Blin

A treatment for blindness

A surgical technique to correct a blinding condition in premature babies appears to have long-term benefits. Children born with retinopathy in prematurity (ROP) have an abnormal growth of blood vessels along the surface of the retina.If this is not treated , the condition can lead to legal blindness in about 60 percent of patients. A surgical procedure Cryotherapy, is emplo...

Blindness can be stopped with drug for acne treatment

Stargardt's macular degeneration, also called juvenile macular degeneration, is an inherited disease which affects one in 10,000 people. This condition results from a defect in the ABCR gene, which is responsible for coding for a protein that removes all-trans-retinaldehyde, a vision byproduct, from retinal rods and cones. Rods and cones are supported by retinal-pigmented epithelium (RPE...

Cure for blindness

A new ray of hope for visually- impaired patients.Retinal cell transplants can restore vision in blind rats, thereby opening up new possibilities for them. Researchers at the University of Texas, have transplanted human retinal cells into rats born with a predisposition to blindness.// Experiments showed that the rats were then able to distinguish patterns as well as animals with normal v...

Microchip gives blind a chance of sight

A computer chip implanted near the eye’s retina is well on its way to offering some restored vision. People blinded by eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related degeneration of the eye will be benefitted by the new development. The implant works for eye diseases in which healthy retinal neurons remain intact after they lose use of the eye’s photoreceptors.// These recep...

Microchip gives blind a chance of sight

A computer chip implanted near the eye’s retina is well on its way to offering some restored vision. People blinded by eye diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa and age-related degeneration of the eye will be benefitted by the new development.// The implant works for eye diseases in which healthy retinal neurons remain intact after they lose use of the eye’s photoreceptors. These recept...

Pen-nibbling addiction

A MAN addicted to munching his way through 50 ballpoint pens a week has been cured by hypnotherapy. John Carey, 34, began spending pounds 50 a month on his habit after he was banned// from using pens at work because none of his colleagues could find anything to write with. “My manager took me one side and said it wasn’t just the money I was costing them but the fact that nobody else coul...

Rumbling stomach

WHAT makes our stomach rumble when we are hungry? Or are the noises related to something else altogether? The rumbling or growling sounds of the digestive tract,// which scientists call by the very expressive word borborygmi, represent the muscular contractions and expansions of peristalsis, the process that moves the contents of the stomach and intestines onward and downward. Some such...

Nightlights could ward diabetic blindness

According to researchers, illumination during the hours of darkness might prevent retinal damage in diabetes. One of the major complications of diabetes is a form of blindness called diabetic retinopathy. This results from damage to the retina //- the layer of tissue at the back of the eye which responds to light.In diabetes, the blood supply to the eye is impaired and this has an impact...

Response to chemotherapy could be measured by Prostate-Specific Antigen Doubling Time

Researchers from the department of urology in a hospital in Switzerland who investigated whether chemotherapeutic response to hormone-refractory prostate cancer could be measured via changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) found that prostate cancer doubling time may be an auxiliary marker of response to chemotherapy// in patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer. The study...

Parkinson’s Drug Linked to Gamblin

A new study finds an unusual side effect from drug therapy in some Parkinson’s patients. Certain dopamine agonists show signs of causing some patients to become excessive gamblers. Dopamine is a chemical substance that is produced in the brain that allows people to have smooth movements. Parkinson’s patients have a severe shortage of dopamine. Drug therapies for Parkinson’s focus on incre...

New Drug to Stop Gambling!

Gambling is big business in America -- earning the gaming industry nearly $51 billion in net revenue each year. Like most addictions, once you start, it's hard to stop.// Now, a drug treatment could get gamblers back on their feet. Pulsing music. Flashing lights. And the elusive jackpots. That's what keeps gamblers coming back.Jeff was gambling five times a week -- losing about $400 ea...

Smoking Linked to Blindness

Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of adult blindness, which results in irreversible loss of central vision. // A recent study shows smokers are up to four-times as likely to become blind later in life from age-related macular degeneration. The study showed quitting smoking slows the development of the blinding condition. On the other hand, continued smoking can aff...

Blindness may be genetic by nature

Your kind of immunity may lead you to blindness. According to a new research to be published in the Science journal, //scientists had been able to find out a genetic component that may lead to loss of sight. In search of what is commonly known as blindness due to age, scientists have come up with a gene that may cause macular degeneration in elderly people. This is a variety of gene t...

Angioplasty death risk reduced by doubling drug dose

A new study shows how the risk of death and heart attack can be reduced for heart patients undergoing an angioplasty. It was found that doubling the usual dose of an anti-clotting drug before the procedure is the answer.// Angioplasty is a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into an artery. The balloon is inflated to compress plaque in the artery and unblock the ve...

