MedicineWorld.Org brings daily ophthalmology news from various sources to keep you updated on the latest events in the world on this topic. Medicineworld ophthalmology news service is the most comprehensive ophthalmology news service on the internet. We keep an archive of previous few days of news on this site. Please go down through the list to find the older news items. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/ophthalmology-news.jpg 120 82 http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/high-blood-pressure-and-high-cholesterol.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/high-blood-pressure-and-high-cholesterol.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Hypertension and high cholesterol levels appear to be risk factors for retinal vein occlusion, a condition that causes vision loss, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Retinal vein occlusion occurs when one or more veins carrying blood from the eye to the heart become blocked, as per background information in the article. Bleeding (hemorrhage) or fluid buildup (edema) may follow, damaging vision........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/vision-therapy-visual-function.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/vision-therapy-visual-function.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT A low-vision treatment program that includes a home visit, counseling, assistive devices such as magnifiers and assignments to practice using them appears to significantly improve vision in veterans with diseases of the macula (the area of the retina with the sharpest vision), as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/sharper-imags-sports-vision-clinic.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/sharper-imags-sports-vision-clinic.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT The standard eye chart only covers letters and numbers, but athletes need above average vision to track balls hurtling toward them at alarming speeds. To test those special skills, a University of Houston optometrist has founded the Sports Vision Performance Center, a facility where athletes perform while a strobe light is flashing, play tag with a board of lights and engage in other activities designed to improve their visual abilities........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/mu-researchers-find-clue-to-cataract-formation.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/mu-researchers-find-clue-to-cataract-formation.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT It is the No. 1 line-item cost of Medicare reimbursement and affects more than 20 million people in the United States. Cataracts, which can have devastating effects on the eye, affect 42 percent of the population between the ages of 70 and 80, and 68 percent of the population over the age of 80, as per the National Eye Institute. Now, a University of Missouri professor has identified an important step in how cataracts form. This discovery, published in a recent edition of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to a better therapy or cure for cataracts in the future........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/when-poor-communication-pokes-you-in-the-eye.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/when-poor-communication-pokes-you-in-the-eye.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT The ocular lens belongs to the optical apparatus and focuses incidental beams of light onto the retina. Now, a research team led by Professor Dr. Jochen Graw of the Institute of Developmental Genetics, of the Helmholtz Zentrum München, has been able to decipher a genetic defect responsible for small eyes and an incomplete, clouded lens in the so-called Aey12 mouse mutants. These results lead to conclusions concerning cataracts in humans, because, in this case too, the lens loses its transparency........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/lasik-patients-95-percent-satisfaction-rate.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/lasik-patients-95-percent-satisfaction-rate.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Worldwide, an average 95.4 percent of LASIK patients are satisfied with their new vision, as per the first review of the world body of scientific literature, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery announced recently. With 16.3 million patients having had LASIK worldwide, and more than a decade of clinical study and technological innovation behind it, LASIK is considered among the most successful elective procedures available today........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/dry-eye-syndrome-after-lasik-surgery.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/dry-eye-syndrome-after-lasik-surgery.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Researchers at Schepens Eye Research Institute have observed that people with a certain low level of tear production are more likely to develop chronic dry eye syndrome after LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis), laser refractive surgery to correct near- and far-sightedness than those with more plentiful tears. Their research, reported in the recent issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science, may offer reliable prescreening criteria for ophthalmologists and patients........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/the-eyes-tells-it-all.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/the-eyes-tells-it-all.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Using the radiocarbon dating method and special proteins in the lens of the eye, scientists at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus can now establish, with relatively high precision, when a person was born. This provides a useful tool for forensic researchers who can use it to establish the date of birth of an unidentified body and could also have further consequences for health science research. The findings appear in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE on January 30........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/next-generation-optical-fibres.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/next-generation-optical-fibres.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Researchers have discovered a way of speeding up the production of hollow-core optical fibres - a new generation of optical fibres that could lead to faster and more powerful computing and telecommunications technologies. The procedure, described today in the journal Optics Express, cuts the production time of hollow-core optical fibres from around a week to a single day, reducing the overall cost of fabrication........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/contact-lenses-with-circuits.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/contact-lenses-with-circuits.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Movie characters from the Terminator to the Bionic Woman use bionic eyes to zoom in on far-off scenes, have useful facts pop into their field of view, or create virtual crosshairs. Off the screen, virtual displays have been proposed for more practical purposes -- visual aids to help vision-impaired people, holographic driving control panels and even as a way to surf the Web on the go........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/contact-lenses-purchased-over-internet.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/contact-lenses-purchased-over-internet.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Purchasing contact lenses online may save consumers time, but the process could cause more problems in the long run, as per a new study published in the recent issue of Optometry: Journal of the American Optometric Association. This research, which was conducted by Joshua Fogel, Ph.D., and Chaya Zidile of Brooklyn College, observed that individuals who did not purchase their contact lenses from an eye doctor, but from an online site or store, are potentially placing themselves at greater risk. The findings indicated that online and store purchasers (consumers who get their contacts at a wholesale club or optical chain outlet) are less likely to adhere to healthy eye care practices, as recommended by their eye doctor........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/cost-of-glaucoma-medications-may-impact-treatment.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/cost-of-glaucoma-medications-may-impact-treatment.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT In the United States, the management of glaucoma costs about $2.5 billion per year. Of the $1.9 billion in direct costs, glaucoma medications account for an estimated 38% to 52% of the total. In an article reported in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, scientists from The Texas AandM University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas; analyzed the economics of medically managing glaucoma. The yearly costs to patients of various topical glaucoma medications were calculated and significant price differences and increases in cost over time were found........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/lasik-works-well-in-highly-myopic-patients.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/lasik-works-well-in-highly-myopic-patients.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT Laser surgery to correct vision problems has been in use since the early part of 1990s. Photorefractive Keratotomy (PRK) is typically used to correct low to moderate myopia, while laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is preferred for high myopia corrections. Eventhough over 18 million LASIK procedures have been performed worldwide, there is still some controversy regarding the maximum correction possible and efficacy with this technique. In an article reported in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, scientists from Miguel Hernandez University, Medical School, Alicante, Spain; and Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey; report on a study of high myopia patients ten years after LASIK surgery. The findings show that LASIK for myopia over -10 D is a safe and effective procedure in the long-term........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/new-treatment-for-age-related-macular-degeneration.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/new-treatment-for-age-related-macular-degeneration.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT With 8 million people at high risk for advanced age-related macular degeneration, scientists from Harvard and Japan discovered that the experimental drug, endostatin, may be the cure. A research report reported in the December 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal, describes how giving endostatin to mice significantly reduced or eliminated abnormal blood vessel growth within the eye, which is ultimately why the disease causes blindness........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/how-the-brain-sends-eyeballs-bouncing.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/how-the-brain-sends-eyeballs-bouncing.html Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:16 GMT All vision, including reading this sentence, depends on a constant series of infinitesimal jumps by the eyeball that centers the retina on target objectswords or phrases in the case of reading. Such jumps, or saccades, are critical to vision because only the small central region of the retina, called the fovea, produces the clear image necessary for perception. Such saccades take place several times a second and are generated within a brain region known as the frontal eye field (FEF)........ ]]>