The speed and degree to which the pupil of the eye responds is a standard test for alertness. It has also been used to assess how sleepy or exhausted a person is…
Author: Medical News Today
Removal Of Glaucoma-Causing Protein Subverted By Chaperone Protein
The chaperone protein Grp94 can interfere with the clearance of another protein known to cause the glaucoma when mutated, a new study led by researchers at the University of South Florida has found. Using a cell model, the researchers also demonstrated…
New Therapy Halts Neuromyelitis Optica Attacks
Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a new therapy for patients with neuromyelitis optica that appears to stop inflammation of the eye nerves and spinal cord. NMO is a debilitating central nervous system disorder that is often misdiagnosed as multip…
Antioxidant Can Prevent Or Heal Cataracts And Other Degenerative Eye Disorders
Eyedrops, prepared with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA), have been used as treatment for the prevention or healing of cataracts, macular degeneration, and other degenerative eye disorders…
Implanting Artificial Corneas Offers The Gift Of Vision
Blindness is often caused by corneal diseases. The established treatment is a corneal transplant, but in many cases this is not possible and donor corneas are often hard to come by. In the future, an artificial cornea could make up for this deficiency …
Researchers Create A Universal Map Of Vision In The Human Brain
Nearly 100 years after a British neurologist first mapped the blind spots caused by missile wounds to the brains of soldiers, Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have perfected his map using modern-day technology. …
Measuring Eyelid Sensitivity May Reflect The Causes Of Dry Eyes
A simple test of eyelid sensitivity may help vision professionals in evaluating one of the most common eye-related symptoms: dry eyes…
NICE Recommends Lucentis® (Ranibizumab) For Some Patients With Visual Impairment Due To Diabetic Macular Oedema (VI-DMO) In Draft Guidance
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today issued positive draft guidance on the use of ranibizumab for the treatment of VI-DMO, an eye condition which can occur in people with diabetes that causes blurred vision, sever…
New Approach That May Lead To Possible Cure For Myopia
Nearsightedness, or myopia, affects more than 40 percent of people in the U.S. and up to 90 percent of children in some parts of Asia. The problem begins in childhood and often progresses with age. Standard prescription lenses can correct the defocus b…
Restoring Sight Would Save Global Economy US$202 Billion Each Year
Governments could add billions of dollars to their economies annually by funding the provision of an eye examination and a pair of glasses to the estimated 703 million people globally that needed them in 2010 according to a new study published this wee…
Caffeinated Coffee Linked To Vision Loss
Coffee consumption can lead to a greater risk of developing exfloliation glaucoma, the primary cause of secondary glaucoma, all over the world. A new study. published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, suggests coffee drinkers may need t…
Visual Function Improved In Blind Mice Using Stem Cells
An experimental treatment for blindness, developed from a patient’s skin cells, improved the vision of blind mice in a study conducted by Columbia ophthalmologists and stem cell researchers…
Inattentional Blindness: How Memory Load Leaves Us ‘Blind’ To New Visual Information
Trying to keep an image we’ve just seen in memory can leave us blind to things we are ‘looking’ at, according to the results of a new study supported by the Wellcome Trust. It’s been known for some time that when our brains are focused on a task, we ca…
Identification Of Novel Gene Associated With Usher Syndrome
Usher syndrome is a hereditary disease in which affected individuals lose both hearing and vision. The impact of Usher syndrome can be devastating. In the United States, approximately six in every 100,000 babies born have Usher syndrome. Several genes …
‘Wet’ AMD Treatments Keep Elderly Patients Driving
Elderly struggling with the advanced neovascular, or “wet”, form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be treated with ranibizumab, which improves results on eye exams, allowing patients to have a driver’s license. In turn, their driver conf…
Gene Discovered That Causes Deafness
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1. These findings, published in the advan…
Leptin Implicated In Hearing And Vision Loss
Leptin – commonly dubbed the “fat hormone” – does more than tell the brain when to eat. A new study by researchers at The University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) shows that leptin may play a role in hearing and vision loss. T…
Magnetic Factor Aids Therapeutic Impact Of Cell Transplantation
Two studies in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:6), now freely available on-line,* demonstrate how the use of magnetic particles are a factor that can positively impact on the targeted delivery of transplanted stem cells and to also provid…
Natural Defence Against Infection Discovered In The Cornea
Exposed tissue surfaces, including skin and mucous membranes, are under constant threat of attack by microorganisms in the environment. The layer of cells that line these areas, known as epithelial cells, are the first line of defense against these pat…
Mathematicians Partner With IU Med School To Explore More Efficient Treatments
Mathematical modeling being tested by researchers at the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the IU School of Medicine has the potential to impact the knowledge and treatment of several diseases that cont…