Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Taking sildenafil will worsen sleep apnea

According to Brazilian researchers, taking Viagra (sildenafil) at bedtime may aggravate breathing problems in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

4 Oct 2006

Here's egg in your eye: a prospective study of blunt ocular trauma resulting from thrown eggs

As the party conference season gets under way in the UK, research in Emergency Medicine Journal shows that lobbing raw eggs at people as a harmless form of protest or prank can actually result in serious eye injury.

21 Sep 2006

Ophthalmologists improve LASIK

Ophthalmologists have developed a formula that slashes by nearly two-thirds the likelihood that patients will need repeat visits to an eye surgeon to adjust their vision after their initial LASIK visit. That's because the formula makes it more likely that surgeons will get it right the first time.

20 Sep 2006

Regenerative Medicine wins award for best new journal

The journal Regenerative Medicine has been recognized by The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers as joint winner of the 2006 ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for Best New Journal. This prestigious international award is presented annually to the best new journal across a wide range of disciplines.

20 Sep 2006

Kin recognition and the perceived facial similarity of children

Perceived facial similarity of children is effectively an estimate of the probability that two children are close genetic relatives according to a new study recently published in Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

19 Sep 2006

Chemical dump in Ivory Coast - WHO provides public health support

The first members of WHO's international team arrived in Abidjan this week to support the Ministry of Health in dealing with an environmental health emergency caused by toxic waste.

18 Sep 2006

Weightlifting may cause temporary pressure build up in the eye

Weightlifting may cause a temporary increase in pressure within the eye, with higher pressure occurring with breath-holding during a weightlifting exercise, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

12 Sep 2006

NIH launches "Knockout Mouse Project"

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today awarded a set of cooperative agreements, totaling up to $52 million over five years, to launch the Knockout Mouse Project.

7 Sep 2006

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital learning from 9/11

With the nation's busiest burn center and the metropolitan area's largest hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) fleet, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital rescued and treated many survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

7 Sep 2006

Blindness added to the risk list of obesity

A report from the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in the UK, says obese adults and children have twice the risk of losing their sight from a range of degenerative eye conditions.

7 Sep 2006

Artificial jelly set to restore lost sight for people with diabetes

Brand new research launched today at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester is bringing hope to hundreds of people with diabetes who lose their sight each year as a side-effect of the disease.

4 Sep 2006

Edible coatings will be the packaging of the future

The growing demand by consumers for healthier and more ecological foods has driven researchers to develop new systems of packaging that prolong the useful life of the products and that are, at the same time, recyclable.

4 Sep 2006

Hopkins develops online tool to aid research on certain "orphan diseases"

Many people are afflicted with rare illnesses of unknown cause, and finding a common link to such under-studied or "orphaned" diseases as Bardet-Biedl, Alstrom and Meckel-Gruber syndromes can significantly advance the search for causes and treatment.

31 Aug 2006

New device helps people with tunnel vision

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, say a visual aid they invented promises to improve the visual abilities of people with tunnel vision.

31 Aug 2006

Variation in 3 genes influences risk of age-related macular degeneration

Researchers in Boston have discovered a new common, noncoding variant in the Complement Factor H (CFH) gene that is associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness among persons aged 60 and older.

30 Aug 2006

Brits warned against 'maverick' stem cell treatments

A group of top scientists in Britain have warned patients to be wary of "extravagant" claims made for "unorthodox" stem cell treatments offered abroad and that some stem cell treatments could be killers.

29 Aug 2006

Waterborne infectious diseases could soon be consigned to history

Waterborne infectious diseases, which bring death and illness to millions of people around the world, could largely be consigned to history by 2015 if global health partnerships integrate their programmes, according to Alan Fenwick writing in Science.

28 Aug 2006

Health care proxy selections often unexpected

The selection of a designated health care "proxy" often is unexpected, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the Detroit Free Press reports.

24 Aug 2006

Cancer patient receives first proton therapy treatment

A Cocoa Beach man with prostate cancer has become the first patient to undergo treatment at the new University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, the first time the most advanced form of radiation therapy available has been offered in the Southeast.

15 Aug 2006

Veggies good for eyesight as you age

Scientists say a diet rich in the compounds lutein and zeaxanthin which are found in carrots and yellow and green vegetables such as sweetcorn, broccoli, peas and squash, offer protection against damage to eyesight in later life.

15 Aug 2006