Eyesight and Eye Health

TearLab gets FDA nod for home use of dry eye test

2011-12-05T08:00:32Z

(Reuters) - TearLab Corp said health regulators allowed home use of its device to diagnose dry eye condition, sending the medical device maker's shares up as much as 80 percent to their highest in eight months.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amen...

Novartis eye drug suffers fresh rebuff in Britain

2011-11-23T16:30:10Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Novartis's costly eye drug Lucentis has been rejected for another new use by Britain's health cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE, following a similar setback in July....

Spain charity cleans up with lucky '11.11.11' lottery

2011-11-11T15:30:26Z

A special lottery launched by a Spanish charity for the blind to mark the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011 cleaned up with all of its 13.5 million tickets sold, organisers said Friday.

Long queues formed at lottery stands run by ONCE, a charity for the blind whose name means "eleven" in Spanish, in the hope that the numerical quirk of the date would prove auspicious for winning the 11-million-euro top prize.

Many found tickets for Friday night's special draw sold out and ON...

Ex-captive stresses plight of Sudan's slaves

2011-10-04T18:30:30Z

A former Sudanese slave blinded by a cruel master pleaded for help Tuesday in throwing the spotlight on the plight of others like him, and to find his missing mother.

Ker Aleu Deng was a victim of the 22-year civil war between Sudan's northern and southern regions that ended in 2005 after claiming two million lives and displacing four million people.

Taken during the war to the Muslim ...

New York abolishes eye test to renew drivers license

2011-09-27T12:30:11Z

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - New Yorkers will no longer be required to take an eye test to renew their driver's licenses under a rule change that takes effect on Wednesday.

State Department of Motor Vehicles<...

U.S. VA halts Avastin use for eye disease

2011-09-21T13:30:33Z

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it has stopped using Roche's Avastin to treat a sight-robbing eye disease as it looks into reports of increased risk of infection.

Roche's Reuters Health) - A school-based program aimed at getting more Chinese teenagers with vision problems to buy glasses has failed, according to a new report.

The finding is a set-back for researchers working to improve visual health in a country where "nearly half of all vision impairment among children in the world" occurs, researchers write.

"It's tough, because we run glasse...

Space missions may damage eyes

2011-09-02T11:30:20Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Astronauts experience bone and muscle loss in the weightlessness of space, and now the first study of returning space travelers' eyes suggests that prolonged amounts of time in orbit can take a significant toll on vision, although the long-term effects aren't clear.

The new study, of more than 300 astronauts in the U.S. space program, found that almos...

Five VA patients blinded by Avastin: report

2011-09-01T16:30:50Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Five patients being treated for eye disease were blinded after being injected with Roche Holding AG's Avastin at the Los Angeles Veterans Affairs medical center, accordin...

Repackaged Avastin caused eye infections in Florida

2011-08-31T11:30:16Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Repackaged injections of the cancer drug Avastin, also known as bevacizumab, have caused a cluster of serious eye infections in the Miami, Florida area, the Reuters Health) - If you're getting a drug injection for macular degeneration or another eye condition, a new study suggests you might want to make sure your doctor doesn't talk while doing the procedure.

Researchers found that in just a few minutes of talking over an imaginary patient, unmasked volunteers spewed out bacteria which could potentially land on eyes or injection needle...

Kids respond better to early "lazy eye" treatment

2011-07-12T13:30:33Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treating "lazy eye" is more likely to be successful the younger the child, but even older kids can benefit more than was previously believed, according to a large new study.

Researchers reviewed data on nearly 1,000 children treated for amblyopia, or lazy eye -- diminished vision in one eye that can stem from a number of causes. They found that kids between the ag...

Blindness no barrier to employment at Polish call centre

2011-07-10T03:30:12Z

The steady hum of chatter and the clickety-clack of computer keyboards makes it sound like any other call centre but at this Warsaw market research firm, blindness is no barrier to employment.

The operation runs so smoothly that people on the other end of the phone line have no idea that they're dealing with the visually impaired.

And thanks to new technology, the job gets done without a hitch.

"When you click on an icon, the ...

Nearsightedness linked to serious eye disease

2011-06-30T14:30:49Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who are nearsighted may be nearly twice as likely to also develop glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, according to a new study that summarizes earlier research.

