Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Five EyeSmart toy-buying tips from American Academy of Ophthalmology

With the holiday season upon us, children are busy making their wish lists and checking them twice. But, parents may need to check them yet again to ensure toy safety. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 250,000 toy-related injuries are treated in emergency rooms each year.

5 Dec 2012

Hebrew University researchers pave way for development of new approaches to cure malaria

More than a million people die each year of malaria caused by different strains of the Plasmodium parasite transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito. The medical world has yet to find an effective vaccine against the deadly parasite, which mainly affects pregnant women and children under the age of five. By figuring out how the most dangerous strain evades the watchful eye of the immune system, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have now paved the way for the development of new approaches to cure this acute infection.

4 Dec 2012

Merck commences MK-8931 Phase II/III trial in Alzheimer's

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced it has started a Phase II/III clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MK-8931 versus placebo in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

3 Dec 2012

Diabetes tests: an interview with Dr. Danielle Stowasser

Diabetes is a serious condition that causes high levels of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. There are three main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which are lifelong conditions, and gestational diabetes, which only occurs in women during pregnancy.

3 Dec 2012

Bry-Air and Bhartiya Jagriti Manch organize free eye camp

A free eye camp was organized by Bry-Air and Bhartiya Jagriti Manch, Moga. Patients from Moga and its surrounding villages, viz. Chande Wala, Charik, Bhadai, Chugawan, Rauli, Dala, etc. came to the camp for free eye check-up.

3 Dec 2012

Researchers uncover molecular structure of master regulator central to melanoma

With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma.

1 Dec 2012

Membrane-proximal external region of HIV could be used to design vaccines

Beatriz Apellaniz, PhD holder of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, has studied in her PhD thesis HIV regions that could be used to design a vaccine. The researcher has focussed her research on a specific region of the surface protein of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which is responsible for the Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), one of the diseases with the greatest human morbidity and mortality.

30 Nov 2012

Only assess glaucoma drug efficacy after multiple testing

Intraocular pressure measurements may be insufficient to determine treatment effectiveness, even when repeated multiple times, show study results.

30 Nov 2012

U.K. NICE issues final draft guidance on Alimera Sciences’ ILUVIEN

Alimera Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today announced that the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance indicating that ILUVIEN is not recommended for the treatment of chronic diabetic macular edema (DME) considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies.

30 Nov 2012

InSite Vision completes enrollment in BromSite Phase 3 trial for reduction of pain, inflammation

InSite Vision Incorporated today announced that patient enrollment has been completed in the first Phase 3 clinical trial of BromSite (ISV-303) for the reduction of pain and inflammation after cataract surgery.

29 Nov 2012

Fertility treatment auto-injector: an interview with Lai Chiu Tang, Senior Industrial Designer at Cambridge Consultants

During IVF treatment you will need to take certain drugs. For example, for IVF it will be Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH) which are used to stimulate the ovaries to produce a mature egg so that they can be fertilised externally and then put back into the womb.

29 Nov 2012

CBO: Expanding health, other benefits for domestic partners would have little impact on federal employee program costs

Extending federal employee health insurance and retirement survivor benefits to same-sex domestic partners would have a relatively small impact on the number of people covered and on the cost of those programs, according to an analysis done for Congress.

29 Nov 2012

IL17RC-mediated immune responses can be crucial in causing AMD

Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults, based on preliminary research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.

29 Nov 2012

Macular pigment screener launched by Elektron Technology

Elektron Technology is launching a new, easy-to-use macular pigment screener (MPS II) that can quickly identify those most at risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

28 Nov 2012

Watch out for Sjögren's syndrome in dry eye

Clinicians with patients who have clinically significant dry eye should be on the alert for underlying Sjögren's syndrome, report researchers in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

28 Nov 2012

Critics look to House panels to restrain health law; Big policy issues remain

Questions remain on implementing the health law -- both politically and in settling policy matters -- as opponents look to House committees to police the Obama administration's activities to get the law up and running.

28 Nov 2012

Carnosic acid promotes eye health

Herbs widely used throughout history in Asian and early European cultures have received renewed attention by Western medicine in recent years. Scientists are now isolating the active compounds in many medicinal herbs and documenting their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In a study published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) report that carnosic acid, a component of the herb rosemary, promotes eye health.

28 Nov 2012

Topically applied simvastatin enhances wound recovery in diabetic mice

Delayed wound healing is a major complication of diabetes because the physiological changes in tissues and cells impair the wound healing process. This can result in additional disease outcomes such as diabetic foot ulcer, a significant cause of morbidity in the growing population of diabetic patients. A new study has found that topically applied simvastatin accelerates wound healing in diabetic mice, suggesting important implications for humans with diabetes.

28 Nov 2012

EC approves Regeneron’s EYLEA for treatment of wet AMD

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

27 Nov 2012

Scatter radiation during mammography does not increase risk of cancer

The radiation dose to areas of the body near the breast during mammography is negligible, or very low, and does not result in an increased risk of cancer, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

27 Nov 2012