Visual Impairment News and Research

Latest Visual Impairment News and Research

Correcting poor vision in nursing home residents may decrease symptoms of depression

Nursing home residents who received eyeglasses for uncorrected refractive error were found to have improved quality of life and decreased symptoms of depression when compared to those with refractive error who had not received eyeglasses, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

13 Nov 2007

Ageing exhibition reveals scientists' plans for lifelong health

The UK population is rapidly getting older: a predicted 1 in 4 people will be over the age of 65 by 2031. Ensuring that an increasingly ageing population stays healthy and mobile is a challenge for both the Government and the scientific research community.

13 Nov 2007

Computer simulator allows visually-impaired to drive

A team of researchers from the University of Granada , in collaboration with the University of Murcia, has developed a visual aid device which significantly improves the vision of sight impaired patients; especially those suffering from pathologies with a slow progression that can eventually lead to blindness (such as Macular Degeneration, cataracts, etc.).

17 Oct 2007

Optical coherence tomography helps track multiple sclerosis

A five-minute eye exam might prove to be an inexpensive and effective way to gauge and track the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis, potentially complementing costly magnetic resonance imaging to detect brain shrinkage - a characteristic of the disease's progression.

16 Oct 2007

University of Sydney receives $7.5 million grant for clinical trails

The University of Sydney has been successful in securing over $55 million in the latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council funding, including a $7.5 million grant for clinical trails, it was announced today.

26 Sep 2007

Geriatric conditions and disability

A broad study of adults ages 65 and older has found that half of them have one or more conditions that can affect their ability to participate in activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing on their own.

8 Aug 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

Age-related macular degeneration associated with increased mortality risk

Individuals age 49 and older with cataract and those age 49 to 74 years with age-related macular degeneration appear to have higher mortality rates over an 11-year period than those without such visual impairments, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Jul 2007

High vision impairment rates among nursing home residents - many do not get regular eye examinations

In a study of Alabama nursing home residents, more than half were visually impaired yet two-thirds had no record of or reference to an eye examination in their medical charts, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

10 Jul 2007

New genetic cause for Joubert syndrome

An international study by researchers at Seattle Children?s Hospital Research Institute, the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands has identified a new genetic cause for Joubert syndrome (JS).

15 Jun 2007

Drug therapy can reduce preterm births and decrease lifetime medical costs

Researchers from MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH found that treating expectant mothers who have had previous spontaneous preterm births with 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17P) and reducing the incidence of another preterm birth would consequently reduce both short-term and lifetime medical costs in offspring by $2 billion per year.

27 Apr 2007

Moonlighting enzyme linked to Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is one of those diseases few have heard of unless you know someone with the condition.

25 Apr 2007

Variations of two common genes associated with progression to more advanced forms of age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD; when the center of the inner lining of the eye suffers thinning, atrophy, and in some cases bleeding), which can lead to visual impairment and legal blindness, is associated with variations in the genes CFH and LOC387715.

25 Apr 2007

Dry eye remedy

If you don't suffer from dry eye syndrome (DES), chances are you've never heard of it.

20 Apr 2007

FDA warns about risks of using decorative contact lenses

This Halloween season, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is again warning consumers about the serious risks of using decorative contact lenses without the appropriate involvement of an eye care professional.

30 Oct 2006

WHO unveils new strategy to fight some of the most neglected tropical diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) and a group of more than 25 partner organizations unveiled a new strategy to fight some of the most neglected tropical diseases that destroy the lives and health of poor people.

26 Oct 2006

Simple sight test and glasses could make a dramatic difference to the lives of more than 150 million people

Children fail at school, adults are unable to work and families are pushed into poverty as a result of uncorrected visual impairment.

11 Oct 2006

Going deaf and blind happens simultaneously in old age

According to Australian scientists, vision and hearing loss happens almost simultaneously in older people.

11 Oct 2006

Variation in 3 genes influences risk of age-related macular degeneration

Researchers in Boston have discovered a new common, noncoding variant in the Complement Factor H (CFH) gene that is associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness among persons aged 60 and older.

30 Aug 2006

Don't smoke and eat fish to keep your sight later in life

New research from Australia and the U.S. into Age-related Macular Degeneration, has found that cigarette smoking increases the risk but eating fish protects against it, and hormone replacement therapy makes no difference whatsoever.

10 Jul 2006