visuospatial skills decline three years before Alzheimer's

HealthDay reported that, according to a study published in the Oct. issue of the Archives of Neurology, the ability to perceive relationships between objects (visuospatial skills) may decline years before a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In a study population of 444 people, researchers from the University of Kansas used data from "cognitive assessments" to chart declines in various areas before participants were diagnosed with dementia. They found an inflection point (sudden change to a steeper slope of decline) in visuospatial abilities three years before clinical diagnosis of dementia. After that, "declines in overall cognition occurred the next year, while inflection points for verbal and working memory weren't seen until one year before diagnosis."

The UK's Telegraph quotes the authors as saying that "research into early detection of cognitive disorders using only episodic memory tasks, such as word lists or paragraph recall, may not be sensitive to either all of the earliest manifestations of disease or the most rapidly changing domain.

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Medscape reported that, according to a paper appearing online in Stroke, the risk for stroke, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, is increased by 30 percent within a year of "a herpes zoster attack," a figure that soars about four-fold should the attack involve the eye (herpes zoster ophthalmicus).

Researchers in Taipei reached those conclusions after scouring the Taiwan National Health Research Institute database to estimate the incidence of stroke among 7,760 adult patients treated for herpes zoster between 1997 and 2001, according to MedPage Today . Those patients were compared with 23,280 who had not been diagnosed with shingles.

The authors explained that the major mechanism of [their] findings is that stroke results from herpes zoster virus-induced vasculopathy [blood vessel damage].

The vessel to the brain damaged by the virus could be occluded [blocked] or ruptured lead investigator Dr. Jiunn-Horng Kang said.

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AMD associated with lipoprotein build-up at back of retina

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a major cause of vision loss in the elderly and exists in two forms “wet” and “dry.”

In the “wet” form, abnormal blood vessels behind the retina grow into the macula, and can separate it from the rest of the retina leading to sight-threatening complications.

The “dry” form of the disease is much more common, but until recently was poorly understood. A leading research team in this area, led by Christine Curcio (University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, USA) summarizes current knowledge in a review published in the Journal of Lipid Research.

A build-up of lipoprotein particles at the back of the retina, similar to the build-up of cholesterol in coronary arteries, may play a key role in the development and progression of the “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration, show results from a review of recent research.

The current focus of Curcio and colleagues is Bruch’s membrane (the innermost layer of the choroid) and the retinal pigment epithelium, in particular the boundary between the retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch’s membrane.

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Angiogenesis Inhibitor Works in Macular Edema

According to two studies presented at a retina meeting, patients with macular edema related to retinal vein occlusion had significant improvement in vision when treated with ranibizumab (Lucentis) in each of two dosages. In trials including approximately 400 patients apiece, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Houston's Methodist Hospital randomized patients to monthly 0.5 mg or 0.3 mg intravitreal injections of ranibizumab, or to sham injections, for six months. Notably, 46 to 47 percent of patients in both ranibizumab groups improved by at least 15 letters, compared with 16.9 percent of the control group.

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Save your Vision Tips!

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Eat Dark, Leafy Greens

Spinach, kale, collard greens, and other deep-colored vegetables contain lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that “have been associated with reducing the risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration”. Try to eat two servings a day―for example, a handful of spinach in your salad at lunch and a side of broccoli at dinner.

Antioxidants

Foods such as berries, oranges, plums, and cherries help minimize free-radical damage, which is caused by environmental factors (like sunlight and pollution) and can quicken the hardening of lenses and contribute to cataracts and macular degeneration. Eat at least two servings a day―a cup of blueberries with your breakfast, say, and an orange as an afternoon snack.

Take a Multivitamin

A National Eye Institute study showed that supplements with antioxidant vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and the minerals copper and zinc slowed the progression of advanced macular degeneration in high-risk patients. And a recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid may also help. Still other studies suggest that vitamins may delay the onset of cataracts.

