http://medicalxpress.com/ophthalmology-news/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest research news on ophthalmology (Medical Xpress)—A team of researchers from the U.S. and Scotland has developed a new type of retinal prostheses designed to restore sight to blind patients. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the team describes how they developed a device that can be placed below the surface of the retina to send signals directly to neurons behind damaged photoreceptor cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-wireless-subretinal-prostheses-mice.html Ophthalmology Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:52:15 EST news290850714 Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retinitis pigmentosa to degenerative illnesses of old age, such as macular degeneration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-easy-effective-therapy-sight-virus.html Ophthalmology Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:00:02 EST news290263940 The most common cause of failure after glaucoma surgery is scarring at the surgical site, so researchers are actively looking for ways to minimize or prevent scar formation. Previous work had suggested that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) activates fibrosis, whereas VEGF inhibition results in reduced scar formation and better surgical results. In a series of studies using a rabbit model of glaucoma surgery, investigators have determined that VEGF probably exerts its effects through induction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, which may open up a new target for therapies to improve glaucoma surgical outcomes. This study is published in the June 2013 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-biochemical-mechanism-underlying-fibrosis-glaucoma.html Ophthalmology Fri, 17 May 2013 12:20:02 EST news288009239 New research is emphasizing the importance of regular screenings for glaucoma, a disease that deteriorates the optic nerve over time and is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The onset of glaucoma is associated with a delay in diagnosing the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-early-screenings-key-glaucoma.html Ophthalmology Fri, 17 May 2013 08:06:38 EST news287996763 Adding omega-3 fatty acids did not improve a combination of nutritional supplements commonly recommended for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of vision loss among older Americans, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The plant-derived antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin also had no overall effect on AMD when added to the combination; however, they were safer than the related antioxidant beta-carotene, according to the study published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-clarity-supplements-eye-disease.html Ophthalmology Mon, 06 May 2013 04:55:47 EST news287034936 Researchers have discovered that using two kinds of therapy in tandem may be a knockout combo against inherited disorders that cause blindness. While their study focused on man's best friend, the treatment could help restore vision in people, too. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-one-two-key.html Ophthalmology Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:38:51 EST news284719124 (Medical Xpress)—For UCLA bioengineering professor Wentai Liu, more than two decades of visionary research burst into the headlines last month when the FDA approved what it called "the first bionic eye for the blind." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-bionic-eye.html Ophthalmology Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:58:26 EST news283424294 A tiny, EPFL-designed implantable device that can be positioned within the eye and controlled remotely may well revolutionize the treatment of glaucoma. The device should be through testing this year and on its way to the market in 2014 via Rheon Medical, an EPFL spin-off. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-micro-tap-glaucoma.html Ophthalmology Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:42:54 EST news283423361 Vision scientists long have thought that lack of very long chain fatty acids in photoreceptor cells caused blindness in children with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration, an incurable eye disease. But researchers at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center have shown in a new study that lack of these fatty acids does not cause blindness, meaning that the search for the mechanism that robs sight from children with the disease must start anew. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-long-suspected-eye-disease.html Ophthalmology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:02:40 EST news282240153 (Medical Xpress)—A possible link between colour vision and the development of myopia - or near-sightedness - has been discovered by an international group, including a researcher from The University of Western Australia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-colour-vision-link-myopia.html Ophthalmology Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:23:18 EST news281344934 Despite current beliefs, the degenerative eye condition age-related macular degeneration is a common cause of vision impairment and blindness in sub-Saharan Africa, requiring an urgent review of vision services, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-age-related-macular-degeneration-common-vision_1.html Ophthalmology Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:00:03 EST news280514751 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted market approval to an artificial retina technology today, the first bionic eye to be approved for patients in the United States. The prosthetic technology was developed in part with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-eye-implant-vision-rare-cases.html Ophthalmology Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:40:01 EST news280074221 After years of research, the first bionic eye has seen the light of day in the United States, giving hope to the blind around the world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-bionic-eye.html Ophthalmology Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:21:02 EST news279310852 (Medical Xpress)—A cure for congenital sight impairment caused by lens damage is closer following research by scientists at Monash University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-petri-dish-lens-eye-treatments.html Ophthalmology Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:33:09 EST news278839953 (Medical Xpress)—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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-eye-cells-day-vision.html Ophthalmology Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:46:28 EST news278318773 New research in Nature concludes the eye – which depends on light to see – also needs light to develop normally during pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-exposure-pregnancy-key-eye.html Ophthalmology Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:00:05 EST news277561226 (Medical Xpress)—Blind mice can see again, after Oxford University researchers transplanted developing cells into their eyes and found they could re-form the entire light-sensitive layer of the retina.