Visual Impairment News and Research

Latest Visual Impairment News and Research

FDA approves drug for treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Enspryng (satralizumab-mwge) for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults with a particular antibody - patients who are anti-aquaporin-4 or AQP4 antibody-positive.

17 Aug 2020

Newly identified gene could improve treatment for multiple sclerosis

The disease multiple sclerosis (MS) attacks the central nervous system and, with time, can give rise to muscle tremors and loss of balance.

14 Aug 2020

Multifocal contact lenses reduce worsening nearsightedness in children

Children wearing multifocal contact lenses had slower progression of their myopia, according to results from a clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2020

Dual sensory impairment in older adults linked to higher risk for dementia

Older adults with both hearing and visual impairments—or dual sensory impairment—had a significantly higher risk for dementia in a recent study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.

8 Jul 2020

Hungarian physician to receive the Körber Prize for European Science 2020

The Körber Prize for European Science 2020, which is endowed with one million euros, is being awarded to the Hungarian physician Botond Roska.

23 Jun 2020

Oxidative stress and growth factors associated with development of high myopia

According to the first world report on vision published by the WHO in 2019, a third of the planet's population suffers from myopia, and around 400 million people suffer the most harmful version of the disease: high myopia.

4 Jun 2020

Study shows how our eyes recycle vitamin A

Many of us will remember been told as kids when we refused to eat our vegetables that 'carrots are good for your eyes'. Although our parents may not have fully understood it at the time, there is some truth to this. Carrots are a rich source of the vitamin A essential for healthy vision.

11 May 2020

Study: Patients’ genetically edited stem cells successfully reversed diabetes in mice

Using induced pluripotent stem cells produced from the skin of a patient with a rare, genetic form of insulin-dependent diabetes called Wolfram syndrome, researchers transformed the human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to correct a genetic defect that had caused the syndrome.

22 Apr 2020

Research pinpoints potential new therapeutic target for retinal degeneration

Multi-disciplinary work led by researchers from Trinity College Dublin has pinpointed a potential new therapeutic target for treating retinal degeneration. The work has discovered that a protein (SARM1) involved in neuronal cell injury may also have a role in the progression of retinal degeneration.

20 Apr 2020

Recognizing CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder

News-Medical speaks to Dr. Dan Lavery about the LouLou Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to CDLK5 Deficiency Disorder.

17 Mar 2020

Modern virtual and augmented reality device can be used to simulate visual impairments

Published today, during World Glaucoma Week 2020, a new study demonstrates how commercially available head mounted displays can be used to simulate the day-to-day challenges faced by people with glaucoma.

10 Mar 2020

Cardiac and visual degeneration compensated by taurine supplement

Our genome consists of 20,000 genes, all of which may be capable of triggering disease. It is estimated that there are 7,000 unknown genes that cause recessive genetic diseases resulting from mutations in two copies of a gene that have been inherited from each parent.

21 Jan 2020

Older people can improve their vision by changing the power of glasses

Overall, Swedish 70-year-olds' eyesight is good, but many could see even better. Six in ten can improve their vision by getting eyeglasses or changing the power of the glasses they already have, according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg.

14 Jan 2020

Scientists identify 'modifier gene' that determines severity of inherited kidney disease

Scientists have developed a new way to understand complex genetic diseases and have identified a gene that modifies the severity of inherited kidney disease, paving the way for personalised treatments.

9 Jan 2020

UIC researchers to study the impact of chronic eye disease among Latinos

With $9.7 million in funding from the National Eye Institute, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will study the impact of chronic eye disease among Latinos.

10 Dec 2019

AI detects over 95 percent of diabetic retinopathy cases

A new study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmologists (AAO) on October 14, 2019 reports an astonishing 95.% yield when artificial intelligence (AI) is used to screen a real life population for diabetic retinopathy.

15 Oct 2019

How Is Ophthalmology Changing To Meet New Challenges?

Ophthalmology, a highly dynamic space in vision loss and age-related eye diseases with approximately 1.3 billion people living with vision impairment.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 15 Oct 2019

World Report on Vision highlights urgent need for sustainable global outreach efforts

Staggering new statistics released by the World Health Organization in its first World Report on Vision estimate more than 1 billion people are visually impaired because they don't get the care they need-;a finding that brings renewed urgency for sustainable global outreach efforts.

10 Oct 2019

WHO’S first world report on vision

Vision is the most compelling contributor to the quality of our senses, and yet eye care lags behind many other areas in the importance it commands in public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said, in its report timed for World Sight Day (October 10), that over 2.2 billion people around the world (out of a total of 7.7 billion) are blind, completely or partially.

9 Oct 2019

First genetic cause for a rare eye disease discovered

John A. Moran Eye Center physician-researcher Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD, and his patients at the University of Utah played a key role in the recent discovery of the first genetic cause for a rare eye disease.

11 Sep 2019