Visual Impairment News and Research

Latest Visual Impairment News and Research

U.K. NICE issues final draft guidance on Alimera Sciences’ ILUVIEN

Alimera Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today announced that the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance indicating that ILUVIEN is not recommended for the treatment of chronic diabetic macular edema (DME) considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies.

30 Nov 2012

IL17RC-mediated immune responses can be crucial in causing AMD

Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults, based on preliminary research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.

29 Nov 2012

Word recognition patterns change as people grow older

Unique research into eye-movements of young and old people while reading discovers that word recognition patterns change as we grow older

23 Nov 2012

Study provides first picture of college enrollment and STEM participation for young adults with ASD

It's a popularly held belief that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gravitate toward STEM majors in college (science, technology, engineering mathematics).

16 Nov 2012

UK lacks pathways through social and clinical care for eye patients

UK study results reveal that emotional and family support is lacking for individuals with visual impairment.

2 Nov 2012

Mass. Eye and Ear opens new outpatient surgical center in Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston

Massachusetts Eye and Ear, along with the Beal Companies, LLP, today celebrated the grand opening of its new outpatient surgical center at 800 Huntington Avenue in the Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston. The location will provide access to Mass. Eye and Ear's world-class physicians and surgeons, and outpatient services.

1 Nov 2012

Ranibizumab improves driving prospects for AMD patients

Treatment with ranibizumab can preserve and even improve the perceived driving ability of patients with age-related macular degeneration, show the results of two randomized trials.

10 Oct 2012

Government investment in eye examinations may boost the economy

Governments could add thousands of millions of dollars to the global economy simply by investing in eye examinations and the provision of glasses for some 703 million people who need them, according to a study published this month in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

6 Oct 2012

Ranibizumab injections keep those with AMD driving longer

The advanced neovascular, or “wet,” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), left untreated, is the most common cause of vision loss among the elderly and a leading reason for their loss of driving privileges. But results of a new study, published in the online version of the journal Ophthalmology, suggest that monthly injections of ranibizumab improve eye chart test results required for a driver’s license, build driver confidence and keep those with AMD driving longer.

3 Oct 2012

Level of vision, not gain in letters seen, marks success of AMD treatment

The number of patients with a particular level of vision may be a better mark of the success of treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration than the gain or loss of letters able to be seen in logMAR chart testing, suggest researchers.

1 Oct 2012

pSivida reports revenues of $699,000 for fourth quarter 2012

pSivida Corp., a leader in developing sustained release, drug delivery products for treatment of back-of-the-eye diseases, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

25 Sep 2012

Important data from Pfizer’s lung cancer and RCC portfolios to be presented at ESMO Congress

Pfizer Oncology today announced that important data from its lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) portfolios will be presented at the upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna, Austria, September 28 - October 2, 2012.

18 Sep 2012

Gene therapy approach restores ability to smell in mouse model of congenital anosmia

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmia-the inability to smell from birth. The approach uses gene therapy to regrow cilia, cell structures that are essential for olfactory function.

3 Sep 2012

Friedreich Ataxia Research Alliance, USF ARC to host ‘Understanding a Cure’ symposium

Scientists, clinicians and patients will gather at the University of South Florida's Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa Sept. 6 to share research insights and energize the search for a cure for Friedreich's ataxia and related disorders.

28 Aug 2012

Encouraging results from Ocular Therapeutix's travoprost Phase II trial on glaucoma

Following encouraging results from Ocular Therapeutix's travoprost punctum plug feasibility study, the company is now entering a pilot Phase II clinical trial to examine a two-month sustained release drug (OTX-TP2) for the treatment of ocular hypertension and glaucoma.

21 Aug 2012

Genentech receives FDA approval for Lucentis to treat diabetic macular edema

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), an eye condition in people with diabetes that causes blurred vision, severe vision loss and sometimes blindness

12 Aug 2012

Poorly sighted need help with meds

GPs should check that elderly patients can see well enough to read prescriptions and tell different medications apart, warn UK researchers. They point out that many older patients with visual impairment need help to manage their medications.

3 Aug 2012

$Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight$

Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight

Surgery for cataract removal significantly reduces the rate of hip fracture in the year after the procedure compared with no surgery, show study results involving over a million Medicare beneficiaries aged over 65 years.

3 Aug 2012

$Older Medicare patients have reduced risk of hip fracture following cataract surgery$

Older Medicare patients have reduced risk of hip fracture following cataract surgery

Medicare patients 65 years and older who underwent cataract surgery had a lower odds of hip fracture 1 year after the procedure when compared with patients with cataract who did not have cataract surgery, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Aug 2012