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-stem-cell-approach-successful-mice.html Ophthalmology Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:26:58 EST news276852389 (HealthDay)—The prevalence of open-angle glaucoma has increased more than 20 percent in the last 10 years and currently affects more than 2.7 million Americans age 40 years and older, according to a report from Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-open-angle-glaucoma-percent-years.html Ophthalmology Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:51:54 EST news276277617 Human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs) form a monolayer of hexagonal cells whose main function is to maintain corneal clarity by regulating corneal hydration. Cell loss due to aging or corneal endothelial disorders, such as Fuchs dystrophy, can lead to cornea edema and blindness, resulting in the need for cornea transplants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cornea-endothelial-cell-lines-powerful.html Ophthalmology Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:03:43 EST news275835810 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 (CUMC) scientists who led the studies. At present, there is no cure for RP, the most common form of inherited blindness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-treatments-retinitis-pigmentosa-closer-clinical.html Ophthalmology Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:51:12 EST news275237424 Herbs widely used throughout history in Asian and early European cultures have received renewed attention by Western medicine in recent years. Scientists are now isolating the active compounds in many medicinal herbs and documenting their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In a study published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) report that carnosic acid, a component of the herb rosemary, promotes eye health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-compound-rosemary-macular-degeneration-laboratory.html Ophthalmology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:33:12 EST news273252773 (Medical Xpress)—A UC Davis Health System Eye Center study found that scleral lenses, which rest beyond the limits of the cornea and cover the white part of the eye (sclera), were a good alternative for patients with corneal abnormalities whose vision could not be corrected with other types of contact lenses or glasses. The study was published in the journal Eye & Contact Lens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scleral-lenses-benefit-patients-corneal.html Ophthalmology Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:17:33 EST news268989384 A new study suggests caffeinated coffee drinkers should limit their intake to reduce their chances of developing vision loss or blindness. According to a scientific paper in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, heavy caffeinated coffee consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma, the leading cause of secondary glaucoma worldwide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-links-caffeinated-coffee-vision-loss.html Ophthalmology Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:27:02 EST news268565192 A small subset of patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) account for a large proportion of all glaucoma-related charges in the United States, according to new data published by researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center and Washington University, St. Louis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-glaucoma-small-group-patients-accounts.html Ophthalmology Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:05:16 EST news267206710 Australian scientists said Thursday they had successfully implanted a "world first" bionic eye prototype, describing it as a major breakthrough for the visually impaired. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-australians-implant-world-bionic-eye.html Ophthalmology Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:07:23 EST news265518432 (Medical Xpress)—Kansas State University researchers have developed a glue mixture that may reduce risks after laser vision correction surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-super-adhesive-safety-lasik-eye.html Ophthalmology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:19:10 EST news265281530 Research conducted at the Angiogenesis Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, has for the first time, identified the mode of death of cone photoreceptor cells in an animal model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-elucidate-death-photoreceptor-cells-retinitis.html Ophthalmology Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:00:01 EST news264677694 (Medical Xpress) -- The congenital eye disease persistent foetal vasculature syndrome leads to bleeding, detached retina, and a cloudy lens. Now researchers at Uppsala University show in a model for the disease that it may be associated with an excessive expression of a growth factor during the foetal period. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-disturbance-foetal-period-severe-eye.html Ophthalmology Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:17:50 EST news263452641 Thanks to tiny microneedles, eye doctors may soon have a better way to treat diseases such as macular degeneration that affect tissues in the back of the eye. That could be important as the population ages and develops more eye-related illnesses – and as pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs that otherwise could only be administered by injecting into the eye with a hypodermic needle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-potential-microneedles-therapeutics-eye.html Ophthalmology Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:25:17 EST news262279467 (Medical Xpress) -- "I was blind once but now I can see.” The words are no longer the sole property of religious testimony and literature. Medical progress is being made in the restoration of vision as evidenced by Second Sight’s Argus II, a retinal prosthesis already on the market in Europe, and Bio-Retina from NanoRetina, which is to start clinical trials next year. Second Sight is a California company with a European office in Lausanne. Its Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System was developed to provide electrical stimulation of the retina to induce visual perception. The Argus II is an eye implant system that includes antenna, electronics case and electrode array. The $115,000 procedure entrails a four hour operation under full anesthesia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-eye-implants-vision-restoring.html Ophthalmology Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:50:01 EST news261800116