Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Researcher identifies the cellular receptor for botulinum neurotoxin A

Botulinum neurotoxin A can be either the greatest wrinkle remover or one of the world's most potent biological weapons. To perform either job, however, the toxin must first find a way to enter cells.

20 Mar 2006

Single dose of oral antibiotic azithromycin taken after trichiasis eye surgery prevents recurrence of inturned eyelashes

A Johns Hopkins Medicine study finds that a single dose of the oral antibiotic azithromycin taken after trichiasis eye surgery can reduce the frequency with which eyelashes turn back in and abrade the eye.

14 Mar 2006

Best seller Lipitor shown to improve kidney function

According to drug maker Pfizer it's top selling product worldwide, the cholesterol lowering medication Lipitor (Atorvastatin) has been shown to improve kidney function in patients with heart disease.

13 Mar 2006

Positive effects of tight blood glucose control can be seen more than a decade later in diabetics

People with diabetes who keep their blood sugar in check today will probably have a far lower chance of developing foot pain or other nerve damage tomorrow, according to new research results from a national study.

9 Mar 2006

Virtual reality to train brain and heart surgeons

Virtual reality simulation tools are already revolutionizing the way dentists are taught at Case Western Reserve University - and if M. Cenk Cavusoglu has his way, simulation technology at Case will also train the world's brain and heart surgeons.

9 Mar 2006

Antibiotic not sufficient for treating trachoma in populations with high disease prevalence

Treating trachoma, an eye infection that can lead to blindness, with a single mass antibiotic distribution in Ethiopian communities with high prevalence of infection is not effective in eliminating the disease

9 Mar 2006

Depressed older adults more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment

Older adults with depressive symptoms are more likely than those without depression to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within six years, according to a study conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

9 Mar 2006

Mutant genes trigger AMD but may lighten the way to new treatments

According to new research in the U.S., the most common form of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), can be attributed to just two genes which trigger the condition.

7 Mar 2006

Europeans take sleep research to a new level

The IST project SENSATION is an ambitious project of 46 partners from 20 different countries, addressing sensing of physiological parameters, core computation, medical and industrial research.

7 Mar 2006

Reparative cells offers new avenue for fighting multiple sclerosis

Plaques that form around the nerve cells of people with multiple sclerosis are apparently what disable people with the disease. But partly developed reparative cells within the plaques provide hope for a treatment, a UT Southwestern physician reports in the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Mar 2006

Factor B and H genes found to play role in the development of age-related macular degeneration

A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, pinpoints the role that two genes - Factor H and Factor B - play in the development of nearly three out of four cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a devastating eye disease that affects more than 10 million people in the United States.

7 Mar 2006

New implanted lens to fix nearsightedness

UT Southwestern Medical Center ophthalmologists will be the first in the area to insert a new type of implanted lens to fix nearsightedness.

1 Mar 2006

Cell-death mechanism linked to developmental and degenerative brain disorders

Conclusive evidence that neurodevelopmental disorders such as mental retardation and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ataxias can be caused, at least in part, by specific gene defects that interfere with the electrical impulses of rapid-firing brain nerve cells called bursting neurons.

1 Mar 2006

Night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease

"This is a new observation, a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease," said Levin, head of the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Levin and colleagues report their findings in the March 2006, issue of the FASEB Journal.

1 Mar 2006