Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

New antidepressant prescription linked to increased risk of falls in nursing home residents

Nursing home residents taking certain antidepressant medications are at an increased risk of falling in the days following the start of a new prescription or a dose increase of their current drug, according to a new study by the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

16 Jul 2011

Tips for preventing allergy during ragweed pollen season

Feel like there's no end in sight when it comes to fall allergy misery? Blame global warming. Research suggests that with global warming, nasal allergy during the ragweed pollen season - also called hay fever or seasonal allergic rhinitis - lasts up to three weeks longer than it used to, and the further north you live, the longer you have to wait for relief.

16 Jul 2011

Retinal cells require vitamin C to function properly

Nerve cells in the eye require vitamin C in order to function properly - a surprising discovery that may mean vitamin C is required elsewhere in the brain for its proper functioning, according to a study by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

16 Jul 2011

Study: Overall awareness about eye health lower among ethnic Americans

The results of recent, comprehensive research supported by Transitions Optical revealed that the majority of Americans are not taking the proper steps to care for the health of their eyes, and that awareness of both short- and long-term effects of UV exposure on vision is remarkably low.

15 Jul 2011

Babies have far less ability to recognize rapidly changing images than adults

Babies have far less ability to recognize rapidly changing images than adults, according to research from the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. The results show that while infants can perceive flicker or movement, they may not be able to identify the individual elements within a moving or changing scene as well as an adult.

15 Jul 2011

Novel bionic eyes for the blind in the making

British scientists have developed the first pair of bionic glasses that could help thousands of legally blind people. These glasses using tiny cameras and software technology from video games, alert the wearer to objects in their surroundings using flashing lights.

14 Jul 2011

Scientists discover new mechanism of drug resistance in hospital microbes

Hospitals struggle to prevent the infections that complicate treatment for cancer, joint replacement, heart surgery and other conditions. Hospital-acquired infections are often resistant to multiple antibiotics, leading to approximately 100,000 deaths and more than $30 billion in additional health care costs yearly.

14 Jul 2011

New system for optimizing eyesight

With research and development assistance from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and seed funding from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), an Atlanta-based company is developing what it hopes will be the next-generation instrument for optimizing eyesight for the hundreds of millions of people who wear glasses or contacts - or who are candidates for corrective surgery.

14 Jul 2011

Study overturns long-accepted theories about fundamental aspect of tissue regeneration

Scientists have been wrong for 250 years about a fundamental aspect of tissue regeneration, according to a University of Dayton biologist who says his recent discovery is good news for humans.

14 Jul 2011

New BGU system could prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

A new system using video and computer software to monitor a baby that could be used to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), as well as for telemedicine applications, has been developed by two students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

14 Jul 2011

Patient-centered medical home boosts diabetes outcomes, health

A health-care delivery model called patient-centered medical home (PCMH) increased the percentage of diabetes patients who achieved goals that reduced their sickness and death rates, according to health researchers.

14 Jul 2011

Study evaluates viewing distance and font size in smart phone users

Smart phone users reading text messages and internet pages hold their devices at a closer distance than they would for printed text—which may have important implications for prescribing vision correction, reports a study in the July issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

13 Jul 2011

Tips for parents to prepare healthy summer snacks

The lazy days of summer can often result in a too-casual, graze-all-day approach to eating. Connie Evers, a registered dietitian, founder of NutritionForKids.com and author of "How to Teach Nutrition to Kids," has developed some simple tips for parents to help break bad on-the-go eating cycles as well as ideas for smart snacking options this summer.

12 Jul 2011

New owl study reveals advantage of stereopsis

Using owls as a model, a new research study reveals the advantage of stereopsis, commonly referred to as stereovision, is its ability to discriminate between objects and background; not in perceiving absolute depth.

12 Jul 2011

African-Americans with glaucoma have higher oxygen levels than Caucasians

Measuring oxygen during eye surgery, investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered a reason that may explain why African-Americans have a higher risk of glaucoma than Caucasians.

12 Jul 2011

A 16 pound baby born in Texas

A Texas baby was born with a birth weight of 16 pounds and one ounce. JaMichael Brown's weight was more than double the national average for a newborn and he measures 24 inches long, just a few inches shy of an average one-year-old. He is the biggest baby ever born at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview, located on the border between Texas and Louisiana. The hospital has been open since 1938 and last year delivered nearly 2,900 babies.

11 Jul 2011

RyMed's InVision-Plus Intraluminal Protection System effective against catheter-related bloodstream infections

Denise Macklin, BSN, RNC, representing the research team of Dr. Cynthia C. Chernecky Ph.D., RN, AOCN, FAAN, Dr. Jennifer Waller, Ph.D., both from Georgia Health Sciences University; and Dr. William Jarvis M.D., Jason & Jarvis Associates, exhibited a poster at the recent APIC 2011 (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology) conference in Baltimore, titled "Clinical Comparisons of Split Septum, Positive and Negative Mechanical Valve Intravenous Connectors to an Intraluminal Protection Connector on Infection Rates."

11 Jul 2011

FDA clears TearScience's LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System for evaporative dry eye

TearScience, Inc., a privately-held medical device company, today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), also known as evaporative dry eye.

11 Jul 2011

MSU professor focuses on new formulation for old drug to treat parasitic diseases

With the help of another $2 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, researchers are moving closer to setting up human clinical trials for a reformulated drug that could be the linchpin of treatment efforts against two debilitating tropical diseases.

11 Jul 2011

Nature journal publishes landmark genetic study of ovarian cancer

A University of Houston researcher is an author on a landmark multi-institutional genetic study of the most aggressive and common form of ovarian cancer that is published in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature.

11 Jul 2011