Eye Disease News and Research

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Eye diseases are widespread around the globe. According to the World Health Organization, the most important three eye diseases or conditions that are a potential threat to the global population are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. One more vital reason for visual harm is refractive errors. Some of the important reasons for vision loss or low vision are age, healthcare, gender, genetic problems and the prevalence of family history.

ARVO urges Congress to reject budget proposal that seeks to cut NIH funding

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology urges Congressional leaders to reject the U.S. administration's recent FY18 budget proposal, which seeks to drastically cut National Institute of Health funding by nearly $6 billion, or 20%.

22 Mar 2017

Study reveals high burden of health complications in adolescents, young adults with type 2 diabetes

A new report published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association points to a significantly higher burden of diabetes-related complications in adolescents and young adults with type 2 diabetes compared to type 1 diabetes, with greater health complications in minority youth.

28 Feb 2017

Australian scientists discover genetic clues for degenerative eye disease that leads to blindness

Australian scientists have discovered the first evidence of genes that cause Macular Telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel), a degenerative eye disease which leads to blindness and is currently incurable and untreatable.

28 Feb 2017

Researchers explore effects of preeclampsia on risk of developing ROP in premature infants

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, and colleagues at the John A. Moran Center and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, were looking for a way to tease apart the effects of preeclampsia on the risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disease found in premature infants. Their results, and the model they developed, were published February 14, 2017, in Scientific Reports.

15 Feb 2017

Two-drug combination shows promise against diabetic retinopathy in animal models

A two-drug cocktail provided better protection against diabetes-related vision loss than a single drug during testing in rat models, a team of University of Florida Health and Dutch researchers has found.

15 Feb 2017

New RNAi treatment safely blocks ocular inflammation in mice

Scientists have developed a new RNA interference therapeutic agent that safely blocked ocular inflammation in mice, potentially making it a new treatment for human uveitis and diabetic retinopathy.

14 Feb 2017

Study suggests that iPSCs do not develop more mutations than subcloned cells

It's been more than 10 years since Japanese researchers Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., and his graduate student Kazutoshi Takahashi, Ph.D., developed the breakthrough technique to return any adult cell to its earliest stage of development (a pluripotent stem cell) and change it into different types of cells in the body.

8 Feb 2017

Red color channel can help detect diabetic macular edema in racial/ethnic minority patients

In photographs of the eye used to screen for diabetes-related eye disease, separating out the red color channel can help show some abnormalities—especially in racial/ethnic minority patients, suggests a study in the February issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

6 Feb 2017

Increased growth factor protects retinal blood vessels in animal models with diabetes

Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have shown that a slight increase in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), which is present in preclinical animal models with diabetic eye disease, protects retinal blood vessels from damage that commonly occurs in the early stages of the disease.

2 Feb 2017

KIT researchers prove that neurons regulate blood vessel growth

A team of researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology shake at the foundations of a dogma of cell biology.

10 Jan 2017

Researchers uncover two factors that play crucial role in chronic autoimmune disorders

Researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have uncovered two factors responsible for the chronic, lifelong nature of autoimmune disorders, which tend to "flare up" intermittently in affected patients.

4 Jan 2017

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month - GRF shares information about sight-stealing disease

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, an important time to spread the word about this sight-stealing disease.

3 Jan 2017

Telemedicine eye screening programs could help bridge gap in caring for premature babies

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow over the retina and may lead to blindness in premature babies.

15 Dec 2016

Study finds characteristics essential to enable readability of printed text in visually impaired people

The number of visually impaired people in Norway is high. The Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted estimates that 180,000 Norwegians have been diagnosed with an eye condition.

30 Nov 2016

Study examines frequency of patient-reported visual symptoms after LASIK surgery

In a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology, Malvina Eydelman, M.D., of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues examined the frequency of patient-reported visual symptoms, dry eye symptoms, satisfaction with vision, and satisfaction with laser insitu keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery in the Patient-Reported Outcomes With LASIK (PROWL) studies.

23 Nov 2016

Noninvasive biomedical imaging technology uses light to map the brain

Scientific progress has provided a solid understanding of the anatomy of the brain. However, there is still no reliable way to examine neuron to neuron communication, as it happens--a key to understanding the correlation between brain structure and brain function.

22 Nov 2016

Researchers compare effectiveness of two treatments for glaucoma

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast together with University of St Andrews and Aberdeen have found that the procedure used to remove cataracts is more successful than current standard treatments with laser in treating Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma - a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.

17 Nov 2016

NYU Langone-led study to examine longer-term use of suppressive antiviral medication to reduce shingles

NYU Langone Medical Center will lead a five-year, 60-center clinical trial to evaluate new treatment protocols for herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO), a form of shingles that can seriously and permanently affect the eye.

17 Nov 2016

Low-cost eye drops just as effective as antibiotics in treating bacterial keratitis, study reports

Bacterial keratitis, an infection of the cornea often caused by contact lenses, malnutrition, or an injury, can lead to corneal scarring, one of the leading causes of blindness around the globe, according to the World Health Organization. It has blinded more than 400,000 children worldwide.

14 Nov 2016

New study identifies novel target for treatment of Graves' disease and other scarring eye conditions

A new class of therapies may be on the horizon for thyroid eye disease (TED) and other destructive scarring conditions.

11 Nov 2016