Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Percutaneous hepatic perfusion extends survival time for melanoma patients

Melanoma of the eye frequently spreads to the liver and, once this has happened, there is no effective treatment and patients die within an average of two to four months. Only about one in ten patients live for a year. Now, final results from a phase III study have demonstrated that a new treatment significantly extends the time patients can live without the disease progressing.

26 Sep 2011

Embryonic stem cell therapy for incurable Stargardt eye disease

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26 Sep 2011

RegeneRx completes RGN-259 Phase 2 trial on dry eye syndrome

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that treatment and follow-up have been completed on 69 patients in the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial with RGN-259 for the treatment of dry eye syndrome, five more than the number of evaluable patients contemplated in the trial's protocol.

26 Sep 2011

STAAR's new Visian ICL with CentraFLOW technology showcased at ESCRS congress

STAAR Surgical Company, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of minimally invasive ophthalmic products, today announced the Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), and new Visian ICL with CentraFLOW technology utilizing the KS-AquaPORT, were featured prominently in twice as many presentations at the 2011 Congress of European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) as those on the ICL during last year's Congress.

23 Sep 2011

Scientists discover mechanism behind MRI-induced vertigo

A team of researchers says it has discovered why so many people undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially in newer high-strength machines, get vertigo, or the dizzy sensation of free-falling, while inside or when coming out of the tunnel-like machine.

23 Sep 2011

UHC honors UC San Diego Health System with Quality Leadership Award

UC San Diego Health System is proud to receive the 2011 UHC Quality Leadership Award. This national award is given to academic medical centers that demonstrate excellence in delivering high-quality care as measured by the UHC Quality & Accountability Study, which has been conducted by the consortium annually since 2005.

23 Sep 2011

Cedars-Sinai inaugurates new facility to generate induced pluripotent stem cells

The Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute has opened a new Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Core Facility to produce powerful cells capable of making all tissues of the body from adult human skin cells.

23 Sep 2011

AGTC receives FFB grant to evaluate gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1.5 million from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to fund a pre-clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy treatment for X-linked Retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic eye disease affecting over 35,000 patients in the US and Europe.

22 Sep 2011

ACT receives UK MHRA clearance for hESC-derived RPE cell trial for Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to begin treating patients as part of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy using retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) derived from human embryonic stem cells.

22 Sep 2011

OPTOS to acquire ophthalmic instrumentation business from OPKO

OPKO Health, Inc. has agreed to sell its ophthalmic instrumentation business to OPTOS, Inc., a subsidiary of Optos plc, a leading and rapidly growing medical technology company engaged in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of devices to image the retina of the eye. Optos will pay OPKO $17.5 million in cash at closing, plus future royalties.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other "entitlements." The president stands for shared sacrifice; the Republicans for sheltering the privileged few. Progressives will have no problem standing with the president in this fight.

22 Sep 2011

IRIDEX licenses rights to Ocunetics' intellectual property

IRIDEX Corporation today announced that it has exclusively licensed the rights to all of the intellectual property of Ocunetics, Inc., a privately held company based in Alamo, California. Ocunetics develops procedure-enabling medical devices that are intended to increase surgeons' efficiency, while improving case predictability for ophthalmic surgeries.

21 Sep 2011

Bird flu strikes Eastern India yet again as culling operations begin

On Tuesday, the federal government in India announced that it had ordered poultry farms in the eastern part of the country to cull chickens and destroy eggs to rein in an new outbreak of bird flu.

21 Sep 2011

Sleep deprivation may disrupt insulin secretion and glucose levels in obese teens

Obese teenagers who don't get the proper amount of sleep may have disruptions in insulin secretion and blood sugar (glucose) levels, say pediatric researchers. Their study suggests that getting a good night's sleep may stave off the development of type 2 diabetes in these adolescents.

21 Sep 2011

ERWW PR forms Health Buzz Group

Euro RSCG Worldwide PR (ERWW PR) announces the formation of its Health Buzz Group, a global division created in response to growing client interest in big, splashy “wows” from small budgets in quick time frames using traditional and social media to generate momentum.

20 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Johnnie Esco died after a 13-day stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her death on March 7, 2008, led to a contentious civil lawsuit, investigations by California's Department of Justice and Department of Public Health – and the exhumation of her body from Arlington National Cemetery. Last week, amid inquiries from The Bee, the state Department of Justice reopened its criminal investigation into Johnnie Esco's treatment at the facility.

20 Sep 2011

CMA announces winners of Canada's premier health journalism awards

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is proud today to announce the recipients of the 2011 Media Awards for Health Reporting, Canada's premier health journalism awards.

20 Sep 2011

Infant formulas fortified with LCPUFA are good for developing brains and hearts

University of Kansas scientists have found new evidence that infant formulas fortified with long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) are good for developing brains and hearts.

20 Sep 2011

Multispectral fluorescence imaging system can localize cancer cells during surgery

Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent forms of cancer that affect women. As tumors can initially grow unchecked in the abdomen without causing any major symptoms, patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and have to undergo surgery plus chemotherapy. During the operation, surgeons attempt to remove all tumor deposits as this leads to improved patient prognosis. To do this, however, they primarily have to rely on visual inspection and palpation - an enormous challenge especially in the case of small tumor nests or remaining tumor borders after the primary tumor excision.

20 Sep 2011

Cornell researchers learn how helicase enzyme works to unzip two strands of DNA

With an eye toward understanding DNA replication, Cornell researchers have learned how a helicase enzyme works to actually unzip the two strands of DNA.

19 Sep 2011