The irony of getting away to a remote place is you usually have to fight traffic to get there. After hours of dodging dangerous drivers, you finally arrive at that quiet mountain retreat, stare at the gentle waters of a pristine lake, and congratulate your tired self on having "turned off your brain."
Since she was a child Sarah Mittler knew exactly what she wanted to do−be a wife and mother. She and her husband, Tom, were living their dream of a life complete with five kids, two dogs and a packed schedule of activities, until Sarah’s vision started to deteriorate.
A study recently published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology showed that AMD still causes severe vision loss in approximately 15 percent of Americans 85 and older. This study tracked vision loss in relation to eye disease and treatment response in nearly 5,000 patients over a 20-year period.
A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease.
By middle age, most people have age-related declines in near vision (presbyopia) requiring bifocals or reading glasses. An emerging technique called hyperopic orthokeratology (OK) may provide a new alternative for restoring near vision without the need for glasses, according to a study, “Refractive Changes from Hyperopic Orthokeratology Monovision in Presbyopes”, appearing in the April issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
On March 27th JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) will publish a new video article by Dr. Lotfi Merabet showing how researchers in the Department of Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School have developed a virtual gaming environment to help blind individuals improve navigation skills and develop a cognitive spatial map of unfamiliar buildings and public locations.
Every 11 minutes, someone in the United States goes blind, caused mainly by age-related eye diseases, according to Prevent Blindness America. Leaders in vision health will gather for The Aging Eye: Today’s Treatments-Tomorrow’s Hope summit on April 24, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Carrots get all the attention for eye health, but there are several other foods and nutrients that can help.
Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are working to restore vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy with stem cell treatments.
The lack of very long chain fatty acids does not cause blindness in children with the incurable eye disease known as Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration.
As the federal government assesses an $85 billion reduction in its 2013 budget, an included 2 percent Medicare cut will hurt beneficiaries who need medical eye care, according to ophthalmologists – medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of eye disease. In a survey conducted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, approximately 72 percent of responding member physicians predicted they would be forced to make decisions that will negatively affect the ability of their Medicare patients to receive the highest quality of medical care.
A professor from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is one of the lead authors of a study identifying seven new regions of the human genome that are associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among older adults.
A contact lens technique called overnight orthokeratology (OK) brings rapid improvement in vision for nearsighted patients. Now a new study shows that OK treatment works mainly by flattening the front of the cornea, reports a recent study, “Posterior Corneal Shape Changes in Myopic Overnight Orthokeratology”, appearing in the March issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are testing the power of holography to artificially stimulate cells in the eye, with hopes of developing a new strategy for bionic vision restoration.
Some of the last days of winter can be among the worst for your eyes. Winter may be slowly giving way to spring, but the remaining cold days of the season can cause plenty of trouble for the eyes—trouble that is largely avoidable, says a Vanderbilt Eye Institute ophthalmologist.
Beloved children’s book character likely lost sight from viral meningoencephalitis, research highlights how tales of disease influence perception of disease.
Visual symptoms and abnormalities occur at high rates in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI)—including Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans with blast-related TBI, reports a study, “Abnormal Fixation in Individuals with AMD when Viewing an Image of a Face”, in the February issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Now, new research from the Scheie Eye Institute, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that gene therapy for LCA shows enduring improvement in vision but also advancing degeneration of affected retinal cells, both in LCA patients and animal models of the same condition.
Researchers at The Ohio State University are developing a new glaucoma test that would catch the blindness-causing disease earlier and more accurately than current tests that rely on human input.
Melanomas that develop in the eye often are fatal. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have identified a mutated gene in melanoma tumors of the eye that appears to predict a good outcome.
A new Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS) article reveals that increasingly aggressive therapies that block VEGF could cause damage in treating eye diseases. Scientists discovered inhibiting anti-VEGF might have a harmful effect on the tissue responsible for producing the fluid that bathes the eye, medically termed the ciliary body.
We rely on our visual system more heavily than previously thought in determining the causality of events. A team of researchers has shown that, in making judgments about causality, we don’t always need to use cognitive reasoning. In some cases, our visual brain—the brain areas that process what the eyes sense—can make these judgments rapidly and automatically.
Abnormalities of eye movement and fixation may contribute to difficulty in perceiving and recognizing faces among older adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggests a study “Abnormal Fixation in Individuals with AMD when Viewing an Image of a Face” appearing in the January issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A new study finds that certain changes in blood vessels in the eye’s retina can be an early warning that a person is at increased risk for glaucoma, an eye disease that slowly robs people of their peripheral vision. Using diagnostic photos and other data from the Australian Blue Mountains Eye Study, the researchers showed that patients who had abnormally narrow retinal arteries when the study began were also those who were most likely to have glaucoma at its 10-year end point. If confirmed by future research, this finding could give ophthalmologists a new way to identify and treat those who are most vulnerable to vision loss from glaucoma. The study was recently published online by Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Two recent experimental treatments — one involving skin-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell grafts, the other gene therapy — have been shown to produce long-term improvement in visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), according to the Columbia University Medical Center scientists who led the studies. At present, there is no cure for RP, the most common form of inherited blindness.