More than two million Americans over 40 have been diagnosed with the eye disease, which is becoming increasingly expensive to treat.

According to one expert, the findings mean nearsighted ...

Severe complications from cataract surgery decline

2011-06-17T13:00:08Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Serious, potentially blinding complications from cataract eye surgery are uncommon, and have been declining since the 1990s, a new U.S. study finds.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens, usually caused when proteins in the lens start to clump up as a person ages. Cataract removal is the most common type of surgery in the

First patients enroll in stem cell trials on blindness

2011-06-16T11:30:18Z

The first clinical trials that examine the use of stem cells to treat two forms of blindness are ready to begin now that patients have been enrolled, a US company announced on Thursday.

A total of 24 patients have entered two separate trials at an eye institute in California, said representatives from the Massachusetts-based Reuters Health) - One in 16 preschoolers has visual impairment in at least one eye, suggests a new study of Australian kids.

The majority of those children only had problems in one eye, and the most common causes were astigmatism, farsightedness and amblyopia, or "lazy eye."

Those findings highlight the importance of diagnosing and correcting vision problems in young kids so ...

Dry eyes common in older Koreans

2011-05-12T14:30:45Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - One in three elderly Koreans have dry eyes, according to a new study.

The findings, published this week in the Archives of Ophthalmology, also show that women and people living in urban areas are more likely to report symptoms of so-called dry eye disease.

Either "your tear glands are not making enough tears to keep your eyes moist (or) you're making enough ...

How many kids have droopy eye?

2011-05-04T15:00:47Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Droopy eye affects about 1 in 12,500 kids, which is about what doctors expected, a new study says.

Droopy eye, or ptosis, is usually caused by damage to the muscle that raises the eyelid and can be present at birth or result from later injuries or disease. It often forces kids to raise their eyebrows or lift up their chins to see.

Parents of kids with a droo...

Acupuncture plus glasses may help treat "lazy eye"

2011-04-29T09:30:53Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding to past evidence, acupuncture plus wearing glasses might help kids get over "lazy eye," a new study says.

In kids 3 to 7 years old, acupuncture plus glasses helped vision improve compared with just glasses alone, said study co-author Dr. Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam, who chairs the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Reuters Health) - Eating less meat and more vegetables is tied to a lower risk of cataracts, a British study says.

In a large dietary survey that followed people for as long as 15 years, researchers found that about three in 50 meat eaters had cataracts, compared to about two in 50 vegans and vegetarians.

The results translated to a 30 to 40 percent lower cataract risk among ...

Scientists grow proto-eyes in the lab

2011-04-06T15:30:35Z

In a major advance toward regenerative medicine, researchers have for the first time coaxed stem cells from a mammal into becoming an embryonic eye, according to a study released Wednesday.

The results, published in Nature, show that growing a complex human organ inside a petri dish -- while still a long way off -- is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

They also point the way to new treatments for diseases that rob people of sight, and even the possibility of one day res...

'Bionic eye' implant offers hope to the blind

2011-04-03T01:30:12Z

For a man whose view of the world has slowly faded to black over 30 years, a device that allows him to see flashes of light has kindled his hope of one day gazing upon his grandson's face.

A career electrician who grew up in Greece and came to the United States as a young man, Elias Konstantopoulos first noticed his vision getting poorer when ...

"Poppers" may cause lasting vision loss

2011-02-22T15:00:07Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Inhaling the vapors from "poppers" to get high even once can cause eye damage, but habitual huffing may lead to months-long vision loss, French doctors say.

The study was small, only involving six HIV-positive men with a history of other drug use. The men had been using poppers at least once a week for months or years before going to see eye doctors because of vis...

Poorer vision may persist after 'lazy eye' therapy

2011-02-15T13:30:33Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even after successful treatment for "lazy eye," people may still have certain vision problems in day-to-day life, a small study suggests.

The study, of 26 people with a history of lazy eye, found that even if their vision had returned to normal or near-normal after treatment, they still had more difficulty perceiving "real-world" images than people with healthy ey...

Mugabe in Singapore for eye check: report

2011-02-13T07:30:20Z

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for an eye check-up following a cataract operation there, a state-owned newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The president left for Singapore on Friday," The Sunday Mail quoted Mugabe spokesman George Charamba as saying.

