Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Eye Health / Blindness News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/eye_health/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172317.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172317.php AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the ongoing chaos over Medicare patient rebates for cataract surgery stresses the need for proper meaningful consultation with the medical profession before cuts or changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) are considered, not after the event. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172290.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172290.php You wouldn't want a car with no brakes. It turns out that the developing brain needs them, too. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a set of molecular brakes that stabilize the developing brain's circuitry. Moreover, experimentally removing those brakes in mice enhanced the animals' performance in a test of visual learning, suggesting a long-term path to therapeutic application. In a study to be published Nov. Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172294.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172294.php New Molecule Implicated in Diabetes-Associated Blindness A group led by Dr. Jian-xing Ma at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK has demonstrated that the Wnt signaling pathway plays a role in diabetic retinopathy. Their report can be found in the December 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172302.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172302.php Researchers from the University of Granada have provided an early diagnosis of certain ocular diseases that are very common today, such as age-related macular degeneration and keratitis, by applying an existing optical technique that had never before been used for this purpose. Eye Health / Blindness Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172220.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172220.php Researchers from the UGR have provided an early diagnosis of certain ocular diseases that are very common today, such as age-related macular degeneration and keratitis, by applying an existing optical technique that, nevertheless, had never before been used for this purpose. Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172074.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172074.php A regional initiative launched in the 1990s to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) in the Americas has substantially reduced the prevalence of the disease in recent years, as evidenced by a 31% decrease in the number of individuals requiring mass drug administration in six endemic countries. Results were reported at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). Eye Health / Blindness Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171930.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171930.php Imagine a BB gun pellet striking your child's eye with enough force to knock him to the ground. Sadly, some popular children's gifts around the holidays can cause serious eye injuries. In recognition of Safe Toys and Celebrations Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology through its EyeSmart™ campaign reminds parents of the dangers that toys may pose to children's eyes and offers tips on how to choose safe toys for gift-giving. Eye Health / Blindness Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171769.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171769.php Baljit Singh was looking forward to 2010. The premier event in professional field hockey, the World Cup, is to be hosted in his native India next year. And Singh, 28, was the goalie on the Indian National Team. He was considered the best goalie in Asia, ranked fourth in the world. Until a practice incident on July 17 changed everything. Singh and the team were practicing in Bundi, in northwestern India. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171719.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171719.php Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTCBB:ACTC) announced that it filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase I/II multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived retinal cells to treat patients with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD). Among the most common causes of untreatable blindness in the world are degenerative diseases of the retina. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171631.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171631.php Following efforts by the American Academy of Ophthalmology with the help of the American Society of Retina Specialists, the Macula Society, the Retina Society and Congressional allies, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said that it will retract an Oct. 1 payment policy for small doses of Avastin. Avastin, a cancer drug, is used in smaller doses to treat eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171632.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171632.php The American Optometric Association (AOA) and Digital Healthcare, Inc. (DH) have joined together to assist optometrists in providing better care for patients with diabetes and other chronic diseases, and in promoting public health. Both parties recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171548.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171548.php In a step toward using human saliva to tell whether those stiff joints, memory lapses, and other telltale signs of aging are normal or red flags for disease, scientists are describing how the protein content of women's saliva change with advancing age. The discovery could lead to a simple, noninvasive test for better diagnosing and treating certain age-related diseases in women, they suggest in a report in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication. Women's Health / Gynecology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171540.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171540.php Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide. The reason they can do this, researchers suggest, is that in at least some circumstances, blindness can heighten other senses, helping individuals adapt. Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171282.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171282.php AMD Alliance International strongly urges all smokers to participate in the Great American Smokeout on November 19 to save their eyes and protect their vision from the debilitating effects of macular degeneration. Research has demonstrated that age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a progressive disease that causes the loss of central vision, is two to three times as frequent among tobacco smokers, and the risk is dose dependent(1, 2). Smoking / Quit Smoking Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171220.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171220.php Determining what triggers the death of retinal cells, called photoreceptors, could hold the key to stopping blinding disorders caused by a wide range of eye diseases, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the November journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Several blinding disorders are known to cause the breakdown of photoreceptors. Eye Health / Blindness Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171131.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171131.php It's a fact of life that eyes change with age, and baby boomers - Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - are at the stage when many are affected by vision problems. Despite the prevalence of Americans' affected by these changes, a new survey from the American Optometric Association (AOA) shows a concerning lack of public knowledge and misunderstanding regarding age-related eye diseases and conditions. Eye Health / Blindness Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171127.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171127.php A coalition of medical specialties today congratulated the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for its careful and reasoned implementation of up-to-date practice expense rates into its physician payments. The new practice expense rates that were recently issued by CMS use accurate data from a rigorous survey supported by more than 70 medical and health care professional groups, and they begin a long-needed correction that should remain untouched by Congress. Eye Health / Blindness Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170946.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170946.php AAO-Opto Booth # 605 -- New software advances for the ATLAS® Corneal Topography System were released today by Carl Zeiss Meditec during the American Academy of Optometry meeting in Orlando, Florida. Review Software and MasterFit II™ Contact Lens Software for the ATLAS corneal topography system are designed to make clinical data and images more accessible for eye care providers, while facilitating improved eye care diagnosis and treatment solutions for patients. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170895.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170895.php Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that--when tested in a driving simulator--patients with hemianopia (blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes) have significantly more difficulty detecting pedestrians (on their blind side) than normally sighted people. Eye Health / Blindness Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170791.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170791.php Bausch & Lomb announced that the company's Lo-Torque® lens design demonstrates significantly better rotational recovery, which can lead to more consistent vision, compared with Acuvue's accelerated stabilization design. These findings from two clinical studies were presented at Academy 2009, the American Academy of Optometry annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Eye Health / Blindness Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170743.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170743.php Dry eye syndrome, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), keratitis sicca, sicca syndrome, xerophthalmia, or simply dry eyes, is an eye disease in which tear film evaporation is high or tear production is low. Dry eye syndrome is commonly found in humans and some animals. The patient's eyes dry out and become inflamed. Eye Health / Blindness Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170635.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170635.php The retina is a thin layer of nerve cells lining the inside back wall of the eye. The retina is essential to see properly. It turns the light that enters the eye into an image by sending a message along the optic nerve to the brain. When this layer becomes separated from the inner wall of the eye, it is called retinal detachment. The retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. If this is not treated, it usually leads to blindness in the affected eye. Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170634.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170634.php Double vision, also known as Diplopia, is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object - the patient sees two images of a single thing either all the time, or some of the time. The displacement may be horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Diagonal double displacement (double vision) means both the horizontal lines and vertical lines are being perceived as doubled - also known as oblique separation. Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170489.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170489.php If you have diabetes, a dilated eye exam should be at the top of your yearly health care to-do list. Diabetic eye disease, also known as diabetic retinopathy, is the leading cause of vision loss in American adults. As part of November's Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, ophthalmologists at the Glick Eye Institute at the Indiana University School of Medicine encourage diabetics and all at-risk adults to make eye care a priority. Eye Health / Blindness Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170352.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170352.php As many as 10 million people around the world suffer from cataracts. Thomas Kohnen of the Goethe University in Frankfurt and his coauthors discuss cataract surgery with the implantation of an artificial lens in the current issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[43]: 695 - 702). Blindness is usually due to opacification of the lens. In Germany alone, more than 600,000 cataract operations are performed each year. Eye Health / Blindness