People who regularly took aspirin 10 years prior to examination had a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of a subtype of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
A new study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science found that between 40 to 50 percent of older adults with visually impairing eye disease limit their activities due to a fear of falling. Vision scientists warn that this protective strategy puts seniors at risk for social isolation and disability.
The prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment (not due to need for glasses) in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years, which may be partly related to a higher prevalence of diabetes, an associated risk factor
Better strategies are needed to help glaucoma patients cope with difficulty reading. According to a new scientific study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, adults with glaucoma read slower when reading silently for long periods of time and are more likely to have their reading speed decrease over time, possibly a result of reading fatigue.
For people using 30-day extended-wear/continuous-wear (EW/CW) contact lenses, replacing lenses at night doesn't lower the risk of complications compared to changing lenses monthly, suggests a study – “The Effect of Daily Lens Replacement During Overnight Wear on Ocular Adverse Events”, appearing in the December issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have shed light on the activity of a protein pair found in cells that form the walls of blood vessels in the brain and retina, experiments that could lead to therapeutic control of the blood-brain barrier and of blood vessel growth in the eye.
With the holiday season upon us, children are busy making their wish lists and checking them twice. But, parents may need to check them yet again to ensure toy safety. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 250,000 toy-related injuries are treated in emergency rooms each year. Most of these injuries affect children under age 15, and almost half affect the head or face. In light of these dangers, the American Academy of Ophthalmology encourages parents to be EyeSmart about toys this holiday season.
A tiny medical device no larger than an eyelash may significantly reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients and allow some to stop using eye-drop medications, according to year-one clinical trial results for the device. Results of the HYDRUS I clinical trial, which indicate successful control of eye pressure in all study participants, will be presented today at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, jointly conducted this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
New research shows that the use of an audio therapy known as binaural beats can significantly reduce patients’ anxiety during cataract surgery. The 141-patient study, conducted in Thailand, is the first of its kind in cataract surgery, which is one of the most frequently performed procedures worldwide, with more than 3 million performed annually in the United States. The research is being presented today at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, jointly conducted this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
A new study provides the first clear evidence that vision or eye problems are rarely the cause of recurring headaches in children, even if the headaches usually strike while the child is doing schoolwork or other visual tasks. Many parents assume that frequent headaches mean their child needs glasses, so they ask their doctor to refer their child for an eye exam. This study was conducted by pediatric ophthalmologists who wanted to find reliable answers for parents, family doctors and pediatricians facing this common health question. The research is being presented today at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, conducted jointly this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
The first study to compare accident rates for drivers who have advanced glaucoma − an eye disease that affects peripheral vision − with normal-vision drivers, found that the glaucoma group had about twice as many accidents. This study, which was conducted in Japan using a driving simulator, suggests that potential drivers should pass a visual field test to ensure adequate peripheral vision before a license is granted or renewed.
People who have eye diseases that damage their central vision can regain the ability to read quickly and comfortably by using digital tablets, according to a recent study. The research found that people with moderate vision loss could increase their reading speed by 15 words-per-minute, on average. Using a tablet with a back-lit screen resulted in the fastest reading speeds for all study participants, no matter what their level of visual acuity
Many veterans of the United States armed forces who have traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder also have undiagnosed, chronic vision problems, according to two studies presented today at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, jointly conducted this year with the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
The primary treatment for wet macular degeneration, a chronic eye condition that causes vision loss, is effective even if patients have macular traction problems, a Mayo Clinic study shows.
Ophthalmologists warn that tests may not accurately predict predisposition to complex eye diseases
For the first time, Wisconsin researchers have taken skin from patients and, using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, turned them into a laboratory model for an inherited type of macular degeneration.
Modern contact lens materials are prone to drying when exposed to air, which contributes to the buildup of deposits on contact lenses, according to a study – “The Impact of Intermittent Air Exposure on Lipid Deposition”, appearing in the November issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Decorative tinted contact lenses will be popular accessories this Halloween, but a Loyola University Medical Center optometrist is warning that improper use without a prescription could cause severe eye damage.
Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor for a wide-range of diseases. Now, scientists have evidence that smoking may also increase the risk of age-related cataract, the leading cause of blindness and vision loss in the world.
Saint Louis University ophthalmologist Sean Edelstein, M.D., cautions contact lens wearers about the serious consequences from poor contact care.
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are working with an antioxidant that could prevent or cure cataracts, macular degeneration and other degenerative eye disorders.
Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have created a map of vision in the brain based upon an individual's brain structure, even for people who cannot see. Their result can, among other things, guide efforts to restore vision using a neural prosthesis that stimulates the surface of the brain.
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