The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Hetlioz (tasimelteon), a melatonin receptor agonist, to treat non-24- hour sleep-wake disorder (“non-24”) in totally blind individuals. Non-24 is a chronic circadian rhythm (body clock) disorder in the…
Author: Medical News Today
New genetic forms of neurodegeneration discovered
In a study published in the journal Science, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report doubling the number of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder known as hereditary spastic…
Postmenopausal hormones containing estrogen may reduce glaucoma risk
Using postmenopausal hormones (PMH) containing estrogen may reduce a woman’s risk for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), a common form of the disease related to the build-up of pressure inside the eye, according to a report published by JAMA Ophthalmo…
New brain-scanning technique allows scientists to see when and where the brain processes visual information
Every time you open your eyes, visual information flows into your brain, which interprets what you’re seeing. Now, for the first time, MIT neuroscientists have noninvasively mapped this flow of information in the human brain with unique accuracy, using…
Research has important implications for potential treatments of congenital cataracts
Deprivation of vision during critical periods of childhood development has long been thought to result in irreversible vision loss.
Potential drug targets found for early onset glaucoma
Using a novel high-throughput screening process, scientists have for the first time identified molecules with the potential to block the accumulation of a toxic eye protein that can lead to early onset of glaucoma.Glaucoma is a group of diseases that c…
Mouse retinal tissue repaired by lab-grown, virus-free stem cells
Investigators at Johns Hopkins report they have developed human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) capable of repairing damaged retinal vascular tissue in mice. The stem cells, derived from human umbilical cord-blood and coaxed into an embryonic-li…
Eye movement speed linked to impulsive decision making
One of the most frustrating things about shopping in a grocery store can be the long lines at the cash register. Do you stand there and wait for the line to go down? Or do you join another line that looks quicker? According to new research, decisions s…
Research presents new hope of early diagnosis of major cause of blindness
Research is under way to develop new techniques for detecting diabetic retinopathy at early onset with the hope of improving prevention and treatment of this major cause of blindness.Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes, occurring …
Risk of blindness from glaucoma drops by half
A comparative long-range study by Mayo Clinic ophthalmology researchers shows that the probability of blindness from glaucoma 20 years after diagnosis has dropped by half in the last generation. The findings appear online in the “in press” section of t…
Probability of blindness from glaucoma has nearly halved
The probability of blindness due to the serious eye disease glaucoma has decreased by nearly half since 1980, according to a study published this month in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Research reveals that three forms of blindness involve the same cell death pathway
Gene therapies developed by University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine researchers have worked to correct different forms of blindness. While effective, the downside to these approaches to vision rescue is that each disease requires its o…
Sight-saving and sight-restoration measures as the population ages
Aging gracefully may not be an option for the 40 million people worldwide who are blind or have significant visual impairment. It’s reported that 65% of those with visual impairment and 82% of those who are blind are over 50 years of age.
Neurons can use 2 different strategies when responding to sound
When listening to someone speak, we also rely on lip-reading and gestures to help us understand what the person is saying.To link these sights and sounds, the brain has to know where each stimulus is located so it can coordinate processing of related v…
Improved understanding of cause of Giant Cell Arteritis
New research from Queen Mary University of London has revealed – for the first time – how the condition Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) may be caused by a certain group of white blood cells called ‘neutrophils’. GCA (also known as temporal arteritis) is a c…
Advancements in diabetes-induced blindness research
Corneal blindness affects more than 5 million individuals, many of whom suffer from diabetesInvestigators at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute have identified new molecular abnormalities in the diabetic cornea that could contribute to ey…
When it comes to vision, the brain can perform more than one function without sacrificing time or accuracy
Many studies suggest that pushing your brain to multitask – writing emails, for instance, while watching the day’s latest news and eating breakfast – leads to poorer performance and lower productivity. But for at least one everyday task – visual sampli…
Brain can classify images seen for only 13 milliseconds
Computer processing speeds seem to exponentially increase every year. But a new study suggests that the original computer, the human brain, can process images the eyes see for only 13 milliseconds – a speed much faster than previously thought.
An incurable form of blindness may be improved by gene therapy
Scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK have restored some sight in people who have a degenerative eye disease by replacing a defective gene in their retinas with a working version of the same gene.
How drinking the legal limit of alcohol impairs vision by 30%
Having a designated driver on hand while drinking is an important part of being responsible on the road. Though blood alcohol concentration restrictions are imposed on drivers, how is our vision affected when we are under this limit? Researchers in Can…