General Vision and
Eye News Archive (2007)

...continued from Current Eye News

Congress Considers Funding for Children's Eye Exams

WASHINGTON, December 2007 — The U.S. House of Representatives in late 2007 granted final approval and funding for the Vision Care for Kids Act, which would designate $65 million to help pay for eye exams and appropriate follow-up care for uninsured children.

The bill, backed by major optometry and ophthalmology organizations, also encourages public education programs and partnerships with non-profit organizations.

The bill in late 2007 was sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

Vision Correction Eases Depression
Symptoms of Nursing Home Residents

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., December 2007 — Depression in nursing home residents can be reduced significantly when refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and presbyopia are corrected, according to study findings published in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

The report said nursing home residents are up to 15 times more likely to have uncorrected vision errors, compared with older people of similar ages who live in the community outside institutions. But when nursing home residents received appropriate vision correction such as eyeglasses, their quality of life improved and symptoms of depression declined.

"This study implies that there are significant, short-term quality-of-life and psychological benefits to providing the most basic of eye care services," said University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers.

[Read about tips for coping with vision loss.]

Eye Exams Now Required for Children Entering Illinois Public Schools

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., December 2007 — Mandatory eye exams for children will begin Jan. 1 in Illinois, which is the third state along with Kentucky and Missouri to adopt the requirement for entering public schools.

Before a child entering public school for the first time in Illinois can be officially admitted, proof that an eye exam has been conducted must be submitted.

Eye doctors recommend eye exams for children entering school to help detect common conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia and strabismus, which — when undetected — can greatly impact a child's academic performance.

"Requiring complete eye examinations for kids entering kindergarten or first grade will provide the opportunity for eye problems to be diagnosed and treated earlier," said Illinois state Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, who sponsored the legislation.

Read more about mandatory eye exams for children.

FDA Warns Public About Age Intervention Eyelash Product

ROCKVILLE, Md., November 2007 — U.S. marshals have seized about $2 million worth of Age Intervention Eyelash products containing a glaucoma medication that, when used improperly, could lead to damage of the eye's optic nerve and blindness.

FDA officials ordered the seizure of Age Intervention Eyelash products after learning that the product, marketed as a way to increase eyelash growth, contains bimatoprost. Bimatoprost is a glaucoma eye drop used to help control internal (intraocular) eye pressure; it also has the potential side effect of causing eyelash growth.

An FDA announcement says people who already take glaucoma medications and who use the Age Intervention Eyelash product may experience less effective control of eye pressure, leading to eye damage.

Side effects from use of the cosmetic product containing bimatoprost also can include eye inflammation (uveitis) and macular edema or swelling of the back inner lining of the eye (retina) where vision processing occurs.

Many Drivers Report Night Vision Problems

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., November 2007 — A recent nationwide survey reveals that about 32 percent of drivers report significant problems with seeing in darker conditions all or most of the time.

Kelton Research conducted the survey for Road & Travel Magazine and Acuvue Brand Contact Lenses, with findings that include:

• 26 percent of drivers have difficulty seeing highway signs and exits
• 20 percent struggle to see turns in the road
• 23 percent said driving confidence is low in darker conditions
• 22 percent have more problems judging distances
• 20 percent have significant problems seeing pedestrians and animals

Most survey participants said they thought proper vision correction would help them with their night driving. But many had never talked to an eye doctor about concerns and options.

[Read more about how drivers can cope with night vision problems.]

High Levels of an Amino Acid May Damage Retina

AUGUSTA, Ga., October 2007 — Medical College of Georgia researchers have found evidence that higher levels of an amino acid known as homocysteine may damage the eye's retina, where vision processing occurs.

Researchers say homocysteine levels are higher in people whose diets are deficient in folate, a B vitamin found in vegetables, fruits and grains.Folate combines with vitamin B12 to help convert homocysteine to another amino acid, methionine, which is essential for healthy functioning of cells.

Unusually high levels of homocysteine also are associated with increased risks of heart attack, stroke and dementia.

Eye Exam Detects Nerve Damage Associated With Multiple Sclerosis

BALTIMORE, Md., October 2007 — A simple eye test known as optical coherence tomography (OCT) may help physicians identify and monitor multiple sclerosis, according to a Johns Hopkins Hospital study in which OCT was used to analyze thickness and health of the eye's optic nerve.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) and accompanying symptoms such as muscle weakness and vision problems occur when the body's abnormal immune responses damage brain and nerve cells.

"With OCT we can see exactly how healthy these nerves are, potentially in advance of other symptoms," said Johns Hopkins neurologist Peter Calabresi, MD.

Calabresi also said an OCT eye exam involves only about one-tenth the cost and time of conducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which typically is used to scan for signs of brain damage.

