Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believe they may have found a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that ultimately results in blindness. One of the more common retinal degenerative diseases, RP is caused by the death of photoreceptor cells and affects 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. RP typically manifests in young adulthood as night blindness or a loss of peripheral vision and in many cases progresses to legal blindness by age 40.

22 Jul 2010

Study: Americans with stand-alone vision insurance plans more likely to receive annual eye examination

According to a new study conducted for the National Association of Vision Care Plans by an independent research firm, health care consumers who participate in full service, stand-alone vision insurance plans are two times (33.3 percent) more likely to receive an annual comprehensive eye examination than those consumers that have vision care coverage "bundled" with their major medical plan (16.3 percent).

21 Jul 2010

HOYA, Adoptics partner to develop shape-changing accommodating intraocular lens

HOYA announced today that the Company has formed a strategic partnership with Adoptics (Switzerland) through an investment that will fund the development of a shape-changing accommodating intraocular lens (AIOL).

21 Jul 2010

California companies are developing new medicines for diabetes: Report

Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies based in California are researching and developing 58 new medicines for diabetes, a chronic disease that afflicts 220 million patients worldwide, including 23.6 million Americans, a new report shows.

21 Jul 2010

AHAF enters new partnership with BioMed Central's Molecular Neurodegeneration journal

The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) today announced a new partnership with BioMed Central's open access journal, Molecular Neurodegeneration (MN) in which the publication will be the official open access journal of AHAF.

21 Jul 2010

Tips to prevent children from drowning

As temperatures continue to rise across the country, more and more parents will no doubt take their children to the nearest pool to cool off. Yet every year in the U.S., about 500 children five-years-old and younger drown in swimming pool mishaps.

21 Jul 2010

International Stem Cell, IBVI sign letter of intent concerning funding, establishment of ISCO India

International Stem Cell Corporation, www.internationalstemcell.com, and Insight Bioventures India Private Limited, announced today that they have signed a letter of intent concerning funding and establishment of an Indian affiliate of ISCO. The goal is to establish world-class development and manufacturing operations for ISCO's research and pharmaceutical products in India, including its Lifeline Cell Technology research products and human corneal tissue, CytoCor, for treatment of corneal vision impairment and testing of chemicals.

20 Jul 2010

ARUP enters partnership to offer deCODE's DNA-based prostate cancer risk assessment test

deCODE genetics and ARUP Laboratories today announced a partnership through which ARUP will offer deCODE's DNA-based prostate cancer risk assessment test to its clients nationwide.

20 Jul 2010

Diffused ultraviolet radiation penetrates beach umbrellas

A team of researchers from the University of Valencia (UV) has proven that 34% of ultraviolet radiation filters through under beach umbrellas. According to what is published in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology, umbrellas intercept the full direct flow that comes from the Sun, but not the diffused radiation that penetrates through from the sides.

20 Jul 2010

New report on neuropsychiatric link with ophthalmologic investigations

Regardless of culture, language, era, or individual artist, the arts consistently depict depression using darkness. Scientific findings now lend empirical support to this representation of depression that everything looks gray when you feel blue.

20 Jul 2010

Mayo Clinic's July issue offers tips on ophthalmology, Alzheimer's and CKD

Here are highlights from the July issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. You may cite this publication as often as you wish. Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource attribution is required.

20 Jul 2010

GABA disrupts working memory in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients

Imagine if your brain lost its working memory - the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind's eye. That's the plight faced by millions of people with neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1. The genetic condition affects one in 3,500 people and is the most common cause of learning disabilities.Now a UCLA research team has uncovered new clues about how NF1 disrupts working memory. Published in the July 12 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings suggest a potential drug target for correcting NF1-related learning disabilities.

17 Jul 2010

People needing non-emergent care can now turn to walk-in centers

For many, summer time means cook-outs, family hikes, and trips to the beach. However, while the good weather brings an increase in outdoor activities, for some it can also mean a trip to the local emergency room.

17 Jul 2010

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center ranks first: U.S. News & World Report survey

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center ranks as one of the top five American hospitals -- and the best hospital in the western United States for the 21st consecutive year -- according to a U.S. News & World Report survey that reviewed patient-outcomes data, reputation among physicians and other care-

17 Jul 2010

Mother’s obesity surgery may cause vitamin deficiencies in children

Biliopancreatic diversion surgery for morbid obesity is known to cause multiple vitamin deficiencies that may worsen during pregnancy. In the June issue of the Journal of AAPOS, the Official Publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, a group of Australian clinicians report a child who was born blind as a result of Vitamin A deficiency caused by his mother's obesity surgery.

17 Jul 2010

Philadelphia to host 52nd annual meeting of American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Next week the city of Philadelphia will host the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the premier organization in medical physics, a broadly-based scientific and professional discipline encompassing physics principles and applications in medicine and biology.

16 Jul 2010

Johns Hopkins Hospital takes top spot in annual rankings of American hospitals for 20th year in a row

Once more — and for the 20th year in a row — The Johns Hopkins Hospital has taken the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of American hospitals, placing first in five medical specialties and in the top five in 10 others.

16 Jul 2010

VCU Medical Center ranked in 2010-2011 Best Hospitals

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center on Thursday was ranked in the 2010-2011 Best Hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report, making it one of 152 medical centers nationwide selected out of nearly 2,000 eligible institutions.

16 Jul 2010

Scientists discover gene mutation responsible for CDG

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered the gene mutation responsible for a condition in which eye and brain development is severely disrupted in affected infants.

16 Jul 2010

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals issued Notice of Allowance for broad portfolio of anti-infective compounds

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office on a patent application for a broad portfolio of anti-infective compounds, including NVC-612. The patent will broaden protection for NovaBay's first-in-class Aganocide family of compounds, which are designed to fight infections without causing drug resistance.

15 Jul 2010