Blindness in Medical News

New Reduced Subscription Rate to Leading International Journal on Blindness and Low Vision

NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) , the premier journal of record on blindness and visual impairment from AFB Press, is now available at a new $25 individual subscription fee for online access and $65 for a combined print and onlin...

A Call to Action: NGOs Working in Blindness Prevention and Treatment Convene Special Forum to Address Gender and Eye Health

WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was issued today by the Seva Foundation: WHAT: Leading U.S.-based eye care NGOs are collaborating to host, "Seeing Women: Taking on Gender Inequities in Global Blindness and Care." The inaugural Gender and Eye Health advocacy...

Case Western Reserve awarded nearly $1 million from Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences has been awarded an unrestricted grant along with three individual awards that could total up to $1 million by the Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) Foundation. These are the most grants awarded in...

Retinal Gene Is Linked to Childhood Blindness

Discovery might someday yield therapies to restore sight, experts suggest THURSDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- A gene that plays a major role in two forms of childhood blindness has been identified by an international team of researchers. The discovery of the link between the reti...

USAID Blindness Program Assists One Million Children in 23 Countries

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the past year, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Child Blindness Program assisted over one million people through eye health education, comprehensive vision screening, refractive error correction, sight-restoring surger...

ORBIS and FedEx Launch Sight-Saving Programs to Combat Avoidable Blindness in Latin America & the Caribbean

ORBIS and FedEx target the training of local eye health workers, providing free sight-saving surgeries and awarding two fellowships to local doctors NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ORBIS International and FedEx (NYSE: FDX ) are delivering four weeks of eye health trainin...

Gaza strip families give first clue to condition causing blindness and tooth decay

Scientists studying an inherited condition resulting in blindness and crumbling teeth have found a single defective gene can affect both eye function and normal tooth development. A previously undiscovered and unexpected link between the formation of teeth and eyes has been uncovered by resea...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Dedicates 'Gift of Sight' Statue in Recognition of Lions' Blindness Prevention Efforts

Lions pledge additional $203 million to continue to fight preventable blindness Tuesday, January 27, 1:15-1:45 p.m., 300 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will dedicate the "Gift of Sight" statue on Tuesday, Janu...

Former President Jimmy Carter Dedicates 'Gift of Sight' Statue at Lions Club International Headquarters in Recognition of Lions' Blindness Prevention Efforts

Lions pledge additional $203 million to fight preventable blindness OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released by Lions Clubs International: (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/DC38855LOGO ) Who: Former President and Lion Jimm...

Protein Might One Day Prevent Blindness

Researchers find it prolongs lives of key vision cells in mice THURSDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers working with mice have identified a protein that appears to prolong the lives of retinal cells in both healthy and diseased eyes. The discovery could one day lead to treat...

Moshi Names Independent Living Aids Exclusive Distributor in Blindness and Visual Impairment Field

Independent Living Aids (ila) is proud to be the exclusive distributor of Moshi products in the blindness and visual impairment field. Moshi's latest product, the new Talking Interactive Voice Responsive Clock, is a natural addition to the ila line of products that empower the visually impaired. ...

Seva Foundation Recognizes Paul Courtright and Susan Lewallen for Their Commitment to Blindness Prevention

Doctors who founded a state-of-the-art eye care facility in Tanzania to be honored with 2008 International Blindness Prevention Award BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Seva Foundation proudly honors the accomplishments of two pioneering leaders in the fight against p...

Safety study indicates gene therapy for blindness improves vision

GAINESVILLE, Fla. All three people who received gene therapy at the University of Florida to treat a rare, incurable form of blindness have regained some of their vision, according to a paper published online today in Human Gene Therapy . The patients one woman and two men ranging from 21 to...

Hyperactive immune resistance brings blindness in old age

Age-dependent macular degeneration (AMD) is the commonest cause of blindness in the western industrialised nations. Hereditary changes in the regulation of the immune system influence the risk of contracting AMD. Opthalmologists at the University Clinic in Bonn, working in co-operation with resear...