"He went for a review following a small medical procedure he underwent while on holiday in th...

Olympic bobsled champ pleads guilty to impaired driving

2011-02-09T15:30:44Z

Steve Holcomb, who ended a 62-year American gold medal drought in Olympic bobsled by taking gold at Vancouver last year, has pleaded guilty to impaired driving.

Holcomb drove the four-man US bobsled squad known as "Night Train" to gold last February in Canada, two years after sight-saving surgery for keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease which warps the cornea a...

Vision screening of kids under 3 lacks data: panel

2011-01-31T00:30:07Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A federal expert panel backtracked on Monday on its 2004 recommendation to screen all kids younger than five years for poor vision, lazy eye and other eye conditions.

Healthy children between three and five years should still be tested at least once, according to the FRANKFURT/HONG KONG (Reuters) - German drugmaker Bayer will launch a phase III trial in several Asian countries this year to test a compound to treat an eye disease related to severe shortsightedness.

The disease, choroidal neovascularisation, occurs when abnormal blood vessel growth beneath the...

Chinese teacher helps blind find confidence in art

2011-01-17T03:30:07Z

NANNING, China (Reuters Life!) - Inside a brightly-lit room in a lighting store, painting teacher Zeng Bailiang and his group of volunteers are patiently teaching a group of blind students the basics of Chinese painting.

The students in the classes in Nanning, the provincial capi...

Indonesia radical cleric has cataract surgery

2010-12-20T00:30:16Z

Indonesia radical cleric Bashir has cataract surgery while awaiting trial on terrorism charges

Indonesia's best-known radical cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, has undergone cataract surgery as he awaits trial on terrorism charges.

Lawyer Achmad Michdan says the 72-year-old Bashir started complaining about deteriorating vision in his left ey...

Novartis reaches agreement with Alcon shareholders

2010-12-15T04:00:17Z

Novartis seals Alcon takeover after cash deal with eye care company's minority shareholders

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG said Wednesday it has reached a deal with minority shareholders of Alcon Inc. to complete its $51 billion takeover of the eye care company, the largest such deal in Swiss corporate history.

Novartis said the cost of acquiri...

Strabisus Vision Therapy

2010-11-30T12:37:35Z

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Do You Really Need Two Pair of Eyeglasses?

2010-11-29T14:29:51Z

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How Juvenile RA Affects Binocular Vision

2010-11-29T14:33:29Z

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Strengths of Reading Glasses

2010-11-30T12:38:09Z

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See the world through a bionic eye

2010-11-29T14:47:02Z

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How to Explain the Corrections of Bifocals

2010-11-30T12:38:06Z

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How to Increase Eye Power

2010-11-30T12:38:05Z

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How to Educate Blind and Deaf People

2010-11-30T12:37:52Z

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How to Make Sense of Prescriptions for Spectacles

2010-11-29T14:38:18Z

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Check Your Vision

2010-11-29T14:46:23Z

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Contact Lens Wearing Instructions

2010-11-29T14:38:13Z

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Now I See You

2010-11-29T14:46:33Z

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Natural Treatment for Dry Eye in Dogs

2010-11-29T14:33:20Z

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Historical background

2010-11-29T14:59:23Z

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The Playboy Reader

2010-09-09T03:15:39Z

In this photo taken Aug. 31, 2010, Suzi Hanks talks about her weekly hour spent reading Playboy magazine as a volunteer at Taping For The Blind, Inc. in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Samantha Ambrico, 15, is caught by John Luerssen as she loses her balance on a surf board in Long Beach, NY, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010. Ambrico is a camper at Camp Abilities, a sports camp for visually impaired or blind children. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Copyright 2010 Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Dr. May Griffith displays a biosynthetic cornea that can be implanted into the eye to repair damage and restore sight in Ottawa, Canada, in 2005. Scientists have created a new kind of artificial...

US Blind Drivers

2010-07-02T00:30:35Z

This handout photo, taken in 2009, provided by the National Federation of the Blind shows Addison Hugen, who is blind student participating in the 2009 YouthSlam, a science camp for blind students, in College Park, Md. The

MUSTARD GAS FIX

2010-06-08T19:18:06Z

CORRECTS spelling of conjunctivitis and modifies chatter; Diagram shows possible effects of mustard gas exposure

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