Angioplasty death risk reduced by doubling drug dose

A new study shows how the risk of death and heart attack can be reduced for heart patients undergoing an angioplasty.// It was found that doubling the usual dose of an anti-clotting drug before the procedure is the answer. Angioplasty is a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into an artery. The balloon is inflated to compress plaque in the artery and unblock the ves...

Pathological gambling is associated to brain functions

Decisions that lead to pathological gambling seems to be entrenched in the brain development of the// gamblers. Scientists of Raul Carrea Institute for Neurological Research, Buenos Aires, Argentina are of the opinion that pathological gamblers may not be able to help but gamble. According to the researchers who had looked into the decision making abilities of 11 spontaneous gamblers a...

Gambling related to Parkinsons medication

Medication meant to treat Parkinsons disease has been associated with sudden onset of phases// of habitual gambling in people who were not gamblers otherwise. The Mayo Clinic psychiatrists were behind the research that had shed light on such a link between gambling and the drug called dopamine agonists. Parkinsons disease is a disorder of the nervous system. Some of its symp...

Monkeys offer genetic clues to adult blindness

A genetic link between rhesus monkeys with macular degeneration and humans// could help treat blindness in older adults, reports science portal www.eurekalerts.org. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in older adults, yet researchers are still in the dark about many factors that cause this incurable disease. William W. Dawson, professor of oph...

An Eye Opener for the blind

A US biomedical engineering team has announced the development of an artificial vision system for a totally blind person,with an ability to deliver a visual acuity of about 20/400. The system uses a sub-miniature television camera and an ultrasonic distance sensor, both of which are mounted on a pair of eyeglasses. The sensors connect through a cable to a miniature computer which is w...

Enzyme Responsible For Congenital Blindness

Researchers from UCLA had found out that a deficient gene that is also responsible for the presence of an enzyme in the vision cycle that causes congenital blindness in children. The researchers’ study regarding the congenital blinding disease // called Leber congenital amaurosis is published in the August issue of the journal Cell. Researchers suggest that replacement of RPE65, which...

Attention! Spells of momentary blindness following visual disturbance

Emotionally arousing violent or erotic images have been known to cause momentary periods of blindness. It has been demonstrated that there are limits to how much information people can hold in their visual short-term memory // . As a consequence of this, we often miss visual images that pass right before our eyes when we are paying attention to something else. But this is n...

A ray of hope in treating blindness and other eye disorders

A recent study has focused on the communication processes between cells that could perhaps be extrapolated to prevent the spread of damaged cells, leading to blindness. Normally cells have a blood supply to send nutrients from // one cell to the other, enabling communication. For cells that don't have that, there has to be tiny bridge like connections, which enables movement of molecu...

Smokers Face The Risk Of Becoming Blind In Later Life

Smokers are more prone to losing their eyesight later in life than non-smokers, says a British study. There are around 500,000 people in the UK with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Of these, an estimated 54,000 people have the condition as a result of smoking.// AMD usually develops after a person reaches 50 years and affects the central part of the retina of the e...

Drug Pramipexole Usage Linked To Gambling Addiction In Parkinsons Patients

Dr. M. Leann Dodd and colleagues from Minnesota medical center, Rochester has found new evidences between the usage of the drug Pramipexole, which is used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and severe addiction to gambling // . Pathologic gambling which is a severe addiction to gambling is a very rare phenomenon mostly occurring due to usage of anti-Parkinson’s drug and the addic...

Not Blinking Enough In Front Of The Computer Can Cause Dry Eye

Computers have indeed revolutionized the office atmosphere by reducing the workload and providing for easy storage of huge amounts of data. Numerous studies have already demonstrated // the disastrous effects of spending most of the day in front of the computers. A new study now reveals that squinting at a computer screen can reduce the frequency of blinking by as much 50%, leading to a...

Colorblind Individuals have expanded color vision

Deuteranamolous patients suffer from color blindness due to X-chromosome variations, which make them unable to differentiate between colors but have an increased sensitivity to differentiate two color dimensions//, which are unable to be differentiated by normal persons. The results of these studies carried out by Professor John Mollon and colleagues, University of Cambridge had been publ...

Youngsters Take Their Example From Older Siblings

The University of Washington and the University of Queensland’s researchers have revealed that the sisters and brothers of a child are stronger role models than parents or friends // as far as habits like smoking and drinking are concerned. The younger children in a family tend to follow the example of their older siblings in such matters. Dr Abby Fagan of the University of Washingto...

