Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Researchers discover new gene linked to MLCRD

Researchers have found a new gene that, when mutated, can lead to lymphoedema (swollen limbs) as part of a rare disorder that can also cause problems with eye and brain development. This is the fourth lymphoedema-related gene found by the same researchers in three years, and the first linked to the eyes and brain. They say it could lead to better diagnosis and treatment for lymphoedema, an area that has been poorly understood previously.

27 Jan 2012

Mass. Eye and Ear cornea specialist wins RPB Senior Scientific Investigator Award

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has granted Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary cornea specialist James Chodosh, M.D., M.P.H., a $150,000 Senior Scientific Investigator Award. RPB Senior Scientific Investigator Awards support nationally recognized scientists conducting eye research at medical institutions in the United States.

27 Jan 2012

BGSU chemist uses supercomputer to help unlock benefits of toxic bacteria

Blue-green algae is causing havoc in Midwestern lakes saturated with agricultural run-off, but researchers in a northwest Ohio lab are using supercomputers to study a closely related strain of the toxic cyanobacteria to harness its beneficial properties.

26 Jan 2012

Tracking news on universal health coverage worldwide

The Results for Development Institute has launched a new website on universal health coverage, UHC Forward, "that features news, events, and publications related to the global UHC movement," an institute press release states.

25 Jan 2012

Experts comment on successful stem cell therapy for blindness

According to a new study published in The Lancet, privately funded and led by UCLA and Advanced Cell Technology researchers, two women suffering a progressive form of blindness have shown improved vision.

24 Jan 2012

Stem cells show promise in treating blindness

A medical breakthrough was reported Monday in the journal The Lancet wherein the results of a therapy using human embryonic stem cells in two legally blind patients was described.

24 Jan 2012

Montefiore vision experts encourage public to learn more about glaucoma

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Vision experts at Montefiore Medical Center encourage the public to learn more about this disease, which is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States.

24 Jan 2012

UCSD receives approval to acquire NVCI

UC San Diego Health System has received approval to acquire the Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI), the official cancer institute of the state of Nevada, as an affiliate health care provider. The expansion represents a partnership between California and Nevada in offering lifesaving cancer care to patients through expert diagnosis, novel treatments and clinical trials.

24 Jan 2012

New gene therapy shows promise against X-linked retinitis pigmentosa

A new gene therapy method developed by University of Florida researchers has the potential to treat a common form of blindness that strikes both youngsters and adults.

24 Jan 2012

Medical marketplace trends: Hospitals, doctors explore strategies that could alter the health care delivery system

The New York Times reports that hospitals are competing for rich patients from all over the world. The Boston Globe reports on a strategy catching on in Massachusetts. And CNN notes that physicians are increasingly looking to the government for loans.

24 Jan 2012

RPB awards $220,000 to SUNY Downstate for eye research

Capping SUNY Downstate Medical Center's growth into a major center for eye research, Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has awarded SUNY Downstate a four-year challenge grant of $220,000 to spur the development of advanced research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of blinding diseases. Douglas R. Lazzaro, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology, is the principal investigator.

24 Jan 2012

SSRI use raises risk of fall among elderly with dementia: Study

A new study reveals that nursing home residents with dementia who use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have an increased risk of having a fall that causes injury compared with those who do not use SSRIs. Additionally those using average doses have 3 times the risk compared with nonusers, the authors, led by Carolyn S. Sterke, from Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, report. Authors write, “Even at low doses, SSRIs are associated with increased risk of an injurious fall in nursing home residents with dementia.”

22 Jan 2012

Study shows 50% reduction in blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the Western World. A report from the University of Copenhagen and Glostrup Hospital in Denmark published today shows the number of new cases of blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark has been halved during the last ten years.

20 Jan 2012

Elsevier to publish The Ocular Surface that focuses on external eye and vision

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce newly acquiring The Ocular Surface, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the external eye and vision. As per January 2012 Elsevier will continue the publication of the quarterly journal.

20 Jan 2012

Health care solutions through social media and cell phones

Nova Southeastern University's College of Pharmacy recently launched America's first Center for Consumer Health Informatics Research to deliver health care solutions through social media and cell phones.

19 Jan 2012

Hawaii surgeons successfully implant FDA-approved eye telescope for AMD

A team of surgeons from Hawaii, Dr. Michael Bennett of Retina Institute of Hawaii and Dr. Michael McMann of McMann Institute, has successfully implanted the FDA-approved eye telescope, a first in Hawaii, at one of the leading medical centers in Honolulu.

19 Jan 2012

First study to look at nonverbal communication and race in older patients

When communicating with white patients, black physicians may face greater challenges than their white counterparts, according to a University of South Carolina study.

19 Jan 2012

DOES makes children eye exams inexpensive, comprehensive and simple to administer

Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics say. When they do, the vision screenings they typically receive can detect only one or two conditions.

19 Jan 2012

Vitamin D could prevent age related eye degeneration: Study

A new study showed that increased vitamin D intake can help to prevent age-related diseases, in particular loss of vision and blindness.

18 Jan 2012

Defects in mitochondria lead to devastating neurodegenerative disease

A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. This finding by a team of researchers, led by investigators from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro- at McGill University, was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

18 Jan 2012