Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Study to examine relationship between oral and silent reading in children

When a beginning reader reads aloud, her progress is apparent: Hunched over a book, little index finger blazing the way, she moves intently from sound to sound, word to word. I do not like green eggs and ham! I do not like them, Sam-I-am! But when that same child reads silently, it's much harder to measure how much she is reading -- or understanding. Yet as she advances through school, teachers will expect her to learn increasingly through silent rather than oral reading.

15 Feb 2012

HB-EGF plays a critical role during retina regeneration

University of Michigan Health System research into the mechanisms by which zebrafish are able to regenerate damaged retinas after injury suggests new strategies for one day being able to do the same in humans - potentially allowing doctors to slow or reverse conditions like macular degeneration and glaucoma.

15 Feb 2012

Aganirsen demonstrates significant activity in two models of wet AMD, ischemic retinopathy

Gene Signal, a company focused on developing innovative drugs to manage angiogenesis based conditions, today announced the publication of data demonstrating the significant activity of aganirsen (GS-101, eye drops) in two important models of retinal neovascular disease, wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and ischemic retinopathy.

15 Feb 2012

Third patient dosed in Phase 1/2 SMD trial using RPE cells derived from hESCs

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today the dosing of third patient in its Phase 1/2 trial for Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

13 Feb 2012

Merck's ZIOPTAN for reducing elevated IOP receives FDA approval

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ZIOPTANTM (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015%, the first preservative-free prostaglandin analog ophthalmic solution.

13 Feb 2012

Regeneron reports total revenues of $123.0M for fourth quarter 2011

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 and provided an update on development programs.

13 Feb 2012

Bexarotene appears to help clear out excess plaque in Alzheimer's

"In the last eight days, scientists have delivered a powerful one-two punch in the fight to defeat Alzheimer's disease," said Stacy Pagos Haller, President and CEO of the American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), a nonprofit that identifies and funds exceptionally high-impact research worldwide through its Alzheimer's Disease Research program.

13 Feb 2012

Genomics pioneer to present at ARVO 2012 meeting

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology is pleased to welcome J. Craig Venter as the keynote speaker at the opening session of ARVO 2012 on Sunday, May 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Venter's presentation is entitled "From Reading to Writing the Genetic Code."

10 Feb 2012

Grand Challenges Canada announces 15 grants to support rising stars in global health

Grand Challenges Canada today announced 15 grants valued in total at more than $1.5 million awarded to some of Canada's most creative innovators from across the country in support of their work to improve global health conditions.

10 Feb 2012

Gene therapy succeeds in the second blind eye for three patients

Three people have now have reported a dramatic improvement in vision after having gene therapy in both eyes after having lost their eyesight as children.

9 Feb 2012

Readministration of gene therapy improves vision in three patients with LCA

Gene therapy for congenital blindness has taken another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye.

9 Feb 2012

Eye clinics in India use tiered pricing to provide affordable service to poorest patients

"An expanding network of eye clinics has found an innovative way of providing quality, affordable treatment to millions of blind and visually impaired poor people in India," the Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog reports.

9 Feb 2012

FDA approves ivermectin lotion for treatment of head lice

Sanofi announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sklice® (ivermectin) lotion, 0.5% for the topical treatment of head lice, in patients 6 months of age and older. Effective and well-tolerated, Sklice Lotion treats lice in most patients with a single 10-minute application of the lotion, without nit combing.

7 Feb 2012

UCR's 23nd annual Science and Engineering Fair to be held Feb. 7-9

What are you really eating when you're eating chicken? Do different types of wood produce the same heat when burned? Do twins have similar fingerprints? How does sleep affect your memory? Does your eye color matter? Hundreds of K-12 students from 33 local schools will answer these and other intriguing questions at the 23nd annual Science and Engineering Fair at the University of California, Riverside, Feb. 7-9. The fair will take place at the Pentland Hills Bear Cave on campus.

7 Feb 2012

Exposure to manganese may increase risk of clumsiness in former welders

Welders who are exposed to manganese from welding fumes, risk developing increased clumsiness - and the result may remain decades after exposure has ceased. This is the finding of a study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, of former shipyard workers.

7 Feb 2012

Medicaid news: Kansas insurer says 'no' to Medicaid

The state of Kansas' largest insurance company has decided it doesn't want to participate in Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to move Medicaid patients into privatized managed-care programs. In a letter addressed "Dear provider," Angie Strecker, director of institutional relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, said the insurer "has decided not to submit a proposal to the state to be a Medicaid contractor."

6 Feb 2012

Tennessee Gov. declares February as 'St. Jude Month'

In 1962, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital opened its doors amid an emotionally charged debate regarding how to treat childhood cancer. At that time, few children with the most common form of childhood cancer survived, and many physicians believed treatment was futile. St. Jude physicians and researchers took a radically different approach, and these efforts proved pivotal in changing the way the world treats childhood cancer.

6 Feb 2012

Two different research groups make similar advances in AD study

Two different research groups have independently made the same important discoveries on how Alzheimer's disease spreads in the brain, according to a February 2 New York Times story. The groups' findings have the potential to give us a much more sophisticated understanding of what goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease and, more importantly, what can be done to prevent or repair damage in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

AFER congratulates the first Genentech AMD Fellowship recipients

ARVO Foundation for Eye Research (AFER) congratulates the first AFER/Genentech Age-related macular Degeneration Fellowship recipients - Balamurali K. Ambati, MD, PhD, and Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD. Each received $40,000 to support their age-related macular degeneration (AMD) research and will be honored at the 2012 ARVO Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 6, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

4 Feb 2012

HHS essential benefits 'bulletin' draws tide of comments

As the official window of time allowed for groups to react to the Department of Health and Human Services essential benefits proposal closed, a variety of objections, concerns and common themes became clear.

3 Feb 2012