Eye News and Research

Latest Eye News and Research

Cataract surgery safe and very common

Here's an eye-opening statistic from the July issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource: By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery.

4 Jul 2007

Hearing loss and von Hippel-Lindau disease

Patients with the genetic disorder von Hippel-Lindau disease may suddenly experience hearing loss because of a tumor-associated hemorrhage in the inner ear, according to a study in the July 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jul 2007

People with narcolepsy have a high frequency of REM sleep without muscle atonia

Normal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by tonic features, including cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) desynchronization and muscle atonia, as well as phasic events, including bursts of REM, phasic activities of both chin and limb electromyography (EMG), and cardiorespiratory variability.

4 Jul 2007

A view on new drugs for macular degeneration

Restricting use of drugs for macular degeneration to patients who have already gone blind in one eye is "unacceptable" concludes the July issue of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).

4 Jul 2007

Autism symptoms can appear as early as 14 months

According to a new study autism can be spotted as early as 14 months which is much earlier than previously thought.

4 Jul 2007

Sensing and following motion

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shed new light on how the brain and eye team up to spot an object in motion and follow it, a classic question of human motor control.

29 Jun 2007

Embryonic stem cell in rodents could lead to treatment for Parkinson's

Scientists in Britain have discovered a new type of embryonic stem cell in mice and rats that could accelerate research into degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's.

27 Jun 2007

Radio Frequency Ablation emerges as an alternative treatment for inoperable liver cancer

Hollywood talent manager Louis Bershad, 68, whose clients include many top actors in town, recently underwent a routine MRI for kidney stones only to learn from his urologist that he also had a tumor in his left kidney.

26 Jun 2007

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against retinopathy

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against the development and progression of retinopathy, a deterioration of the retina, in mice.

26 Jun 2007

Basically eating fish may protect against type of blindness

Increasing intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, according to a study published online by the journal Nature Medicine on June 24.

26 Jun 2007

Avastin helps those with radiation retinopathy

Patients with radiation retinopathy who were destined to go blind within five years now can keep their sight longer through localized treatment with Avastin, a well-known cancer drug, according to a two-year study published in the June, 2007 Archives of Ophthalmology.

23 Jun 2007

Cilia research may help find cure for inherited eye diseases

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified proteins in the rod and cones of the eye that could lead to the discovery of the genetic causes of a host of inherited eye diseases.

23 Jun 2007

DNA repair proteins monitored at double-strand break

St. Jude investigators recently had a molecule's eye view of the human cell's DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

Goltz syndrome gene found

Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified the gene that accounts for most cases of Goltz syndrome, a rare skin disorder that can also affect bone and eye development.

23 Jun 2007

Differences in sleep patterns

Researchers have long observed significant differences in normal people's sleep. Some are light sleepers, whereas others sleep deeply.

20 Jun 2007

Coffee protects against involuntary eye spasm

People who drink coffee are less likely to develop an involuntary eye spasm called primary late onset blepharospasm, which makes them blink uncontrollably and can leave them effectively ‘blind', according to a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry .

20 Jun 2007

CARVER + Shock for safer food

Like Johnny Appleseed of yore, the Food and Drug Administration is scattering food-defense programs across the US so that the country's million or so food processors can better secure their food against possible contamination by terrorists.

20 Jun 2007

New target for therapies for retinopathy

A protein long thought to be one of the body's supporting players has quietly been taking a lead role in healthy eyesight, a discovery that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing, University of Florida and Harvard Medical School researchers have found.

19 Jun 2007

Researchers clarify alphaB-crystallin's role in multiple sclerosis

A protein found primarily in the lens of the eye could be the critical "tipping point" in the spiral of inflammation and damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine report.

18 Jun 2007