Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

New retinal imaging scanner may one day revolutionize eye care

SFU engineering science professor Marinko Sarunic has developed a high resolution retinal imaging scanner that will one day revolutionize eye care, helping ophthalmologists diagnose eye diseases before vision loss occurs.

21 Dec 2017

Good friends might be your best brain booster as you age

Ask Edith Smith, a proud 103-year-old, about her friends, and she'll give you an earful. There's Johnetta, 101, whom she's known for 70 years and who has Alzheimer's disease. "I call her every day and just say 'Hi, how are you doing?' She never knows, but she says hi back, and I tease her," Smith said.

14 Dec 2017

Retinal diseases could be treated by ophthalmic drops instead of intraocular injections

The Spanish firm Sylentis has developed a compound to treat diseases of the retina, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, which will be administered by ophthalmic drops instead of intraocular injections.

12 Dec 2017

Harvard scientists discover hundreds of genetic switches that influence height

It's been understood for decades that a host of factors - everything from pre- and post-natal health, nutrition, and genetics - play a role in determining height, but efforts to untangle the complex web of factors that contribute to height have long been stymied.

6 Dec 2017

Improving Healthcare in the Community through Eye Examinations

Paul Morris is the Director of Professional Advancement for Specsavers Opticians in the UK and Ireland. The role involves furthering clinical scope, professional services, standards, training and forming future strategy for the group. He previously held the role of Director of Optometry Advancement.

From Specsavers 1 Dec 2017

Fish oil component provides long-term preconditioning protection for vision cells

A team of LSU Health New Orleans scientists discovered that a component of fish oil not only protects cells critical to vision from potentially lethal initial insults, but also from those that occur in the future.

1 Dec 2017

Researchers discover critical trigger for leading form of vision loss

In a major step forward in the battle against macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss among the elderly, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a critical trigger for the damaging inflammation that ultimately robs millions of their sight.

27 Nov 2017

Researchers receive £1.3 million to develop sight-saving imaging technology

Staff at the University of Liverpool's Department of Eye & Vision Science have been awarded £1.3 million by the National Institute for Health Research's Intervention for Innovation (i4i) program to develop a state-of-the-art Ultra-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography system.

17 Nov 2017

Study finds huge decline in risk for AMD in Baby Boom and later generations

The risk of developing age-related macular degeneration is much less in the Baby Boom (1946-1964) and later generations than in earlier generations, for unclear reasons.

16 Nov 2017

SUNY Downstate professor receives two awards to support research on vision-threatening diseases

Brahim Chaqour, PhD, professor of cell biology and ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has received two awards to support research into treatment of currently incurable vision-threatening diseases. The new awards, totaling $2,008,973, are from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Nov 2017

Study finds genetic treatment for inherited retinal disorder

A new study presented at the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2017, for the first time found a novel gene therapy that can improve the eyesight of patients with inherited retinal disease.

13 Nov 2017

Largest clinical specialty database powers studies that yield key insights

The American Academy of Ophthalmology today announced key milestones and clinical insights from studies powered by its clinical database.

13 Nov 2017

New smartphone app may help patients take better care of their vision at home

Patients with age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy who used a mobile application to test their vision at home got comparable results to in-office vision testing, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

13 Nov 2017

New gene therapy for blindness may soon be reality

Patients who had lost their sight to an inherited retinal disease could see well enough to navigate a maze after being treated with a new gene therapy, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

10 Nov 2017

Ground-breaking eye health study offers new hope for AMD sufferers

Results from a two-year eye health study - the first of its kind in the world – have shown a new hope for people suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of sight loss in the UK.

3 Nov 2017

Scientists get one step closer to reversing retinal degenerative diseases

Degenerative disorders affecting the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), such as age-related macular degeneration and autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy, can ultimately lead to blindness. Some of these life-changing disorders are the result of mutations in a single gene, called BEST1.

25 Oct 2017

New human stem cell model could pave way for macular degeneration research

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in older adults, but scientists have long struggled to study and replicate key elements of the disease in the lab.

7 Sep 2017

New diabetes eye supplement to be showcased at Expopharm 2017

A pioneering food supplement that protects the eye from damage caused by diabetes will be showcased at Expopharm 2017 - Europe’s leading pharmaceutical exhibition.

31 Aug 2017

IBS scientists uncover key regulator of normal as well as pathological angiogenesis

New blood vessels branch out of preexisting ones is via a process called angiogenesis. Although this is essential for survival, development and wound healing, on the flip side, it also feeds and progresses malignant tumors, as well as other diseases.

29 Aug 2017

Second Sight achieves milestone with conditional FDA approval to start Orion feasibility clinical trial

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable visual prosthetics to provide useful vision to blind patients, today announced that the Company has received conditional approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin the Orion™ Cortical Visual Prosthesis System feasibility clinical study.

29 Aug 2017