Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

First Edition: January 31, 2013

Today's headlines include reports on a new health law final rule issued by the Internal Revenue Service eligibility and affordability standards for insurance subsidies.

31 Jan 2013

Congenital sight impairment cure grows closer

A cure for congenital sight impairment caused by lens damage is closer following research by scientists at Monash University.

31 Jan 2013

Central field loss creates driving hazard

People with central field loss experience a range of difficulties when driving that could pose a danger to themselves and pedestrians, researchers believe.

30 Jan 2013

ADRB receptors play a direct role in Src activation by PKA-mediated mechanism

Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered the signaling pathway whereby a master regulator of cancer cell proteins - known as Src - leads to ovarian cancer progression when exposed to stress hormones. The researchers report in the current issue of Nature Communications that beta blocker drugs mitigate this effect and reduce cancer deaths by an average of 17 percent.

30 Jan 2013

Study examines how fear responses are learned, controlled and memorized

A rustle of undergrowth in the outback: it's a sound that might make an animal or person stop sharply and be still, in the anticipation of a predator. That "freezing" is part of the fear response, a reaction to a stimulus in the environment and part of the brain's determination of whether to be afraid of it.

29 Jan 2013

Novel experiment illuminates importance of doctor-patient relationship

A patient's relationship with his or her doctor has long been considered an important component of healing. Now, in a novel investigation in which physicians underwent brain scans while they believed they were actually treating patients, researchers have provided the first scientific evidence indicating that doctors truly can feel their patients' pain - and can also experience their relief following treatment.

29 Jan 2013

Reprogramming eye cells that enable night vision may one day treat retinitis pigmentosa

Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Jan 2013

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children: an interview with Donna Gillies

Children with PTSD suffer significant distress or negative impacts on their daily lives. Estimates of the prevalence of PTSD in children and adolescents experiencing trauma are generally very high, at 30% to 40%.

28 Jan 2013

Study sheds new light on learning and memory-making

In experiments on rats outfitted with tiny goggles, scientists say they have learned that the brain's initial vision processing center not only relays visual stimuli, but also can "learn" time intervals and create specifically timed expectations of future rewards.

28 Jan 2013

Scientists discover clear link between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration of old age

The connection between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration as we grow older has been elusive. But for the first time, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a link between these hallmark maladies of old age. Their discovery opens the door to boosting the quality of sleep in elderly people to improve memory.

28 Jan 2013

Study explores regular aspirin use and potential risks for macular degeneration

This week, a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, explored the connection between regular aspirin use and the potential risks for developing the blinding eye disease, macular degeneration. As a result, there is increased confusion and anxiety in the general public about whether aspirin can harm your vision and what to do if you need the heart-protective therapy.

28 Jan 2013

HSS involving resiniferatoxin receives U.S. patent to alleviate intractable pain

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a patent to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services involving resiniferatoxin, or RTX, an experimental compound that represents a potential new class of drugs to alleviate the intractable pain that can occur in people with advanced cancer, severe arthritis, and other extremely chronic conditions.

28 Jan 2013

Weekly aspirin may increase AMD risk

People who take aspirin more than once per week may be at increased risk for developing neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a prospective study has found.

25 Jan 2013

Extramacular scanning shows promise in uveitic disorders

New optical coherence tomography scanning protocols offer enhanced characterization of patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy, UK researchers report.

25 Jan 2013

House GOP seeks steep spending cuts, but postpones moment of reckoning

In the next budget battle chapter, House Republicans plan to demand spending cuts that would balance the budget in 10 years and require significant changes to Medicare and other safety-net programs.

25 Jan 2013

Neuromuscular blockade (NMB) reversal

General anesthesia is made up of three components: hypnotic medicines, to induce sleep; analgesics, or medicines to inhibit pain; and NMB agents that induce muscle relaxation. Anesthesiology professionals use NMB to relax a patient’s muscles and prevent involuntary movement that could impact surgery.

24 Jan 2013

New computing system determines age and sex of a corpse with reliability of 95%

Researchers at the University of Granada, Spain, have designed a new computing system that determines the age and sex of a corpse with a reliability of 95%. This system is based on free software called Image and a free DICOM displayer called K-Pacs.

24 Jan 2013

Researchers discover unique hairpin-like structure that facilitates Abeta clumping

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of late-life dementia. The disorder is thought to be caused by a protein known as the amyloid-beta protein, or Abeta, which clumps together in the brain, forming plaques that are thought to destroy neurons. This destruction starts early, too, and can presage clinical signs of the disease by up to 20 years.

24 Jan 2013

Study identifies how astrocytes regulate a neurotransmitter involved in sleep

Neuroscience researchers from Tufts University have found that our star-shaped brain cells, called astrocytes, may be responsible for the rapid improvement in mood in depressed patients after acute sleep deprivation. This in vivo study, published in the current issue of Translational Psychiatry, identified how astrocytes regulate a neurotransmitter involved in sleep.

23 Jan 2013

Researchers pinpoint several inherited mutations in autism

While autism clearly runs in some families, few inherited genetic causes have been found. A major reason is that these causes are so varied that it's hard to find enough people with a given mutation to establish a clear pattern. Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have pinpointed several inherited mutations—among the first to be identified—through an unusual approach: using whole-exome sequencing to study large Middle Eastern families with autism.

23 Jan 2013