Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Reparative cells offers new avenue for fighting multiple sclerosis

Plaques that form around the nerve cells of people with multiple sclerosis are apparently what disable people with the disease. But partly developed reparative cells within the plaques provide hope for a treatment, a UT Southwestern physician reports in the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Mar 2006

Factor B and H genes found to play role in the development of age-related macular degeneration

A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, pinpoints the role that two genes - Factor H and Factor B - play in the development of nearly three out of four cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a devastating eye disease that affects more than 10 million people in the United States.

7 Mar 2006

New implanted lens to fix nearsightedness

UT Southwestern Medical Center ophthalmologists will be the first in the area to insert a new type of implanted lens to fix nearsightedness.

1 Mar 2006

Cell-death mechanism linked to developmental and degenerative brain disorders

Conclusive evidence that neurodevelopmental disorders such as mental retardation and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ataxias can be caused, at least in part, by specific gene defects that interfere with the electrical impulses of rapid-firing brain nerve cells called bursting neurons.

1 Mar 2006

Night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease

"This is a new observation, a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease," said Levin, head of the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Levin and colleagues report their findings in the March 2006, issue of the FASEB Journal.

1 Mar 2006

Compound found in marijuana may defend against diabetic retinopathy

A compound found in marijuana won't make you high but it may help keep your eyes healthy if you're a diabetic, researchers say.

1 Mar 2006

$1 million of mesothelioma research funding

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) has announced awards of almost $1 million in additional research funding aimed at curing mesothelioma.

24 Feb 2006

Project could lead to fall in prescribing errors for children

Initiatives aimed at cutting the number of errors made when prescribing medicines to children are the focus of a project being led by researchers at The University of Nottingham and The School of Pharmacy, University of London.

24 Feb 2006

Humans ignore motion and other cues in favor of a fictional stable world

Would you notice if all the objects around you simultaneously moved farther away? In a virtual-reality laboratory in Oxford, researchers have obtained the puzzling finding that humans can be "blind" to changes like this.

23 Feb 2006

Glaucoma set to reach 80 million by 2020

The global toll of the disabling eye disease glaucoma is set to reach 60 million by 2010, rising to almost 80 million by 2020, finds research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

20 Feb 2006

Botox finds a use in cancer treatment

The cosmetic treatment Botox may have a new use as an adjuvant to cancer therapy, providing an open door for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

17 Feb 2006

Some patients with glaucoma have higher pressure at night

Some patients with glaucoma appear to have higher pressure in their eyes during sleep at night than during the day when it is usually measured, possibly putting them at higher risk for progression of the disease than previously thought, according to a study in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

14 Feb 2006

Acne drug which causes birth defects too hard to monitor

According to the birth watchdog group the March of Dimes, preventing birth defects from a widely used acne drug is too heavy a burden on doctors, patients and pharmacists.

13 Feb 2006

Researcher identifies key to macular degeneration progression

Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati UK HealthCare physician and Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, announced a discovery by his research team that will impact how physicians and patients approach treatment for macular degeneration.

7 Feb 2006

Can marriages be saved by treating snoring?

The husband snores. The wife nudges him to flip over. Both wake up feeling grouchy the next morning. It's a common occurrence that may have more of an impact on the marriage than most couples think.

7 Feb 2006

Chronic disease is becoming a major focus in health care

More funding, increased workforce resources and further reform of the health system are needed if the national chronic disease strategy is going to deliver better care to patients suffering from diseases such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, according to an international primary health expert.

7 Feb 2006

Abraham Lincoln may have suffered from movement disorder

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln's grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum-- the part of the brain that controls movement.

7 Feb 2006

New inhaled drug for diabetics an alternative treatment option for some

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has given it's approval for the sale of a new drug to treat diabetes.

29 Jan 2006

Aston Academy investigates macular oedema

Aston Academy of Life Sciences, the clinical research hospital of Aston University, has recently been commissioned to assess the efficacy and safety of a specialist drug, Posurdex (Allergan Ltd, UK), which is used in the treatment of patients who suffer from a sight threatening condition, called macular oedema.

26 Jan 2006

High white blood cell count equals increased risk of cancer

In a study of more than 3,000 older Australians, those with a higher white blood cell count, a sign of inflammation, were more likely to die of cancer, according to an article in the January 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Jan 2006