Researchers said the OCT test is designed to provide specific images of the eye's retinal nerve fiber layer, which is part of the brain. An MRI shows less specific changes to various kinds of tissue.

Eye Patches Improve "Lazy Eye" With Shorter Wearing Times

LONDON, September 2007 — Studies funded by Fight for Sight show that children with "lazy eye" (amblyopia) need only wear eye patches for about four hours daily to strengthen weaker eyes.

Researchers concluded that wearing eye patches from three to four hours daily was as effective for correcting amblyopia as wearing them for 12 hours, which commonly is recommended.

Study results were reported this month in the online version of British Medical Journal.

Many Sports Eye Injuries Can Be Prevented

CHICAGO, September 2007 — Prevent Blindness America says most of more than 600,000 sports-related eye injuries that occur annually in America could be prevented with simple use of eye protection.

"Every 13 minutes, another emergency room treats a sports eye injury that could have easily been prevented," said Daniel D. Garrett, senior vice president of Prevent Blindness America. "Although eye injuries can occur at any age, it's young people who are the most at risk, making up 66 percent of all injuries."

Sports eye injuries can involve corneal abrasions, blunt trauma and eye penetration. In some cases, injuries can lead to blindness.

Scientists Find New "Pink Eye" Treatment

PITTSBURGH, August 2007 — Scientists at Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that a common antibody type, known as gamma globulin, eliminates "pink eye" (conjunctivitis) without toxic effects associated with certain other types of investigational treatments.

Investigators said gamma globulin is "remarkably effective" at reducing the presence of adenovirus in eye fluids, an underlying cause of common but difficult-to-treat forms of conjunctivitis.

Gamma globulin has so many antimicrobial properties that it may be effective against numerous bacterial and viral causes of conjunctivitis, according to investigators.

Findings were published online in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, which will be published in print form in September.

Are "Summer Babies" More Likely To Be Nearsighted?

TEL AVIV, August 2007 — Longer, sunnier days may contribute to development of severe nearsightedness in children born during summer months, according to Israeli researchers.

Study results published in the August issue of Ophthalmology showed that babies born in June and July had a 24 percent greater chance of becoming severely nearsighted than babies born in December and January.

Study co-author Michael Belkin, a professor at Tel Aviv University's Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, said one explanation may be that the body's pineal gland secretes less of a pigment known as melatonin in brighter conditions.

Melatonin regulates the body's "internal clock" and also affects eye length development in babies. When less melatonin is present, eye lengths are longer. Babies with longer eyes then typically become "nearsighted" or "shortsighted."

Resveratrol Formula May Protect Eye From Nerve Damage

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., August 2007 — Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has reported study results showing that a formula (SRT501) using resveratrol injected into the eye appears to protect retinal nerve cells from damage associated with optic neuritis.

In nature, resveratrol can be found in the skins of red grapes and foods such as peanuts.

The resveratrol formula used in the animal study eventually may have broad applications for treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases including optic neuritis, according to a Sirtris company announcement. As an example, nerve cell loss and damage in optic neuritis can be an early symptom of multiple sclerosis — also caused by nerve damage.

Study results were reported in the August issue of The Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science Journal.

Vision Impairment May Be Related to Earlier Death

SIDNEY, Australia, July 2007 — Death rates appear higher for people 49 and older who also have cataracts or macular degeneration, according to study results reported in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Australian study authors say it's unclear whether the link between a higher death rate and visual impairment could be due to underlying conditions that cause both accelerated aging and eye problems.

After assessing death rates of about 3,600 older individuals over an average 11-year period, researchers found that:

• Almost one-third of the study participants (28.9 percent) died.
• Among those who were 49 or older and had cataracts, 39.2 percent died versus 29.5 percent who did not have the condition.
• Among people of ages 49-74 who had macular degeneration, 45.8 percent died versus 33.7 percent in the same age group who did not have the eye disease.
• In total, 54 percent of people with either cataracts or macular degeneration died, versus 34 percent without visual impairment.

Coffee Drinking Could Reduce Involuntary Eye Spasms

To those who get the jitters from coffee it may seem odd, but the beverage may help prevent eye twitches.

ROME, June 2007 — Most of us experience the occasional eye twitch, which generally is no big deal. But for some who can actually be blinded by extreme and uncontrolled eyelid spasms, coffee consumption may be an answer.

Drinking at least one or two cups of caffeinated coffee daily may help prevent or delay development of severe eye twitching known as blepharospasm, according to an Italian study reported in June in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Researchers reached this conclusion after surveying habits, including coffee drinking, of a group of 166 Italian hospital patients diagnosed with primary late onset blepharospasm. Answers were compared with those of control groups who were relatives of those surveyed or who had developed a different type of eyelid twitching known as hemifacial spasm.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Protect Eyes Against Retinal Disease

BETHESDA, Md., June 2007 — Researchers from various clinical sites have found that increasing healthy omega-3 fatty acids in the diet of mice appears to reduce abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye's retina, a process associated with various retinal eye diseases.

