Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

Statins may improve circulation in the eye

The cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins may improve circulation in the eye, potentially reducing the risk of certain eye diseases, according to a study in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 May 2006

New insight into the way an embryonic retina cell develops

The discovery provides a new vantage point for understanding how a healthy visual system develops. It also raises the possibility of re-directing the production of cell types as needed to stave off eye disease.

9 May 2006

217 new targets for anti-cancer drugs

By identifying novel genes critical to cancer progression, biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have expanded the number of drug targets researchers have available for study to find ways to stop tumors in their tracks.

18 Apr 2006

Fish oil may help protect against age-related macular degeneration

A paper published in Trends in Neuroscience by Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, PhD of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, reports on the role that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil play in protecting cells in the retina from degenerative diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

7 Apr 2006

Yellow pigment that sits on the retina focus of macular degeneration research

Whether a tiny yellow pigment is the main thing standing between many older people and macular degeneration is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

4 Apr 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

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

Researcher identifies key to macular degeneration progression

Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati UK HealthCare physician and Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, announced a discovery by his research team that will impact how physicians and patients approach treatment for macular degeneration.

7 Feb 2006

Aston Academy investigates macular oedema

Aston Academy of Life Sciences, the clinical research hospital of Aston University, has recently been commissioned to assess the efficacy and safety of a specialist drug, Posurdex (Allergan Ltd, UK), which is used in the treatment of patients who suffer from a sight threatening condition, called macular oedema.

26 Jan 2006

Sirna Therapeutics awarded patent covering large-scale synthesis of RNAi-based therapeutics

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Sirna U.S. Patent No. 6,989,442 for the chemical synthesis and manufacturing of ribonucleic acids (RNA).

25 Jan 2006

Retinal degeneration - researchers advance understanding

Researchers have labored for decades to understand blindness-inducing neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

18 Jan 2006

Elevated homocysteine levels may be a biomarker for increased risk of AMD

People who have elevated homocysteine in their blood, an amino acid that is a known biomarker for cardiovascular disease, may also be at an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

5 Jan 2006

Diet rich in antioxidants protects against Age-Related Macular Degeneration

New research has shown that a diet high in beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc is associated with a substantially reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration in elderly people.

28 Dec 2005

Second-hand smoke increases the risk of eye disease

According to a British study, smoking cigarettes, or living with someone who does, increases a person's risk of developing a progressively degenerative eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration or AMD.

22 Dec 2005

CFH Y402H confers similar risk of soft drusen and both forms of advanced AMD

Gene is associated with increased risk of precursor of macular degeneration A variant in a gene called Complement Factor H (CFH) appears to contribute to the increased risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) largely or entirely through its impact on the development of a precursor of advanced AMD called soft drusen (small yellowish, extracellular deposits of lipid, protein and cellular debris in the back of the eye), according to a multinational team of researchers.

2 Dec 2005

Chlamydia pneumoniae may cause vision problems

Researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) have found that Chlamydia pneumoniae, a bacterium linked to heart disease and capable of causing chronic inflammation, was present in the diseased eye tissue of five out of nine people with neovascular, or "wet," age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

7 Nov 2005

Smokers twice as likely to lose their sight - calls for warnings on cigarette packets

Experts are warning smokers that they are twice as likely as non-smokers to lose their sight in later life.

10 Sep 2005

Researchers have discovered a gene linked to age-related maculopathy

University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered a gene linked to age-related maculopathy (ARM), the leading cause of untreatable blindness in the elderly. Their discovery suggests a simple test might be able to identify those at risk for what is commonly known as macular degeneration (AMD) and may lead to the development of more effective preventive strategies.

16 Aug 2005

New way to prevent macular degeneration

Two studies from an unusual research partnership at the University of Chicago appear to have resolved a long-standing dispute about the role of melanin in the eye. The studies, one published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and one early online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), also suggest a new way to prevent a common cause of blindness.

28 Jul 2005

New insight into age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in older adults, yet researchers are still in the dark about many of the factors that cause this incurable disease.

25 Jul 2005