Glaucoma Treatment Can Prevent Blindness

Even those with severe disease can save some vision, experts say WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Glaucoma doesn't necessarily have to end in blindness, two new studies suggest. In one report, researchers say they found traditional surgery for glaucoma has better outcomes than ...

Baby's Blindness Resolved, Nerves in Knee Regenerated and Other Unusual Complimentary Therapies from BiomagScience

Nerve regeneration, rare infant eye disease, awaking from terminal coma, 25 year illness reversed and numerous other unusual magnet therapy studies from BiomagScience.com. Testing showing how the cells respond to advanced therapy placement and why regeneration and resolution of unusually acute o...

Luczo Dragon IndyCar Carries 'Eyes on the Road' Logo to Prevent Blindness to Indy 500

BOSTON and INDIANAPOLIS, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 25, one bright yellow IndyCar, the Number 12 Symantec Dallara Honda, will be racing to win the Indianapolis 500 bearing the symbol of a campaign to fight blindness -- Eyes on the Road. By emblazoning their car on both sides with the logo o...

Prevent Blindness America Invites Consumers to 'See America' Through Nationwide Contest

Contest Seeks to Educate Public About the Importance of Regular Eye Care CHICAGO, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Prevent Blindness America today announced the nationwide launch of its "See America" contest, an effort to educate Americans about the importance of preventive eye exams to promote overal...

The danger of blindness after ophthalmic surgery

Ophthalmologists inject gas into the eye mainly during the surgical treatment of retinal hemorrhages or injuries. The purpose of the gas is to help press the detached retina to the wall of the eye. There is a risk of subsequent expansion of the gas bubble during airplane travel, at high altitudes,...

Biannual Antibiotics May Cut Major Cause of Blindness in Africa

Ocular strain of chlamydia responds well to expanded treatment, report says TUESDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Increasing the administration of antibiotics from annually to twice a year in rural African villages could help reduce serious eye infections that can lead to blindness, a n...

Gene therapy safety trial for childhood blindness under way

GAINESVILLE, Fla. Three decades have passed since gene therapy pioneer William W. Hauswirth, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Florida began work on a virus that could safely deliver corrective genes into living animals. Its been six years since a multi-university team used gene t...

Diabetes: A Top Cause of Blindness Among Adults

The American Optometric Association reminds patients about the importance of comprehensive eye exams during November's National Diabetes Month ST. LOUIS, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey by the American Optometric Association (AOA), revealed that Americans aren't taking their eye health ...

Developing gene therapy to fight blindness

An international team of scientists and clinicians from the United States and Saudi Arabia are working to develop gene therapy for treating a rare, hereditary retinal disease. The therapy has been shown to restore lost vision in animal models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Their work is being fun...

Canadian Bio Med Attacks World's Leading Cause of Blindness

NEW YORK, MONTREAL and SAN DIEGO, CA, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Canadian Bio Med Systems Inc., a subsidiary of ICBS Ltd., (OTCPK: ICBT), and Ocular Therapeutics Inc. of San Diego California, announced the development of a new AMD drug now being tested by Canadian Bio Med Systems, Inc. (CBMS...

JustAnswer(R) and Glaucoma Research Foundation Help Individuals See the Light in Preventing Blindness

Country's Leading Eye Experts to Answer Questions and Concerns as Part of 'Ask An Eye Doctor' Vision Research Month Campaign during the Week of June 22 SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- JustAnswer (R), the website where people go when they need answers from Doctors , Lawyers , ...

UNC study suggests new approach to common cause of blindness

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in collaboration with lead investigators at the University of Kentucky have identified a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of bli...