  
Left: Want a great natural source of omega-3 fatty acids? Try cold-water fish such as salmon. Right: Normal retinal blood vessel development can be compared with the eye of a child who has retinopathy of prematurity. The red spots represent abnormal blood vessel development and retinal eye disease. (Illustration courtesy of Kip Connor, PhD, Children's Hospital Boston)

The National Eye Institute says this potentially beneficial effect of omega-3 fatty acids may have implications for preventing or reducing eye damage associated with retinal diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity.

Common sources of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids include nuts, flaxseed oil and cold-water fish such as salmon.

Researchers in experimental results also found that higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids, such as those found in fatty red meat, increased the possibility of abnormal blood vessel development in the eye's retina.

Mice used in the experiments that had higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids added to their diets had an almost 50 percent reduction in retinopathy. Study results were reported in the July 2007 issue of Nature Medicine journal.

Blind People Have Superior Memories

JERUSALEM, June 2007 — Blind people demonstrate excellent memory skills particularly when recalling how things are ordered, according to Hebrew University researchers.

"Our opinion is that the superior serial memory of the blind is most likely a result of practice," said researcher Ehud Zohary. "In the absence of vision, the world is experienced as a sequence of events. Since the blind constantly use serial memory strategies in everyday circumstances, they tend to develop superior skills."

In a study reported in the June 21 issue of the online journal, Current Biology, researchers tested memory skills of 19 people who had been blind since birth.

Nanoparticles Correct Retinitis Pigmentosa in Mice

CLEVELAND, June 2007 — DNA nanoparticles created by a research team at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center corrected vision defects associated with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in mice, according to an announcement by Copernicus Therapeutics Inc.

"These exciting results demonstrate that delivery of normal copies of genes into photoreceptor cells can correct vision defects in RP," said Mark Cooper, MD, senior vice president of science and medical affairs for the company.

Company officials say they now will investigate the possibility of using the gene therapy in human clinical trials.

Retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition that damages light-sensitive cells in the inner back of the eye (retina), affects about 70,000 U.S. residents.

Vision Problems Are More Likely in Older People Who Have Headaches

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 2007 — People who are middle-aged or older with a history of headaches or migraines are more likely to develop vision loss from damage to the light-sensitive inner layer of the eye (retina), according to study results published in the journal Neurology in May.

Researchers say unusually small vessels in the eye and brain, associated with headaches and stroke, also can lead to eye damage from retinopathy.

Gene Therapy Investigated as Treatment for Childhood Blindness

LONDON, May 2007 — University College London (UCL) researchers are attempting to cure certain forms of inherited childhood blindness by replacing defective genes in cells of the human eye's retina with healthy copies that potentially can restore normal visual function.

"We have been developing gene therapy for eye disease for almost 15 years. But, until now, we have been evaluating the technology only in the laboratory," said UCL professor Robin Ali. "Testing it for the first time in patients is very important and exciting, and represents a huge step towards establishing gene therapy for the treatment of many different eye conditions."

Healthy genetic material used for the London-based clinical trial is being delivered into the eye through a "vector" manufactured by Targeted Genetics of Seattle.

The investigational gene therapy targets adults and children with an inherited retinal eye disease known as Leber's congenital amaurosis, which causes vision loss often leading to blindness.

Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Reduces Vision Loss

PHILADELPHIA, April 2007 — University of Pennsylvania researchers report that vision loss related to multiple sclerosis is significantly reduced in people treated with the drug Tysabri (natalizumab).

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can cause inflammation and accompanying damage to fibers in the optic nerve, which transmits signals to the brain. In people diagnosed with MS and who took Tysabri, vision loss was reduced by as much as 47 percent.

Study results were published in the April 17 issue of Neurology.

Eye Diseases Influenced Abstract Scenes in Paintings

STANFORD, Calif., April 2007 — A Stanford University ophthalmologist says eye diseases could have influenced unusual artistic effects such as the blurred scenes and muddy colors in certain paintings.

"The fact is that these artists weren't painting in this manner totally for artistic reasons," said Michael Marmor, MD.

Marmor, who has written two books on the subject, recently created computer simulations of how eye diseases such as cataracts might affect an artist's paintings. Marmor demonstrated that progression of eye diseases in artists including Monet, who had cataracts, created more abstract results in later works.