A gene(Y) linked to blindness (AMD)!

It has bugged researchers for long to detect the cause of blindness-inducing neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular// degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The only thing known was that they are genetic, but the problem was that AMD and RP belong to a complex family of disorders and further there are many forms of that disorder encoded by a distinct genetic f...

Millions Of Diabetic And Glaucoma Patients Risk Blindness

More than 1.9 million diabetics and 250,000 early-stage glaucoma patients risk blindness due to lack of proper awareness according to a report published by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).// In an attempt to prevent such a disaster, a campaign called 'Open Your Eyes' has been launched in the UK. Apart from the above-mentioned figure, another 2 million are believed...

Bond Exists Between Siblings In Spite Of Rivalries

A special bond exists among siblings, even though they compete with each other for a variety of things including recognition from their parents. The relationship which exists between siblings is very // different from that of with parents or partners. Most children do not welcome the birth of a new baby in the family. But the chasm of jealously no longer exists among siblings. Their relat...

Love is blind and Seeing is not Believing – Parents Don’t Believe Their Children Are Overweight!!

Britain: Parents are blind to their children’s obesity, say some researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth. Obesity rates have gone up in recent times, and nearly half of Britons come under the overweight category.// Apart from alarming obesity rates, perhaps what is even more disturbing is the parents’ apathy to obesity amongst their children, which is akin to sitting on...

See Me Campaign: Do Not Turn a Blind Eye and a Deaf Ear to Self-Harm

This is an initiative to draw attention to the issue of self harm. Self-Harm is most often misunderstood, but beneath the veneer lies troubled emotions//, that need support, help and above all, understanding. According to a recent survey, nearly 50% of Scottish adults do not know how to help a person who self-harms. The "see me" campaign research has brought certain thought provoking...

Avastin, anti-Cancer Drug leads to Blindness and Other Complications

Researchers at the Genentech Inc.'s said that Avastin, a cancer drug may cause trigger a rare brain condition, reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome//. This was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was found that two female cancer patients in their 50s treated with Avastin developed reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS). This condition lead...

Genes That Were Responsible For The Cause Of Blindness Identified

Scientists have identified those two genes that were responsible for the cause of blindness that affects millions of older people // throughout the world and they added that the new development could pave way for new treatments. Nearly three-quarters of people in the world suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) a most common cause of blindness. AMD is marked by a progress...

Compulsive Gambling Not A Chronic Addiction Always: Research

Pathological or compulsive gambling has been long regarded to be a chronic and unremitting condition. A new study has now found that is a temporary or short-lived condition // from which affected individuals can recover without any treatment. 'People used to think the same thing about alcohol. But now I think that we are starting to have a more nuanced picture of what compulsive g...

There is light at the end of the blind tunnel: prosthetic retinal cells offer hope!

People with inherited retinal degeneration have hope of vision since researchers have engineered cells in the eye to be light sensitive that were not before.// Zhuo-Hua Pan of Wayne State University School of Medicine and colleagues have engineered this technology using a harmless virus, they introduced a gene for a light-sensitive protein into "inner retinal neurons" in a strain of mic...

Older child’s dominance in intelligence over; younger siblings not far behind

A new study, based on a large, nationwide sample, suggests a critical flaw in that previous research which says that older children are more intelligent// than younger ones. This was said by Aaron Wichman, lead author of the new study and a teaching fellow in psychology at Ohio State University. Aaron Wichman said, "Third- and fourth-born children all come from larger families, and...

Medical Students Protest Proposed Tabling of Reservation Bill

Students of B J Medical College today organised a public gathering here under the banner of 'Youth For Equality' to protest against the tabling of the reservation bill in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning tomorrow.// The protest was part of a nationwide programme, Youth For Equality said in a release adding that protest gatherings were held in 18 states. "The mess...

Eyeing Trouble! Doctor in a blind spot.

While it is the legal norm to take the consent of patients prior to medical trials, a famous eye surgeon has confessed to initiating// medical trials without obtaining approval from the patients. Dr Deepak Chitkara, 46, from Liverpool, found himself in a blind spot after he inserted "untested" lenses into patients' eyes as part of a study. Following this, Mr. Chitkara, lost his job at...

A Couple To Create A Designer Baby As A “Saviour Sibling

A couple have been given permission to use fertility treatment to create a "saviour sibling" for their seriously-ill 20-month-old daughter The Human Fertilisation// and Embryology Authority, has issued a licence to a clinic allowing it to use controversial testing techniques to create a "designer baby" who will be a donor for a very ill baby. Charlotte Mariethoz, from Leicester, has a...