Blindness is loss or absence of the ability to perceive visual images. The condition of a person having less than 1/10 (20/200 on the Snellen test) normal vision. Blindness may be caused by injury, by lesions of the brain or optic nerve, by disease of the cornea or retina, by pathological changes originating in systemic disorders (e.g., diabetes) and by cataract, glaucoma, or retinal detachment. Blindness caused by infectious diseases, such as trachoma, and by dietary deficiencies is common in underdeveloped countries where medical care is inadequate.
New supplement CARMA may help slow sight loss in elderly – Queen’s University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people. – The antioxidant nutritional supplement may help those affected by the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research programme has found.
Saffron has remarkable effects on the genes which regulate the performance of the eye?s key vision cells. – The herb saffron may hold one of the keys to preventing the loss of sight in old age ? and may even help to improve vision in people suffering certain blinding eye diseases.
Preclinical Work Shows How One Gene Causes Severe Mental Retardation. – Researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina have discovered in mice how a single disrupted gene can cause a form of severe mental retardation known as Angelman syndrome.
Taking folic acid for a year before pregnancy may reduce risk of preterm birth. Findings reinforce March of Dimes message: Start taking a vitamin with folic acid before pregnancy. – Women who take folic acid supplements for at least one year before they become pregnant may cut their risk of having a premature baby by half, according to research published this week in the online journal, PLoS Medicine.
Benfotiamene – type of vitamin B1 could treat common cause of blindness – uveitis. – University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered that a form of vitamin B1 could become a new and effective treatment for one of the world’s leading causes of blindness.
UCL?Pfizer to develop pioneering stem cell sight therapies for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). – UCL has entered into a collaboration with the biopharmaceutical group Pfizer, negotiated by UCL Business, to advance development of stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Existing medical treatments could reduce the expected number of cases of visual impairment and blindness attributable to age-related macular degeneration by as much as 35 percent. – Health care providers can expect a significant increase in age-related macular degeneration as the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health Minister invites diaspora to join in developing healthcare – Indian Health Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has called for public-private partnership in health sector to meet the gap between supply and demand.
Living Cell Technologies receives New Zealand’s Health Minister?s approval to start leading edge live cell therapy clinical trial in New Zealand for Diabetes patients. – Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT; OTCQX: LVCLY) announced that New Zealand Health Minister, the Honorable David Cunliffe, has approved an application from the company to conduct in New Zealand a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of DiabeCell?, LCT’s lead product candidate for the treatment of insulin dependent (Type 1) diabetes.
Researchers looked at a UK sample of patients with AMD and controls, and screened 32 genes potentially involved in the condition. Results suggest an association with the SERPING1 gene. – A new genetic association is established with the eye condition age-related macular degeneration (AMD), revealed by researchers.
Eating oily fish once weekly may protect eyesight against age-related macular degeneration in old age. – Eating oily fish once a week may reduce age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the major cause of blindness and poor vision in adults in western countries and the third cause of global blindness, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
A new testing device may give doctors early warning of eye disease, especially vision trouble linked to diabetes. – A new vision screening device, already shown to give an early warning of eye disease, could give doctors and patients a head start on treating diabetes and its vision complications, a new study shows.
