Visual Impairment News and Research

Latest Visual Impairment News and Research

PediaVision device to detect eye disorders in autistic children

PediaVision, a company dedicated to solving the critical problem of undiagnosed vision problems affecting thousands of children, today announced a breakthrough in the use of the PediaVision Assessment Solution for autistic children.

25 Aug 2009

Remarkable vision improvements after gene therapy for inherited blindness

One year after a trio of young adults received gene therapy for an inherited form of blindness, researchers have documented that the patients are still experiencing the same level of remarkable vision improvements previously measured within weeks.

13 Aug 2009

Giant pituitary adenoma can be safely removed through nasal route

It’s even worse than being told you have a brain tumor: having a tumor so large, it’s in a category all its own. Giant pituitary adenoma is a so-called “benign” tumor that can cause visual loss and impair many of the body’s most basic functions. But fortunately, even the largest of these giant tumors—which can grow to the size of an egg and invade nearby structures--can be treated effectively using a multimodality approach starting with minimally invasive surgery through the nose, according to a new study at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John’s Health Center.

12 Aug 2009

Corrected vision impairment could prevent billions of dollars in lost productivity annually

Corrected vision impairment could prevent billions of dollars in lost productivity annually, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of School of Public Health, the International Centre for Eyecare Education, the University of New South Wales and the African Vision Research Institute.

2 Jun 2009

62nd World Health Assembly closes with resolutions on public health

The 62nd World Health Assembly, which brought together health ministers and senior health officials from WHO's Member States, closed today with the adoption of resolutions on a variety of global health issues including primary health care, the prevention and control of multidrug- resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, public health, innovation and intellectual property and pandemic influenza preparedness. The Health Assembly also passed the Programme Budget for 2010 -2011.

22 May 2009

A glimpse at vision: First impressions count

Human beings far outpace computers in their ability to recognize faces and other objects, handling with ease variations in size, color, orientation, lighting conditions and other factors.

29 Apr 2009

Visual impairment will increase as population ages, but treatment can mitigate effects

Health care providers can expect a significant increase in age-related macular degeneration as the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

13 Apr 2009

New therapies expected to help reduce future burden of age-related macular degeneration

The prevalence of the eye disease age-related macular degeneration is projected to increase substantially by 2050, but the use of new therapies is expected to help mitigate its effects on vision, according to results of simulation modeling reported in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

13 Apr 2009

Stem cell therapy used to restore transparency in corneas

Stem cells collected from human corneas restore transparency and don't trigger a rejection response when injected into eyes that are scarred and hazy, according to experiments conducted in mice by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

12 Apr 2009

Digital photo album puts focus on kids' health

Modern moms and dads snap thousands of photos, recording every drooling smile and flailing attempt to crawl.

8 Apr 2009

Positive phase 3 uveitis trial results for voclosporin

Isotechnika Inc. has announced that their partner, Lux Biosciences, Inc., reported the results from the three Phase 3 LUMINATE trials investigating voclosporin oral capsule (LUVENIQ or LX211) for the treatment of uveitis.

29 Mar 2009

Diabetic retinopathy more prevalent in South Asians and occurs earlier

South Asians with type 2 diabetes are significantly more at risk of losing their eyesight and losing it at an earlier age, compared to White Europeans with the same condition.

24 Mar 2009

Health insurance status associated with frequency of eye care visits

Individuals with no or inconsistent health care coverage appear less likely to regularly seek eye care, even if they are visually impaired, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

10 Mar 2009

Are insulin pens safe for blind people?

Ann Williams, a National Institute of Health-supported postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University, understands what it means to live with diabetes.

16 Feb 2009

Protease inhibitor found to aid diabetic retinopathy treatment

Researchers from Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, and ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Francisco, announced today that they have demonstrated that a specific inhibitor of the protease plasma kallikrein, ASP-440, developed by ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, may provide a new therapeutic approach for treatment of diabetic retinopathy, the most common eye-related complication of diabetes.

21 Jan 2009

New cataract early detection device

A compact fiber-optic probe developed for the space program has now proven valuable for patients in the clinic as the first non-invasive early detection device for cataracts, the leading cause of vision loss worldwide.

8 Jan 2009

People with blindness from cataract are poorer than those with normal sight

A new study conducted in three developing countries-Kenya, the Philippines, and Bangladesh-finds that people with cataract-induced visual impairment are more likely to live in poverty than those with normal sight.

16 Dec 2008

Presbyopia may affect more than 1 billion worldwide

It is estimated that more than 1 billion individuals worldwide in 2005 had presbyopia, or age-related difficulty in seeing objects nearby, with an estimated 410 million with the condition unable to perform tasks requiring near vision, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Dec 2008

Research targets diabetes-related eye conditions

World Diabetes Day is on 14 November this year highlighting that diabetes is on the increase and to create awareness to aid prevention of figures growing larger. To help prevent diabetes becoming a burden to the NHS resources in the future, new research projects commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research's Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different screening tests used in diabetic eye care.

23 Oct 2008