for more than two decades to study the mechanisms involved in this degenerative disease.

12 Dec 2014

CWRU researchers find mechanism that enables LRAT enzyme to store vitamin A

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have uncovered the mechanism that enables the enzyme Lecithin: retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) to store vitamin A — a process that is indispensable for vision.

12 Dec 2014

Exudation-free period key to cataract surgery success in AMD

Cataract surgery can benefit patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration previously treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factors if they have been treated and are exudation-free for more than 12 months, study findings indicate.

11 Dec 2014

Caution advised over OCT measurement of thick choroid

Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography is consistent for measuring choroidal thickness, researchers confirm, but its accuracy may be impaired in eyes with a very thick choroid.

11 Dec 2014

Optical coherence tomography methods comparable for AMD assessments

There is good accordance between spectral-domain and time-domain optical coherence tomography image assessments of eyes treated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, show study findings.

11 Dec 2014

OCT enhances neovascular subtype detection in AMD

Researchers recommend the inclusion of optical coherence tomography anatomic classification with fluorescein angiography grading to identify initial neovascular lesion subtypes in newly diagnosed age-related macular degeneration.

11 Dec 2014

Toddlers more exposed to brominated flame retardants than their mothers

Toddlers are more exposed to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) at home than their mothers, shows a new doctoral thesis from Stockholm University.

11 Dec 2014

Stem cells from healthy eye could one day be used to repair scarred cornea

Treating the potentially blinding haze of a scar on the cornea might be as straightforward as growing stem cells from a tiny biopsy of the patient's undamaged eye and then placing them on the injury site, according to mouse model experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

11 Dec 2014

Alcohol consumption interferes with sleep homeostasis

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that drinking alcohol to fall asleep interferes with sleep homeostasis, the body's sleep-regulating mechanism.

11 Dec 2014

Enzymatic activity essential for vision may provide target for drug transport

10 Dec 2014

Clinical markers help identify PD patients with cholinergic deficits

Assessing patients for clinical markers of cholinergic system denervation is viable and can help identify suitable individuals for trials of new anticholinergic drugs, researchers believe.

9 Dec 2014

Banner Health chooses Craneware's Chargemaster Corporate Toolkit to support ongoing growth

With healthcare consolidation on the rise, Craneware, Inc., the healthcare market leader in automated revenue integrity solutions, today announced that Banner Health, one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the US, has selected Craneware's Chargemaster Corporate Toolkit to support its ongoing growth and efficient integration across newly acquired facilities.

9 Dec 2014

Researchers freeze biological structures to illustrate DNA double-strand break process

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, led by Guillermo Montoya, have developed a method for producing biological crystals that has allowed scientists to observe --for the first time-- DNA double chain breaks. They have also developed a computer simulation that makes this process, which lasts in the order of millionths of a second, visible to the human eye.

9 Dec 2014

New diagnostic system describes symptoms using the image of patient's tongue

Physicians often ask their patients to "Please stick out your tongue". The tongue can betray signs of illness, which combined with other symptoms such as a cough, fever, presence of jaundice, headache or bowel habits, can help the physician offer a diagnosis. For people in remote areas who do not have ready access to a physician, a new diagnostic system is reported in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology that works to combine the soft inputs of described symptoms with a digital analysis of an image of the patient's tongue.

7 Dec 2014

New study explores reliability of optogenetics as method of intervention of temporal lobe seizures

Optogenetics is one of the hottest tools in biomedical research today, a method that uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins into specific cells. This new tool allows researchers to interact with a single cell or a network of cells with exquisite precision. Whereas imaging and other technologies allow researchers to watch the brain in action, optogenetics enables them to influence those actions.

7 Dec 2014

Breakthrough research could lead to prosthetic retinas for people suffering from retinal damage

Scientists have developed a new light-sensitive film that could one day form the basis of a prosthetic retina to help people suffering from retinal damage or degeneration. Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers collaborated with colleagues from Tel Aviv University and Newcastle University in the research, which was published in the journal Nano Letters.

5 Dec 2014