Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Birmingham Institute performs non-invasive skin tightening procedure

With the increasing demand for non-surgical aesthetic procedures, the FDA's recent clearance of an ultrasound device to tighten sagging skin has come as great news to consumers, especially those in Southeast Michigan, home to one of the first of these Ulthera Systems in the nation.

29 Nov 2010

Association for Psychological Science journal presents new research

Adults with insecure attachment styles may have difficulties regulating emotions and this may put them at an increased risk for mental health problems. Volunteers underwent fMRI scans while performing an emotion-word Stroop task. Participants with tendencies towards insecure attachment demonstrated more activity in the right orbitofrontal cortex and superior frontal gyrus for unpleasant words, suggesting that insecure attachment may involve intense reactions to negative words.

24 Nov 2010

HOYA Vision Care discusses technological developments and future of progressive lenses at Global PAL Summit

From 27 September until 1 October HOYA Vision Care invited a selection of its best lens experts and VIP customers from all over the world to join its Global PAL Summit in La Toja, Spain. Goal was to discuss in depth new technological developments and share vision and plans on the future generation progressive lenses.

24 Nov 2010

NIH expands genetic and clinical research database to provide access to digital study images

The National Institutes of Health has expanded a genetic and clinical research database to give researchers access to the first digital study images.

24 Nov 2010

Men failing to protect eyes from injuries: Experts

A review looking at patients attending a Melbourne hospital’s emergency department with a serious eye injury shows that most of them could be prevented by proper eye protection. Men’s particular lack of eye protection while using power tools and lawn mowers, usually during routine house maintenance, were the other major factors in the injury cases say the researchers.

23 Nov 2010

Parkinson Society Canada awards Quebec scientists $573,384 for research

Quebec Parkinson researchers receive a record $573,384 in funding from Parkinson Society Canada to increase their efforts to identify the causes of this degenerative brain disease for which there is currently no cure. At a Research Innovation event in Montreal this evening, hosted by Parkinson Society Quebec in partnership with McGill University and the CHUM, 11 Parkinson scientists will be lauded for their efforts in getting closer to a cure.

23 Nov 2010

aAetna announces pilot with MCNT to improve diabetes care

Aetna today announced a pilot with the Medical Clinic of North Texas aimed at improving the care of diabetic patients of Hispanic and African American descent.

23 Nov 2010

Stem cell trial for eye disease receives FDA approval

The second clinical trial involving stem cells from human embryonic cells has received the go-ahead. The news came from Advanced Cell Technology Inc. this Monday. The company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for its Phase I/II trial of retinal cells for patients with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, a childhood version of macular degeneration.

22 Nov 2010

Supermarket steaks as good as butcher’s: Survey

A study from consumer group Choice has found that beef steaks from Australian supermarkets rate as highly as some expensive butcher cuts. Choice commissioned three butchers with a combined experience of 75 years to test steak from Aldi, Coles and Woolworths against beef from a premium and a budget butcher. They included cuts of rump, sirloin, T-bone, scotch fillets, blade and eye fillet and graded them according to colour, marbling and fat.

22 Nov 2010

FDA grants ACT clearance for Phase I/II clinical trial of hESC derived retinal cells in patients with SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to immediately initiate a Phase I/II multicenter clinical trial using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to treat patients with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD), one of the most common forms of juvenile macular degeneration in the world. The decision removes the clinical hold that the FDA had placed on the trial.

22 Nov 2010

Mimetogen initiates MIM-D3 Phase II clinical trial for dry eye disease

Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel small molecule compounds that mimic the effects of neurotrophins, today announced that it has initiated the first human clinical trial evaluating MIM-D3, a mimetic of nerve growth factor (NGF), in a Phase II clinical trial in patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease. MIM-D3 is a small cyclic peptidomimetic of NGF, a naturally occurring protein in the eye that is responsible for the maintenance of corneal nerves and epithelium, mucin and tear production.

22 Nov 2010

Phase 3 study of VEGF Trap-Eye regimen meets primary endpoint in patients with wet AMD

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Bayer HealthCare announced that in two parallel Phase 3 studies in patients with the neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), all regimens of VEGF Trap-Eye (aflibercept ophthalmic solution), including VEGF Trap-Eye dosed every two months, successfully met the primary endpoint compared to the current standard of care, ranibizumab dosed every month.

22 Nov 2010

German researchers use binocular rivalry to interpret mechanism of brain functions

Researchers around Andreas Bartels at the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany used this phenomenon to decipher a key mechanism of the brain functions that contributes to conscious visual perception.

20 Nov 2010

People to get free vision rehabilitation surgeries with launch of 2010 China-Africa Brightness Action

The launching ceremony for the "2010 China-Africa Brightness Action" was held at Deer Jet's fix base operation (FBO), Beijing Capital International Airport on November 18.

20 Nov 2010

Removal of tobacco displays changes young people's attitude to smoking

Putting tobacco out of sight in shops not only changes young people's attitude to smoking but doesn't result in retailers losing money - according to new research published in Tobacco Control today (Friday).

20 Nov 2010

New multimode imaging could help detect blood stain at crime-scene investigations

Chemists at the University of South Carolina have developed a camera with the ability to see the invisible and more. The new technology, called multimode imaging in the thermal infrared, could eventually be used in crime-scene investigations, since it can capture blood stains that the human eye can't see.

20 Nov 2010

AAO to recognize UH optometry dean with Charles F. Prentice Medal Award

Earl L. Smith III, O.D., dean of the College of Optometry and Greeman-Petty Professor at the University of Houston, is the 2010 recipient of the Charles F. Prentice Medal Award from the American Academy of Optometry.

19 Nov 2010

Multinational team identifies novel retinal disease gene

A multinational team effort of Regensburg's Institute of Human Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, other partners and Genomatix elucidated a transcriptional network in photoreceptors and thereby identified a novel retinal disease gene

19 Nov 2010

OXiGENE updates data on FALCON trial for non-small cell lung cancer

OXiGENE, Inc., a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, announced today that it presented updated safety and clinical activity data from the FALCON trial, a randomized, controlled Phase 2 study of ZYBRESTAT(TM) (CA4P) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

19 Nov 2010

Call for more transparency and improvements to drug safety in Canada

A commissioned discussion paper released today by the Health Council of Canada, Keeping an Eye on Prescription Drugs, Keeping Canadians Safe, underscores the many limitations to how drug safety and effectiveness is monitored and reported in Canada. The report provides clear recommendations for changes to the current system to ensure Canadians are safe from undue pharmaceutical harm.

18 Nov 2010