Get Your Omega-3s

You’ve heard that they’re good for your heart, but “evidence suggests omega-3 fatty acids found in certain fish, such as salmon, halibut, and tuna, can help maintain the eyes’ protective tear film, minimize dry eyes, and even prevent cataracts. Eat two to three servings a week, or consider taking a fish-oil supplement every day. Also cut down on red meat: A recent study showed that high consumption levels may increase the risk of macular degeneration.

Get some Veggie

These crisp vegetables, as well as other orange offerings, like pumpkin and butternut squash, contain beta-carotene, a carotenoid that may help keep eyes healthy.

Swear by Sunglasses

UV light is a major player in the hardening of the lenses and the development of cataracts and macular degeneration. That means it’s important to wear sunglasses with dark lenses that filter out 100 percent of UV rays (the label should indicate this) whenever you’re outside. we also recommend patients to put on a hat. “All glasses allow some light in through the tops and the sides” . “It bounces off your cheeks and right into your eyes.” Choose one that has a brim of at least four inches.

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Vision impacts life success

MedPage Today reported that, according to a study published online in Ophthalmology, patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have a 50 percent increased risk of coronary heart disease.



Researchers from the Singapore National Eye Center conducted a population-based cohort study of 1,786 patients who didn't have heart disease and 2,228 patients without stroke at baseline. Patients were between the ages of 69 and 97. The investigators found that those with early macular degeneration had a higher cumulative incidence of heart disease than those without (25.8 percent versus 18.9 percent).

Notably, there was a significantly higher cumulative incidence of heart disease for those with specific signs of early macular degeneration -- soft drusen, hyperpigmentation, and RPE depigmentation

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Handheld device detects blindness in infants

A new handheld device, developed in part by biomedical engineers at Duke University Medical Center, uses spectral domain optical coherence tomography to allow doctors to look for retinopathy of prematurity in infants, a condition that could lead to blindness.

The new device developed by Bioptigen, which creates a 3D image of the back of the eye, can even be taken to infants in the neonatal ICU, and can be used without ever touching an infant's eye. Researchers now say that it's time to determine what role the imaging could play in treatment decisions.

Duke Eye Center ophthalmologist Cynthia Toth compares the process to inspecting fish from the side of an aquarium instead of through an ocean's murky surface.

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mom forgoes treatment to save daughter from blindness

Monique Zimmerman-Stein has been nearly blind for the last two years from Stickler syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. She recently decided to forego her own treatment to save funds to treat her two daughters, who also suffer from the condition, reports Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times.

The family is covered under husband Gary's Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan, but that coverage only pays for 80 percent of medical expenses.

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In the New York Times Really? column, Anahad O'Connor explores the claim that blindness may heighten other senses. "In one series of studies, neuroscientists at McGill University tested blind and sighted subjects for pitch perception and their ability to locate sounds." The researchers found that "those who were born blind did best," while "those who became blind as small children were slightly behind, and those who lost their vision after age 10 did no better than the sighted subjects," indicating that a young brain could be rewired so that visual-processing areas were used for other purposes.

Meanwhile, brain-imaging studies indicated that blind subjects who were best able to locate sound were engaging both the auditory and the visual areas of the cortex.
Here is a nice summary of the visual system from Mcgill's guided tour of the brain

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Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone may improve vision in retinal vein occlusion

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Medscape reported that, according to a study published in the Sept. issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, intravitreal injection of the corticosteroid triamcinolone may improve vision in retinal vein occlusion.

Researchers from the Standard Care vs. Corticosteroid for Retinal Vein Occlusion (SCORE) Study Research Group compared "the efficacy and safety of one-mg and four-mg doses of preservative-free intravitreal triamcinolone vs. observation for eyes with vision loss associated with macular edema secondary to perfused" central retinal vein occlusion "in 271 participants." They found that the the one-mg group had five-fold greater odds of achieving the primary outcome, as "did the four-mg group," with both the "one-mg and four-mg groups" being "not significantly different from each other."

