Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

10% of patients in NHS hospitals may experience some kind of adverse event

One in ten NHS patients comes to harm while in hospital as a result of their clinical care, suggests a study in Quality and Safety in Health Care.

2 Dec 2007

Transporters may help delay diabetes-related retinal damage

Two transporters that deliver alternative energy sources to the eye may help delay retinal damage that can occur in diabetes, researchers say.

29 Nov 2007

New anti-infective drug aims to fight drug-resistant bacteria at source

Deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - MRSA - a bacterium that responds poorly to conventional antibiotic treatment, infects 90,000 Americans per year and causes 19,000 deaths, most in hospital settings.

29 Nov 2007

Discovery of key acute myeloid leukemia gene

A gene called N-Myc leads a double life in certain white blood cells, helping to trigger a cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) under some conditions while triggering apoptosis, or cell suicide, under other conditions, according to results of a mouse study done by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

27 Nov 2007

Researchers transfer immune response to myeloma patient

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have for the first time transferred an immune response in a healthy individual to a patient with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, showing promise for cancer vaccination.

27 Nov 2007

People with rare type of memory loss still sensitive to others, study shows

People with a devastating brain injury that has wiped out many of their personal memories may still be able to understand other people's feelings and intentions, according to a joint study by the Rotman Research Institute at the Baycrest Centre for Aging and the Brain, and York University's Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health.

22 Nov 2007

Mutant mice could provide genetic clues on human sight loss

Mutant mice could provide genetic clues to understanding incurable human sight loss resulting from retinal degeneration.

22 Nov 2007

Common medications could cause dry eye experts say

Common oral and topical medications could be causing dry eye in patients, according to optometrists.

22 Nov 2007

Colour blindness in cricket can be managed, study shows

Cricketers batting without a sight screen or fielding in the out-field are likely to be most disadvantaged by their colour blindness, a new study has found.

22 Nov 2007

New Zeiss microscope peers into secret lives of cells

“See those white sparks?” asks Kirk Czymmek, as he points to the video on his computer screen of a highly magnified heart cell in action.

21 Nov 2007

Gene-transfer technique trial for childhood blindness under way

Three decades have passed since gene therapy pioneer William W. Hauswirth, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Florida began work on a virus that could safely deliver corrective genes into living animals.

19 Nov 2007

Combining medications often best strategy to battle rheumatoid arthritis

For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, combining one well-known, lower-cost synthetic drug with one of six biologic medications often works best to reduce joint swelling or tenderness, according to a new report by researchers at the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

19 Nov 2007

Collaboration between medical specialties benefits patients

Opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation between facial plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists have never been more important or promising, according to an editorial in the November/December issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, a theme issue on orbital and ophthalmic plastic surgery.

19 Nov 2007

Age Intervention Eyelash products seized by U.S. Marshals

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized today 12,682 applicator tubes of Age Intervention Eyelash, a product that may, in some users, lead to decreased vision.

19 Nov 2007

Eyelash growth product can damage vision

American consumers are being warned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the dangers of a product which promises to increase eyelash growth.

19 Nov 2007

Older children more likely to develop cross-eye and lazy eye

In a study of more than 6,000 Los Angeles-area children – the largest study of its kind – researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found that both strabismus (commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed) and amblyopia (often referred to as lazy eye) were more prevalent in older children than in younger children.

16 Nov 2007

Nasty new cold virus claims lives across the U.S.

A nasty new version of the virus which causes the common cold is spreading across the United States.

15 Nov 2007

What happens when alcohol-dependent subjects view alcohol associated pictures?

Several studies demonstrated that alcohol-dependent patients show altered responses to alcohol-related cues. It is assumed that the regular association of these cues with the ingestion of alcohol leads to conditioned reactions, motivating reward or relief craving and instigating drug intake.

13 Nov 2007

Telemedicine may play in the diagnosis of eye diseases

Two studies being presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's 2007 Annual Meeting suggest that telemedicine may have a significant role to play in the diagnosis of eye diseases, increased patient compliance and patient access to quality care.

13 Nov 2007

New insights into cataracts

Using the tools and techniques of soft condensed matter physics, a research team in Switzerland has demonstrated that a finely tuned balance of attractions between proteins keeps the lens of the eye transparent, and that even a small change in this balance can cause proteins to aggregate and de-mix.

13 Nov 2007