Principal Management Group Walks to Fight Blindness

Walkers Raised $3000 to Help Fund Sight-Saving Research Through Foundation Fighting Blindness DALLAS, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Principal Management Group of North Texas (PMG), an Associa Company, recently participated in a walk-a-thon as "Bonnie Believers" in support of the Greater DFW...

Type of vitamin B1 could treat common cause of blindness

GALVESTON, Texas 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. Scientists believe that uveitis, an inflammation of the tissue located just bel...

3-D snapshots of eyes reveal details of age-related blindness

WASHINGTON, March 19 To get a better look at the abnormalities that cause age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in Americans and Europeans over 50, the research groups of James Fujimoto at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and collaborators Jay Duke...

New surgical implant tested at U-Iowa prevents total blindness

A work accident leaves a woman blind in one eye. As she copes with the loss, within months the vision in the other, previously uninjured eye begins to blur, and the eye becomes red and inflamed. The rare eye condition, known as sympathetic ophthalmia, occurs when vision is lost in one eye throu...

Team led by Scripps Scientists increases understanding of two types of blindness

Though based on mouse studies, the research bolsters the idea that humans suffering from these and other eye conditions may be able to help preserve function by adding antioxidants to their diet, and explains why this would work. The team also devised a new cell-based gene therapy technique that c...

From Jet Engines to Search Engines, ORBIS-FedEx-Indiana University Join Forces to Fight Unnecessary Childhood Blindness

Indiana University trains FedEx Fellow Dr. Phara Khauv as Cambodia's first pediatric eye surgeon NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Phara Khauv, one of only eight ophthalmologists in Cambodia, is at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine preparing to become his nation's firs...

New Welsh 'Self-Test' to Cure Glaucoma, the Leading Cause of Preventable Blindness

MIAMI, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the World Health Organization, more than five million people, mostly elderly blacks, but many Latinos and a few elderly Whites with their Glaucoma family members, needlessly suffer horribly from total incurable Glaucoma-Blindness ("White-Canes"). Mo...

Dr. Welsh 'Self-Test' Diagnoses Glaucoma, the Leading Cause of Preventable- Blindness

MIAMI, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the World Health Organization, more than five million people, mostly elderly blacks, needlessly suffer from total incurable Glaucoma-Blindness ("White-Canes"). Most lacked the opportunity to get tested for earlier Glaucoma before Glaucoma robbed them...

New discovery may improve treatment of one of the world's leading causes of blindness

GALVESTON, Texas An inflammatory eye condition that is one of the worlds leading causes of blindness could be treated much more effectively and easily thanks to a new discovery here. In experiments with laboratory rats, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have dev...

River Blindness Becoming Drug Resistant

As Ghana commemorates 50 years of independence this year, the fight against river blindness there also marks its half century. The really bad news is that the parasite that causes the crippling disease endemic in Africa may be developing resistance to the one drug used to treat it. River b...

Gene Therapy Awakens the Brain Despite Blindness from Birth

University of Pennsylvania researchers have shown in an animal study that a gene therapy used to restore retinal activity to the blind also restores function to the brain's visual centre , a critical component of seeing. Geoffrey K. Aguirre, Assistant Professor of Neurology at the universit...

Gene Responsible for Blindness in Infants and Children Identified

Montreal, June 4, 2007 An international team led by MUHC has identified the gene that causes Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA). LCA is a common congenital blindness in infants and small children. The study has been published in todays issue of Nature Genetics and is partly funded by the Foundation...

New Gene Discovery Raises Hope for Childhood Blindness Cure

An international research team has identified a gene that, when mutated, causes one of the most universal forms of inherited blindness in babies . Scientists at the University of Leeds, working in alliance with experts from other centres around the world, discovered the gene, which is vital...

Vitamin A Deficiency Leads to Large-scale Blindness in North East

Vitamin A deficiency has resulted in blindness among children in a big way in the North Eastern parts of India, a study has found.// As much as 51.6 per cent of the children in the schools for the blind in that region have become blind over a period of time only because of vitamin-related pro...