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Researchers advancing new ways of helping blind people see

On its front page, the New York Times reported that 38 patients from the US, Europe, and Mexico are beginning an intensive three-year research project involving electrodes surgically implanted in their eyes, a camera on the bridge of their noses, and a video processor strapped to their waists, in a burst of recent research aimed at one of science's most-sought-after holy grails: making the blind see.



Researchers involved in the project, the artificial retina, say they have plans to develop the technology to allow people to read, write and recognize faces. Meanwhile, other approaches to treating blindness include gene therapy, which has produced improved vision in people who are blind from one rare congenital disease. Stem cell research is considered promising, although far from producing results, and other studies involve a light-responding protein and retinal transplants.

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Drug-dispensing contact lens may treat eye conditions

Researchers have developed contact lenses with a sustained release of medication to treat glaucoma and other conditions.

Daniel Kohane, MD, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Biomaterials and Drug Delivery at Children's Hospital Boston, collaborator Joseph Ciolino, MD, of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and colleagues at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) described their prototype lens in the July 2009 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

The researchers created a two-layer CL with an inner drug-bearing biodegradable polymer film known as PLGA. Both PLGA and pHEMA—used for the coating—have been well studied and are already FDA-approved for ocular use.

In laboratory testing, the prototype lenses dispensed ciprofloxacin for 30 days in amounts sufficient to kill pathogens. Researchers see application for conditions including glaucoma and dry eye, which require frequent daily eye drops. The technology won in the life sciences track in MIT's 100K Entrepreneurship Competition.

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Information System for Blind and Visually Impaired

The artificial intelligence group at Freie Universität Berlin, under the direction of the computer science professor Raúl Rojas, has developed a new type of information system for blind and visually impaired individuals.

“InformA” is a small computer that is connected wirelessly to the Internet. The device is operated like a radio. The user can choose between different information channels. By pressing a button, the time or the weather will be announced, but there are also current newspapers available as audio files...

via Google Blogoscoped

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Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks

Community smoking bans have an immediate and dramatic effect on reducing heart attacks, according to two new analyses of laws in the USA, Canada, and Europe. Researchers in both studies found that heart attack rates fall 17 percent within a year after smoking bans take effect, as reported in the USA Today.



After three years, the analyses indicated that the rate of heart attacks had decreased about 26 percent, the Wall Street Journal reports. The findings are based on analyses of studies that involved a total of approximately 24 million people. The researchers cautioned against basing hard conclusions on their findings, however, because of statistical flaws in their reports from aggregating data from studies with various designs and goals.

Exactly what can breathing in the smoke from someone else's cigarette do to you? It can:

Make the blood sticky and more prone to clotting
Stiffen the arteries
Disrupt crucial functions of the arteries
Decrease good HDL cholesterol
Stimulate inflammation
Make heart attacks worse
Increase damage from free radicals
Increase risk of heart rhythm problems
Increase insulin resistance

Quit smoking without gaining weight

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Merck amp; Co., Inc. has launched SAFLUTAN® (tafluprost) in the United Kingdom and Spain, and additional launches in other countries are expected over the next several months, pending regulatory approvals, the Company said today.

SAFLUTAN is a preservative free, synthetic analogue of the prostaglandin F2α for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in appropriate patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. SAFLUTAN is in Phase III in the U.S.

Merck amp; Co., Inc. which operates in many countries as Merck Sharp amp; Dohme or MSD, and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced a worldwide licensing agreement for tafluprost. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck agreed to pay an undisclosed fee as well as milestones and royalty payments based on future sales of tafluprost (both preserved and preservative-free formulations) in exchange for exclusive commercial rights to tafluprost in western Europe (excluding Germany), North America, South America and Africa. Santen will retain commercial rights to tafluprost in most countries in eastern Europe, northern Europe and in countries in the Asia Pacific area, including Japan. Merck will provide promotion support to Santen in Germany and Poland. If tafluprost is approved in the U.S., Santen will have the option to co-promote it there. SAFLUTAN marketed by MSD, and TAFLOTAN®, marketed by Santen in respective territories, is the only preservative-free prostaglandin currently available for patients with glaucoma.