Genetically Engineered Mice Can Now See in Full Range of Color

BALTIMORE, March 2007 — Mice whose eyes were genetically engineered to incorporate human photoreceptor cells can now see in a more full range of color, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

While normal mice like this one are color blind, scientists have managed to genetically engineer a full range of color vision in laboratory mice.

Investigators said they did not expect the brains of mice used in the experiment to adapt so quickly, enabling animals genetically modified with human photoreceptor cells to see and interpret more colors than would ordinarily be possible.

Humans and other primates such as monkeys have three basic types of photoreceptor cells found in the light-sensitive retina, where image processing occurs. These three cell types enable absorption of a more full range of light in varying wavelengths, creating color vision.

Mice and many other animals ordinarily have only two basic types of photoreceptors, making them at least partially color blind. Researchers said normal mice, for example, are unable to distinguish between red and yellow lighting under certain experimental parameters governing intensity.

Experimental findings were published in Science in March.

Dry Eye Hampers Quality of Life for Older Americans

BOSTON, March 2007 — A recently published study indicates that dry eye may be overlooked as a major health issue among older U.S. populations; it found that the condition affects 7.8 percent of women and 4.7 percent of men aged 50 and older.

Investigators from Harvard Medical School's Schepens Eye Research Institute said about 4.8 million older U.S. residents have dry eye, which creates symptoms such as eye irritation and vision disturbances.

Reading, computer use and driving are among daily activities that can be significantly impacted by dry eye, researchers said in the March issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Action Video Games Improve Vision

ROCHESTER, N.Y., February 2007 — Visual function can improve significantly in people who "train" by playing action video games requiring quick reaction time, according to recent research conducted at the University of Rochester.

Students who ordinarily did not participate in action video games were asked to play for a few hours daily. After about a month, these students improved their ability to respond to visual stimuli by about 20 percent.

  
Professor Daphne Bavelier and graduate student Shawn Green were part of a demonstration showing that action video games can sharpen vision. Action video game players more quickly identified how the middle "T" was oriented in a series of images containing other distracting symbols. (Photos courtesy of University of Rochester)

"Action video game play changes the way our brains process visual information," Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, said in a news release. "After just 30 hours, players showed a substantial increase in the spatial resolution of their vision, meaning they could see figures like those on an eye chart more clearly, even when other symbols crowded in."

Researchers say these findings suggest that people with certain vision problems such as amblyopia might benefit from specially developed computer software aimed at sharpening visual acuity.

Study results were scheduled to be published in the February 2007 issue of Psychological Science.

Retinal Implants Help Blind Cats See

COLUMBIA, Mo., January 2007 — Veterinary ophthalmologist Kristina Narfstrom, D.V.M., PhD, successfully has implanted microchips that stimulate sight in the inner back of the eye (retina) of cats with inherited blindness similar to retinitis pigmentosa.

Narfstrom, of the University of Missouri-Columbia, said in a news release that results show promise for potential future treatments of humans with retinitis pigmentosa, which affects about 1 in 3,500 people worldwide.

The microchips known as Artificial Silicone Retinas (ASR) were developed by Optobionics (Naperville, Ill.).

Veterinary ophthalmologist Kristina Narfstrom, D.V.M., PhD, and colleagues are successfully implanting microchips that stimulate sight in the retinas of cats blinded by hereditary diseases similar to the human disease of retinitis pigmentosa. The enlarged microchip shown here was developed by Optobionics Corp., based in Naperville, Ill. (Photos provided courtesy of University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine) The Optobionics Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) microchip shown here is the size of a tiny dot on a penny and is being used in early human clinical studies. (Photo by Optobionics)

"Our current study is aimed at determining safety issues in regard to the implants and to further develop surgical techniques," Narfstrom said in the news release. "We also are examining the protection the implants might provide to the retinal cells that are dying due to disease progression with the hope that natural sight can be maintained much longer than would be possible in an untreated patient."

Interferon for Hepatitis C Patients May Cause Vision Problems

ROCKVILLE, Md., January 2007 — Hepatitis C patients undergoing treatment with Interferon (IFN) may develop the eye disease of retinopathy, which involves possible bleeding and other damage to the inner back lining of the eye (retina) where light-sensitive cells are located.

In a study reported in the January 2007 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 61 percent of 36 patients developed retinopathy after receiving Interferon treatments for chronic hepatitis C. The study was conducted by researchers from the Departments of Ophthalmology and Hepatology at Asahikawa Medical College in Japan.

Retinopathy was detected in some patients after only two weeks of Interferon treatments. Researchers reported that retinopathy symptoms subsided in all but nine patients after Interferon treatments were concluded.

Clinics in Liver Disease (November 2006) and other clinical reports indicate that Interferon often is used in combination with another antiviral drug, ribavirin, to treat chronic hepatitis C.

Back to current eye news.

[Page updated January 2008]