Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

New way to awaken paternal Ube3a allele linked with Angelman syndrome

Results of a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may help pave the way to a treatment for a neurogenetic disorder often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy or autism.

22 Dec 2011

Effects of allopregnanolone in women with severe pre-menstrual syndrome

Sensitivity to allopregnanolone, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body after ovulation and during pregnancy, changes during the course of the menstrual cycle and is different in women with severe pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) compared with women without PMS complaints. This has been shown by Erika Timby in her doctoral dissertation recently defended at Umeå University, Sweden.

22 Dec 2011

Study examines prevalence of Fusarium in bathroom sink drains

A study examining the prevalence of the fungus Fusarium in bathroom sink drains suggests that plumbing systems may be a common source of human infections.

22 Dec 2011

Autism Speaks announces 47 new ASD research grants

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the awarding of 47 new research grants totaling $13,242,279 in funding over the next three years.

22 Dec 2011

Roundup: Health coverage drops again in Fla.; Calif. wrestles with issue of violence in mental hospitals

Enrollment in commercial health insurance is continuing to decline in Florida. An annual market report adopted Tuesday by the Florida Health Care Insurance Advisory Board shows enrollment dropped by 4.3 percent during 2010. That's the fifth straight year it's gone down.

22 Dec 2011

New pharma title from iSmithers ‘Update on Polymers for Ocular Drug Delivery’

The eye is the most easily accessible site for topical administration of a medication. Drugs are commonly applied to the eye for localised action on the surface or in the interior of the eye. A major problem in ocular therapeutics is the attainment of an optimal drug concentration at the site of action.

21 Dec 2011

Denali Concrete Management initiates enrollment in CF101 phase 3 study for Dry Eye Syndrome

Denali Concrete Management Inc. announced today that it has commenced patient enrollment for a phase 3 clinical study of the safety and efficacy of CF101, daily administered orally, in patients with moderate-to-severe Dry Eye Syndrome.

21 Dec 2011

NSU to create College of Nursing on Jan. 1., 2012

Nova Southeastern University will create the College of Nursing on Jan. 1., 2012. Formally a part of NSU's College of Allied Health and Nursing, the new college has emerged because of the nursing program's growth and success over the last five years.

21 Dec 2011

FDA, other organizations unveil program to monitor cataract surgery devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other government and professional organizations today unveiled a program to monitor medical devices used in cataract surgery in an effort to stem outbreaks of a rare, inflammatory condition associated with the procedure.

21 Dec 2011

Optical coherence tomography measures changes in retinal cone cells

Humans see color thanks to cone cells, specialized light-sensing neurons located in the retina along the inner surface of the eyeball. The actual light-sensing section of these cells is called the outer segment, which is made up of a series of stacked discs, each about 30 nanometers (billionths of a meter) thick. This appendage goes through daily changes in length.

21 Dec 2011

Hard to accept for some – there is NO Mr. Perfect!

A new study of 2,000 women showed that there is no such thing as ‘Mr. Right’ or a perfect man. Most women ranked their partner as only 69 per cent perfect.

18 Dec 2011

Ten resolutions for healthy aging

Successful aging means more than good health. It means taking charge of your personal wellbeing so that you can continue to live a vibrant, independent life, regardless of your age, according to Dr. Terri Ginsberg of the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine.

16 Dec 2011

Hereditary cancer syndrome predisposes patients to uveal melanoma

Ohio State University researchers have discovered a hereditary cancer syndrome that predisposes certain people to a melanoma of the eye, along with lung cancer, brain cancer and possibly other types of cancer.

16 Dec 2011

Mayo Clinic to build new cancer treatment facility

Mayo Clinic broke ground today for a cutting edge cancer therapy facility at its Phoenix campus. Construction begins this month on a $182 million facility to house Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy program - marking the beginning of a new era in cancer treatment.

15 Dec 2011

Roundup: Nonprofits get big money in disabled payments; Calif. budget problems bring additional Medicaid cutbacks

Spending on this little-known home care program, called Community Habilitation, has soared in recent years, creating multimillion-dollar surpluses at some nonprofit agencies and eye-popping salaries and benefits for those who run them. And it helps explain how New York's costs of caring for developmentally disabled people have ballooned in recent years, creating the nation's most generous system of Medicaid-financed programs, with little scrutiny of its efficiency or result.

15 Dec 2011

Dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa

Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. A study by investigators at Mayo Clinic, Wayne State University and Johns Hopkins Medicine shows that steroids attached to the dendrimers target the damage-causing cells associated with neuroinflammation, leaving the rest of the eye unaffected and preserving vision.

14 Dec 2011

Textile cushions with smart sensor systems for persons confined to bed or wheelchair

Anyone confined to a wheelchair or a bed has to deal with numerous complications. Frequently, they suffer from bedsores or decubitus ulcers as physicians call them. Bony prominences, such as the sacrum, coccyx and ischium, are especially endangered spots. Unrelieved pressure can lead to tissue necrosis. Damage can extend into the periosteum and, at the worst, into bones themselves.

14 Dec 2011

Potential nanoparticle treatment for macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa

Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. A collaborative research study among investigators at Wayne State University, the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medicine shows that steroids attached to the dendrimers targeted the damage-causing cells associated with neuroinflammation, leaving the rest of the eye unaffected and preserving vision.

14 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 14, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about progress -- or lack thereof -- as the House and Senate work to come to terms on the year's must-pass legislation.

14 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: The high cost of treating patients who may die; Young girls and Plan B

You've probably heard that we spend a lot of money on patients who die. It's true. ... But what about my patient? How could it be that we were prudent with health care dollars because he lived, but would have been described as wasteful had he died? Doctors in an emergency room cannot know which will occur. They do not have divining rods that direct them to patients they can save and away from those they can't. Rather, caring for the sick means caring for people who may die.

14 Dec 2011