Eye disorder common among diabetic adults
(Reuters Health) – Nearly 30 percent of U.S. diabetics over the age of 40 may have a diabetes-related eye disorder, with 4 percent of this population affected severely enough that their vision is threatened, suggests a new study.
The condition, known as diabetic retinopathy, involves damage to the eye’s retina and is the leading cause of new cases of legal blindness among U.S. adults between 20 and 74 years old. It also costs the U.S. approximately $500 million every year.
“The number of people with diabetes is increasing in this country,” lead researcher Dr. Xinzhi Zhang, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, told Reuters Health.
Yet, he added, estimates of how many Americans suffer from diabetic retinopathy remain more than a decade old. Is this condition on the rise too? Or is screening and treatment keeping it under control?
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Fish eaters show lower risk of age-related eye disease
(Reuters Health) – Older adults who eat fatty fish at least once a week may have a lower risk of serious vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, a new study suggests.
The findings, reported in the journal Ophthalmology, do not prove that eating fish cuts the risk of developing the advanced stages of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.
But they add to evidence from previous studies showing that fish eaters tend to have lower rates of AMD than people who infrequently eat fish.
They also support the theory that omega-3 fatty acids — found most abundantly in oily fish like salmon, mackerel and albacore tuna — may affect the development or progression of AMD.
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FDA: Mini Eye Telescope Implant Can Bring Sight To Blind
WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) It may sound like a James Bond gadget, but the FDA has just approved a miniature telescope – smaller than a pea – that can help with a leading cause of blindness for seniors when implanted inside the eye.
How does it work?
Surgeons put the Implantable Miniature Telescope in one eye, allowing the person to improve central vision for tasks like reading, watching TV and recognizing faces. Doctors leave the other eye alone to provide peripheral vision.
The trick here is that the brain must fuse the two different views into a single image. The Food and Drug Administration says patients will need post-surgery rehabilitation to make that happen.
The invention doesn’t work for everyone.
According to Dr. Malvina Eydelman, the FDA’s ophthalmic devices chief, the device is specifically geared for a subset of the nearly 2 million Americans with advanced macular degeneration – those 75 and older, with a certain degree of vision loss, who also need a cataract removed.
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Resveratrol, Found in Wine, Blueberries, May Prevent Blindness, Study Says
(CBS) And yet another reason to have a glass of red with dinner – or perhaps, in this hot weather, an icy glass of sangria.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say that resveratrol – a compound found in the skin of red grapes and blueberries – may prove useful in preventing the vision loss associated with diabetes and old age.
The study, conducted on mice, showed that resveratrol helps block the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eye, such as that associated with macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 50.
Researchers say resveratrol could also prove useful in treating two other eye disorders: diabetic retinopathy, which causes vision loss in about 20 percent of people with diabetes, and retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that strikes some babies born prematurely.
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Stem-Cell Cornea Fix: “Miracle” Treatment Restores Sight in People Blinded by Chemical Burns
(CBS/AP) Dozens of people who were blinded or otherwise suffered severe eye damage when they were splashed with caustic chemicals had their sight restored with transplants of their own stem cells – a stunning success for the burgeoning cell-therapy field, Italian researchers reported Wednesday.
“This is a roaring success,” said ophthalmologist Dr. Ivan Schwab of the University of California, Davis, who had no role in the study – the longest and largest of its kind.
The treatment worked completely in 82 of 107 eyes and partially in 14 others, with benefits lasting up to a decade so far. One man whose eyes were severely damaged more than 60 years ago now has near-normal vision.
Stem cell transplants offer hope to the thousands of people worldwide every year who suffer chemical burns on their corneas.
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Stem-cell corneas last up to a decade: study
(Reuters) – Italian doctors reported long-term success on Wednesday with a technique of fixing burn-related eye damage using corneas grown from stem cells.
They used stem cells plucked from the thin ring around the iris to make a clear cornea that allowed vision for at least 10 years.
Usually the cornea repairs itself using these cells from the limbus. But in some burn patients, the limbus is destroyed and the cornea instead develops from cells that cover the white of the eyeball, known as the bulbar conjunctiva.
When that happens, the cornea is not transparent.
In those cases, a conventional cornea transplant only provides temporary relief because the cells that caused clouding in the first place eventually take over.
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Study: Colorful vegetables can keep vision healthy
By Matt Sloane
CNN Medical Producer
Getting older is inevitable, just like income taxes. But according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin, poor vision doesn’t necessarily have to be a part of the aging process – at least not as early as you would expect – if you eat correctly.
The study followed more than 2,000 women, and found those who ate a diet high in colorful vegetables – dark leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers, squash and corn, among others – developed cataracts about two and half years later than women who ate diets high in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
“We will all get cataracts if we live long enough,” said Julie Mares, Ph.D., lead study author and professor of nutrition at the University of Wisconsin. “But if we can delay cataract production by 10 years, we can cut the number of surgeries needed in half.”
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Internal contacts are best for severe shortsightedness, study shows
Flashy lasers get much of the attention in vision-correcting surgery, but they can’t fix severe shortsightedness. For those wearing the thickest glasses, a newer procedure provides better eyesight with less risk of vision loss, according to a recent study.
In this alternative procedure, surgeons insert a new lens inside the eye, behind the colored iris. It’s like a contact lens that sits inside the eye. In a May 12 review by the nonprofit Cochrane Collaboration, which analyzes healthcare data, the authors reported that internal contacts make people in the middle-to-high range of shortsightedness happier with their vision than does Lasik.
Laser eye surgery has been practiced in the U.S. for decades. The new-lens alternative, called phakic intraocular lens or insertable collamer lens, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 2004. Laser surgery is most appropriate for people with mild nearsightedness, doctors say, and the insertable lenses are the best fit for people with very high prescriptions.
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Healthy food for your eyes
By Holley Grainger, CookingLight
(CookingLight) — We’ve all heard that carrots play a huge role in overall eye health but what else can you eat to improve the health of your eyes and reduce the risk of disease?
To keep your eyes in top shape, follow many of the same guidelines suggested for maintaining a healthy heart like keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol in check, reducing saturated fat from the diet, taking control of your weight, and increasing your antioxidant intake. Start now by eating nutritious and vitamin-rich foods to reduce the risk eye disease, improve sight, and maintain good eye health.
Kale
The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin found in green leafy vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard, collards, and kale help to improve vision and reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration. The antioxidants in these foods act as natural sunglasses to defend the eyes from ultraviolet radiation as well as protect cells from being damaged.
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New Contact Lenses Could Improve Glaucoma Treatment
WEDNESDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) — A team of researchers has created special contact lenses for glaucoma patients that come loaded with vitamin E, using a design that could essentially lengthen the amount of time a medication bathes an afflicted eye.
This strategy could reduce the significant waste of medication that happens with traditional eye drops, but so far the concept has only been tested in beagles.
“Currently, the way we deliver medication to the eye is very bad and very ineffective,” said study author Anuj Chauhan, an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “And this approach is wonderful because it delivers drugs for a long period of time.”
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