Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

SERI researchers receive NEI grant to understand origins of eye allergies

The National Eye Institute has awarded researchers at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, a subsidiary of Mass. Eye and Ear, a five year-grant totaling more than $2.4 million to understand the origins of eye allergies.

18 Jan 2012

Georgia Tech findings advance glaucoma research

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. Nearly 4 million Americans have the disorder, which affects 70 million worldwide. There is no cure and no early symptoms. Once vision is lost, it's permanent. New findings at Georgia Tech, published in January during Glaucoma Awareness Month, explore one of the many molecular origins of glaucoma and advance research dedicated to fighting the disease.

18 Jan 2012

New computational modeling methods book for ophthalmologists

Dr. Sumeet Dua, the Upchurch Endowed Professor of Computer Science and coordinator of information technology research at Louisiana Tech University, has co-edited a new book on computational modeling methods that can help ophthalmologists develop innovative computer systems to provide critical support and better care options for patients.

18 Jan 2012

Timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy linked with FAS characteristics

Researchers at the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line, a state-wide non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego, have found new links between the timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and certain characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

18 Jan 2012

Sleep strongly 'protects' negative emotional response

A recent study by sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to suggest that a person's emotional response after witnessing an unsettling picture or traumatic event is greatly reduced if the person stays awake afterward, and that sleep strongly "protects" the negative emotional response.

18 Jan 2012

Vitamin D supplements can fight against age-related macular degeneration

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found that vitamin D reduces the effects of ageing in mouse eyes and improves the vision of older mice significantly. The researchers hope that this might mean that vitamin D supplements could provide a simple and effective way to combat age-related eye diseases, such as macular degeneration (AMD), in people.

17 Jan 2012

Vitamin D provides no relief from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Earlier studies have suggested that up to three quarters of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, are deficient in the vitamin. So it was thought that giving them extra vitamin D might help prevent exacerbations in symptoms or trips to the hospital because of shortness of breath or mucus in the airways. Belgian researchers have refuted this claim.

17 Jan 2012

Patriot Health Initiative to provide $450,000 to NSU's College of Dental Medicine

Steven M. Mariano, Chairman & CEO of Patriot National Insurance Group, today announced the launch of the Patriot Health Initiative, a program which will provide Nova Southeastern University's College of Dental Medicine with up to $450,000 of funding to support its efforts to provide dental programming targeting underserved populations of Greater Fort Lauderdale.

17 Jan 2012

ForSight VISION4 to receive first milestone payment for Lucentis drug delivery device

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced it will make its first milestone payment to ForSight VISION4, Inc. as part of an exclusive license agreement to develop the company's investigational drug delivery device, designed to provide sustained delivery of Lucentis (ranibizumab).

13 Jan 2012

Research Roundup: Raising Medicare's eligibility age; Insurance status affects ER imaging services

Raising The Ages Of Eligibility For Medicare And Social Security -- The authors analyzed a scenario in which the eligibility age - current 65 - would be increased by two months every year until it reached 67 in 2027. They found that would cut Medicare expenditures by 5 percent but many people between the ages of 65 and 67 would pay more for health care.

13 Jan 2012

TPRF continues to sponsor eye clinics in rural India

The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) continues to sponsor eye clinics in rural India, most recently by providing US$30,000 to cover the cost of services to nearly 7,000 residents in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

13 Jan 2012

Grapes offer dramatic protection against age-related macular degeneration

Can eating grapes slow or help prevent the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a debilitating condition affecting millions of elderly people worldwide? Results from a new study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine suggest this might be the case. The antioxidant actions of grapes are believed to be responsible for these protective effects.

12 Jan 2012

Ocular drug delivery: DSM awarded membership in PANOPTES EU Funded Consortium

DSM, a global leader in biomedical materials sciences, today announced that it is contributing proprietary knowledge in the preparation of tailored amino acid-based polymers and offering use of processing facilities that will produce an innovative step change in the sustained delivery of drug molecules. The PANOPTES consortium’s goal is to research and develop novel drug delivery technology for the posterior eye segment. This partnership further validates the innovative properties of DSM’s polyesteramide (PEA) biomaterials as a superior drug delivery technology.

12 Jan 2012

Dermatologist suggests to follow four Rs to fend off signs of aging

Eyes are called the windows to the soul, but the fine lines around the eyes can be the mouth that shouts the reality of our age. In fact, crow's feet -the fine wrinkles around the eyes - can start showing up on a person as early as their late 20s.

12 Jan 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that makes retinoblastoma so aggressive

New findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) have helped identify the mechanism that makes the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma so aggressive. The discovery explains why the tumor develops so rapidly while other cancers can take years or even decades to form.

11 Jan 2012

Children with chronic sleep problems may develop mental health disorders later in life

Children who have chronic sleep problems may be much more likely to develop mental health disorders as adolescents and adults, according to Candice Alfano, associate professor in clinical psychology at the University of Houston (UH) and director of the new Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK).

11 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Renewing the call for a public option; Keep all justices on health law case

In Washington, the three major health insurers -; Premera Blue Cross, Regence BlueShield and Group Health Cooperative -; are sitting on a total of more than $2.4 billion above and beyond what they expect to ever pay out in claims.

11 Jan 2012

NSU's medical school adds more developing countries to medical outreach programs

Nova Southeastern University's medical school recently expanded its international medical outreach programs to more developing nations with medical and humanitarian aid from students.

11 Jan 2012

IUPUI launches Institute for Mathematical Modeling and Computational Science

The School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has launched the Institute for Mathematical Modeling and Computational Science, an interdisciplinary endeavor dedicated to solving perplexing problems in such diverse fields as medicine, the environment, and computer science. iM2CS's parallel mission is to train a new generation to identify and solve the scientific issues with which they will be faced.

11 Jan 2012

Researchers uncover exact function of LARGE enzyme linked with MD

Researchers at the University of Iowa have worked out the exact function of an enzyme that is critical for normal muscle structure and is involved in several muscular dystrophies. The findings, which were published Jan. 6 in the journal Science,, could be used to develop rapid, large-scale testing of potential muscular dystrophy therapies.

10 Jan 2012