Latest Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Stories
An omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, known as DHA, prevented age-related vision loss in lab tests, demonstrates recently published medical research from the University of Alberta. Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Yves Sauve and his team discovered lab models fed DHA did not accumulate a toxic molecule at the back of the eyes. The toxin normally builds up in the retina with age and causes vision loss. "This discovery could result in a very broad therapeutic use," says...
Just because a driver has passed the motor vehicle administration's vision test may not mean he or she is safe to drive. A recent study found that the frequency and distance at which drivers with moderate levels of blurred vision and cataracts recognize pedestrians at night was severely reduced, even when the drivers have passed the required vision test. "Optical blur and cataracts are very common and lots of people with these conditions continue to drive," said author Joanne Wood of the...
A University of Granada research group composed of professors Antonio Campos and Miguel Alaminos (histologists), MarÃa del Mar Pérez, Ana Ionescu and Juan de la Cruz Cardona (opticians) and the ophthalmologist Miguel González Andrades, University Hospital San Cecilio, Granada, have made the first bioartificial organ in Spain.Researchers extracted pig corneal cells and replaced them with human stem cells. This method, known as decellularization and recellulation, allows scientists to...
When people feel the onset of a migraine headache, they may head to a dark, quiet room to rest. This instinct may be sound: A new study suggests that even without the headache, migraine sufferers may process visual cues better in an environment with few visual distractions.In a study published in the April issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science ("Visual Noise Selectively Degrades Vision in Migraine"), researchers from Scotland's Glasgow Caledonian University asked migraine...
84 percent of all causes of blindness are either preventable or treatable, study findsBy 2020, 1.4 million Nigerians over age 40 will lose their sight, and the vast majority of the causes are either preventable or treatable, according to the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group.In the September issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, the group shares the second half of the results of the study, which examined almost 15,000 Nigerians over 40 between...
With 30 million drivers in the US aged 65 and over, we count on older Americans to recognize when they can no longer drive safely and decide that it's time to stay off the road. A new study finds that a decrease in vision function is a key factor in bringing about this decision.The Salisbury Eye Evaluation and Driving Study (SEEDS), conducted by researchers affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, looked at changes in vision, cognition and the general health status of more than 1,200...
Latest Australian research into myopia or shortsightedness reveals that people who wear glasses are not stereotypical geeks or nerds."We have literally busted the myth that people who wear glasses are introverted or have particular personality characteristics. They are more likely to be agreeable and open, rather than closed and introverted," said Prof Paul Baird of the University of Melbourne's Centre for Eye Research Australia.Myopia or shortsightedness is a complex eye condition which...
