Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Unlocking proteins from their cellular shell

Applying physical stress to cells, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that everyday forces can alter the structure of proteins tucked within cells, unfold them and expose new targets in the fight against disease.

3 Aug 2007

New treatment for glaucoma shows promise

Iowa State University researchers have developed a new technique that successfully treated rats for blindness caused by glaucoma.

3 Aug 2007

Region of brain for processing visual 3D shapes indentified

In studies with monkeys, researchers have identified in detail the brain regions responsible for the unique ability of primates, including humans, to process visual 3D shapes to guide their sophisticated manipulation of objects.

2 Aug 2007

Neuroprotectin D1 protects retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells

Two papers to be published in the Early Edition online of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of July 30-August 3, 2007 report findings that demonstrate that neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1) protects against damage to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and identifies an important trigger for its production and novel molecular mechanisms that support vision.

1 Aug 2007

Maverick medics in the UK find a cheap way to save sight

The maverick medics who are ophthalmic surgeons in Manchester are prescribing the drug Avastin to victims of the most common cause of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

31 Jul 2007

Takeda responds to FDA recommendation on Actos

Following a joint meeting today of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Takeda Global Research & Development (TGRD) underscores its position that ACTOS(R) (pioglitazone HCl) offers a proven safety profile regarding the risk of cardiovascular disease.

30 Jul 2007

Diabetes epidemic in New York City

The diabetes epidemic is taking a large and growing toll on New York City, a new Health Department report shows, as death rates, debilitating complications, and hospitalization costs soar.

25 Jul 2007

New research on fixational eye movements

Susana Martinez-Conde, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience, and Stephen Macknik, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, are featured on the cover of the August issue of Scientific American for their research on fixational eye movements.

25 Jul 2007

Nanotechnology to test food quality

Researchers have created two tiny instruments capable of detecting a range of contaminants, from molecules to whole bacteria, in food and water, according to an article in the August issue of Microbiology Today.

23 Jul 2007

Discovery of new brain mechanism involved with waking up

How do we wake up? How do we shift from restful sleep to dreaming? Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have discovered a new brain mechanism that just might explain how we do that.

20 Jul 2007

New method of adult stem cell therapy to grow cornea stem cells

A new method of adult stem cell growth, designed in the Area of Cellular Therapy of the University Clinic (University of Navarra), has demonstrated its efficacy for its capacity to grow cornea stem cells.

20 Jul 2007

C3 gene variant increases risk of blindness

Researchers have found a gene variant that can more than double the risk of developing the degenerative eye disease, age-related macular degeneration.

19 Jul 2007

Apraclonidine causes severe lethargy in infants

New research suggests that an eyedrop used to diagnose a rare syndrome in infants can cause severe lethargy lasting up to 10 hours and requiring hospital admission and oxygen administration.

17 Jul 2007

Children with Tourette's better at mental grammar skills

Children with Tourette's syndrome may have to put up with some unwanted movement and verbal tics, but neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that they are much quicker at processing certain mental grammar skills than are children without the disorder.

16 Jul 2007

New target for muscular dystrophy drug therapy

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report how the gene for utrophin, which codes for a protein very similar to dystrophin, the defective protein in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), puts the brakes on its own expression in muscle cells, thereby suggesting a new target for treatment.

13 Jul 2007

Eye lens and nose cells for smelling have same origin

A team of researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have discovered a unique mechanism by which the same signal molecule determines the formation of the both the lens of the eye and the olfactory cells of the nose.

13 Jul 2007

FDA approves CustomVue Monovision LASIK

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for marketing the first LASIK device designed for treating one eye to see far away objects and the other eye for close-up vision.

12 Jul 2007

Dietary glycemic index linked to risk of vision loss

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its associated vision loss may be connected to the quality of carbohydrates an individual consumes.

12 Jul 2007

Two-thirds of nursing home residents not getting regular eye care

Two-thirds of nursing home residents in a new UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) study had no record of or reference to an eye examination in their medical charts, although more than half were visually impaired.

11 Jul 2007

Court rules in favor of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) has announced that the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Judge William G. Young, following a Nov. 6, 2006 jury decision, ruled in favor of MEEI on claims of unjust enrichment and unfair trade practices against QLT Inc.

11 Jul 2007