Blinding eye disease is strongly associated with heart disease and stroke

(c) Ophthalmology Retina

Patients with a specific form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the United States, are at significant risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to new research from New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. This study, published in the July issue of Retina, is the first to demonstrate a link between the disorders.

World's first transplant of iPS visual cells for retinal disease

(c) Kyodo News

The world's first clinical trial of a transplant of visual cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, to treat a patient with pigmentary retinal degeneration was performed without any complications in Japan.

Study finds link between poor diet and age-related macular degeneration

(c) Univ of Buffalo

Participants who ate a diet high in red and processed meat, fried food, refined grains and high-fat dairy were three times more likely to develop an eye condition that damages the retina and affects a person’s central vision, according to the results of a study conducted at University of Buffalo and published in the journal BMJ Ophthalmology.

The condition is called late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is an irreversible condition that affects a person’s central vision, taking away their ability to drive, among other common daily activities.

Immune system may slow degenerative eye disease

A new study shows that the complement system, part of the innate immune system, plays a protective role to slow retinal degeneration in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. This surprising discovery contradicts previous studies of other eye diseases suggesting that the complement system worsens retinal degeneration. 

The research was performed by scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and appears in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

NEI/NIH launch clinical trial to study AMD progression

(c) NEI / NIH

A new clinical study led by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, will follow 500 people over five years to learn more about the natural history of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). By using the latest technologies to visualize structures within the eye and measure their function, researchers hope to identify biomarkers of disease progression, well before it advances to late-stage disease and causes vision loss.

Vitamin A may harm patients with Stargardt and possibly macular degeneration

An Oxford University study has found that reducing the tendency of vitamin A to form toxic clumps could slow down retinal degenerative diseases such as Stargardt disease, a condition that leads to blindness in children and young adults, and in age-related macular degeneration.

Using computing power to see individual retinal cells

Eye doctors could be using computing power to help them see individual retinal cells. Researchers hope that the detailed pictures gleaned from applying computational adaptive optics can illuminate how changes in the retina correspond to disease severity and track how cells and nerves respond to treatments. Detailed pictures of the cells, blood vessels and nerves at the back of the eye could enable earlier diagnosis and better treatment for degenerative eye and neurological diseases.

AMD may be triggered by tiny mineral deposits in retina

Scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that tiny lumps of calcium phosphate may be an important triggering factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This is the first time these mineral deposits have been implicated in the disease, which affects more than 10 million Americans.

HIV/AIDS drugs that are FDA approved could treat age-related macular degeneration

from washington.edu

A study published in the journal Science by an international group of scientists, led by the laboratory of Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice chair of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky, reports that HIV/AIDS drugs that have been used for the last 30 years could be repurposed to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as other inflammatory disorders, because of a previously undiscovered intrinsic and inflammatory activity those drugs possess.

Nanotechnology breakthrough will lead to a better artificial retina for visually impaired

(c) American Chemical Society

 
Scientists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers in collaboration with colleagues from Tel Aviv University and Newcastle University, have developed a new light-sensitive film that could one day form the basis of a prosthetic retina to help people suffering from retinal damage or degeneration.

Research could revolutionise treatment for eye conditions such as AMD

Patients with eye diseases have new hope after researchers at the University of Reading discovered a potential way of making eye drops more effective.

Typically, less than 5% of the medicine dose applied as drops actually penetrates the eye - the majority of the dose will be washed off the cornea by tear fluid and lost.