macular degeneration
Researchers at the Duke University Eye Center have determined that patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) experience significant improvement in their quality of life following a surgical procedure called "macular translocation with 360 degree peripheral retinectomy" (MT360). AMD is an eye disease that may lead to vision loss in the central region of a person's visual field, a defect that can seriously impact a patient's quality of life.
Scientists have discovered the first evidence that brain reorganization occurs in people suffering from the progressive visual disorder macular degeneration. The study, "Reorganization of Visual Processing in Macular Degeneration," was published in the Jan. 19 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience by MIT postdoctoral associate Chris Baker and Professor Nancy Kanwisher, in collaboration with Professor Eli Peli of the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard Medical School.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the approval of pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen), a new therapy to slow vision loss in people with the eye disease neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Pegaptanib is a selective vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antagonist. "Macugen is among the first treatments to target the underlying biology of wet age-related macular degeneration," said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. "Macugen provides a needed addition to the treatment of patients with this disease."
The pineal gland -- which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking -- appears to have evolved as an indirect way to improve vision, by keeping toxic compounds away from the eye, according to a new theory by a researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. The theory has implications for understanding macular degeneration, a condition causing vision loss in people age 60 and older.
Cholesterol-busting statins, the largest-selling prescription drugs in the U.S., may protect older people from blindness, a new study shows. Aspirin also appears to provide significant protection, according to the research. Scientists at UCSF assessed the use of statins and aspirin among more than 300 elderly patients with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, a common condition among people over 70. About one in eight cases of AMD deteriorates into what is called wet AMD, the leading cause of irreversible severe vision loss in older people.
High intake of dietary fats may increase the risk of progression of age-related macular degeneration, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to information in the article, age-related macular degeneration (AMD, a common, progressive eye disease in older people that causes blindness) is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness in the United States and in other developed countries. Six percent to eight percent of people aged 75 and older have the advanced stages of AMD associated with blindness. It is estimated that more than eight million people have the intermediate stages of AMD, and of these about 1.3 million people will develop advanced AMD within the next five years.
For the first time scientists have shown that brain stem cells are immune privileged, which means that they are invisible to a transplant recipient's immune system and do not trigger the immune system to reject them. These results, published in the July issue of Stem Cells, indicate that using central nervous system stem cells in transplants for diseases of the eye (which is part of the brain), brain, and spinal cord, may eliminate the need for tissue typing before, and immunosuppressive drugs after, transplantation. Ultimately these findings promise to improve the success of retinal transplantation to regenerate vision for millions with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy and brain transplants to restore functioning for patients with disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
Scientists at the Center for the Study of Macular Degeneration at the Neuroscience Research Institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara have found a link between the brain plaques that form in Alzheimer?s disease and the deposits in the retina that are associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a disease that leads to loss of central vision and affects 5 to 10 percent of the population over age 60.
Administering Accutane, a drug commonly used to treat acne, UCLA researchers have successfully stopped the accumulation of toxic pigments in the eyes of animals with a genetic defect similar to Stargardt's macular degeneration. The UCLA team gave a daily injection of Accutane to mimic the effect of constant light deprivation and the results proved dramatic. These toxic pigments, called lipofuscin, are responsible for the visual loss in patients with Stargardt's disease.
A technology designed to restore vision in patients suffering from age-related blindness will be demonstrated by a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley today. Developed by NASA Ames in conjunction with the Stanford University School of Medicine, the "Vision Chip" may help improve age-related macular degeneration, the number one cause of blindness in the elderly. "Nanotechnology that could restore vision is an exciting example of how NASA science and engineering, origially intended for outer space, can return enormous dividends for everyday life here on Earth," said Dr. David J. Loftus, a member of both the Life Sciences Division and the Integrated Product Team on Devices and Nanotechnology at NASA Ames.
It probably won't get you off the hook with mom, but researchers say that the nutritional content of broccoli tends to fluctuate wildly. While a single serving from one head could pack enough antioxidants and cancer fighters to keep you going for a few days, eating an entire other head could do bupkus.
