Latest Macular edema Stories

Ranibizumab injections plus laser therapy results in dramatic visual improvementResearchers have shown that ranibizumab (Lucentis) eye injections, often in combination with laser treatment, result in better vision than laser treatment alone for diabetes-associated swelling of the retina.Laser treatment alone has been the standard care for the past 25 years. But nearly 50 percent of patients who received this new treatment experienced substantial visual improvement after one year, compared...

Diabetic retinopathy clinical research network study finds new treatment more effectiveA nationwide, government-sponsored study finds that people with a common form of diabetic retinopathy can benefit from a medication first developed to combat another potentially blinding disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Treating diabetic macular edema (DME) with ranibizumab (Lucentis) eye injections, plus laser treatment if needed, appears to result in better vision than laser treatment...

NEW YORK -- Early-stage human clinical trials showed that a new topical drug was safe and had biological effects in a type of diabetic eye disease, and may offer researchers a new approach to prevent and treat diabetic macular edema.Researchers at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland completed a multicenter human clinical trial treating diabetic macular edema with mecamylamine, a topical drug developed by the South San Francisco biotech company...

Smoking is already a known risk factor for age-related macular degeneration, cataract and thyroid eye disease. Now, the first study to specifically examine the impact of smoking on uveitis"“inflammation of the eye's middle layer of tissue"“indicates that tobacco smoke likely plays a role in this serious eye disease, as well. In the United States about 10 percent of blindness is caused by uveitis.Researchers led by Nisha Acharya, MD, analyzed medical records for smoking status and the type...

High intakes of calories and sodium appear to be associated with the progression of retinal disease among African American patients with diabetes, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among 20- to 64-year-olds with diabetes, according to background information in the article. The condition occurs when diabetes-related changes to the body damage the blood vessels of the...

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Icon Bioscience, Inc., (IBI), a privately held biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel ophthalmic pharmaceuticals announced today that it has initiated its Phase 2/3 pivotal clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of IBI-10090 in patients undergoing cataract surgery. IBI-10090 is a novel anti-inflammatory drug product, based on IBI's proprietary Verisome(TM) drug delivery platform...

Treatment not yet ready for 'general use' due to side effectsResearchers led by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute have found that injecting a corticosteroid, triamcinolone, directly into the eye may slow the progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that frequently leads to blindness.Authors of the study caution, however, that because use of steroids in the eye may increase the risk of glaucoma and cataract, laser photocoagulation...

Research highlights, 2009 Ophthalmology journalThis month's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) reports on a national study that finds cataract surgery is likely to benefit patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at all stages of the disease, on a clinical trial showing that the steroid triamcinolone may be effective in advanced diabetic macular edema (DME) patients when standard treatment fails, and on the public's use of two...

LEUVEN, Belgium, October 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - Data Presented at the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) Conference in New York ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, today announces results of a Phase IIa trial evaluating microplasmin intravitreal injection for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (MIVI II DME)....

ATLANTA, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Alimera Sciences, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today reported that enrollment has begun for a pilot study to assess the safety and efficacy of Iluvien(R) in patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion. The randomized, double-masked pilot study, named FAVOR (Fluocinolone Acetonide for Vein Occlusion in...