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ultrasound eyebrow lift

Food and Drug Administration has cleared a new ultrasound eyebrow lift device, called the Ulthera System, to be marketed to dermatologists and plastic surgeons.


Ulthera claimed that the "noninvasive device...uses ultrasound imaging to target ultrasound energy that enables significant lifting of the skin. The press release went on to say that focused ultrasound energy triggers the body's natural healing response, resulting in new and improved collagen support and gradual firming, tightening, and actual lifting of skin tissue over time, with clinical studies indicating no serious adverse events and no recuperation time.

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September is Home Eye Safety Awareness Month

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One in five at-home eye injuries are due to home repair or power tools according to results from the “Sixth Annual Eye Injury Snapshot” by the American Society of Ocular Trauma (ASOT).

Every year, there are more than 2.5 million eye injuries; yet, the use of protective eyewear could have prevented 90% of these injuries. When starting any project, whether it is cleaning surfaces with chemicals, working on the car or doing yard work, PBA asks everyone to wear eyewear approved by the American National Standards Institute. The eyewear should have the “Z-87” logo stamped on the frames and can be purchased at hardware stores and home building centers.

PBA offers these tips on how to protect children’s eyes at home:

Teach children not to run around with forks, knives, combs, or toothbrushes.

Keep detergents, cleaning supplies, nail polish remover, mouthwash, and makeup in locked cabinets or out of reach.

Set a good example by wearing eye protection when using ammonia-based cleaning supplies or while working on projects.

Do not allow young children to use combs, brushes, or hairspray unless you watch or help them.

Prompt others who enter the work area to wear eye protection.

If you wear prescription glasses, many safety glasses or goggles will fit over your regular glasses. Ask your doctor what he or she recommends.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that two months ago, surgeons at the Wills Eye Institute implanted a small array of electrodes in the back of Michael Adler's left eye. Now, in the last few weeks -- with the aid of a small video camera in his sunglasses that transmits images to his retinal implant -- he has begun to gain some limited vision.

To date, surgeons have implanted the devices in the retinas of 32 people around the world. All have a severe form of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease that causes retinal degeneration. The retinal implant bypasses damaged cells in the eye, transmitting signals to the same part of the brain that registers images in people with normal vision. While the resulting black-and-white images are very low-resolution, consisting of just 60 pixels, they do allow Adler to see the outlines of doors and sidewalks, and he can pick out plates on the dinner table

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According to a study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, the antibiotic Zithromax [azithromycin], which is widely used in Africa to treat the eyesight-robbing infection trachoma, seems to help prevent Ethiopian children from dying of other diseases.

For the study, researchers from the Carter Center in Atlanta compared villages where children received the antibiotic Zithromax to villages where treatment was delayed a year. The antibiotic cut the death rate in half, and the researchers speculate it helped prevent deaths from pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria, the biggest killers of Ethiopian children.

The AP notes that trachoma is caused by bacteria that spreads to the eyes from fingers, clothing or, some researchers think, from flies. Over the years, blindness develops through repeated infections and scarring.

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Judge excludes testimony of expert witness in contact-lens solution lawsuits

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US District Judge David C. Norton has thrown out testimony from an expert witness in a combined series of lawsuits against Bausch amp; Lomb, Inc. over ReNu with Moisture Loc, a contact-lens solution the company recalled three years ago because its use was linked to fusarium keratitis, a fungal eye infection that can lead to blindness.

In his Aug. 28 ruling, Norton refused the plaintiffs' bid to admit into evidence testimony by Elisabeth J. Cohen, MD, of the Jefferson Medical College and the Wills Eye Hospital. Norton said that Dr. Cohen's theory, in the way she presented it before the court, "is built on an unsupported hypothesis, and is thus fundamentally flawed and must be excluded."

The AP reports that Norton "said there's no reliable scientific basis for arguing that MoistureLoc caused another 1,024 lens wearers across the" US "to contract assorted bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections." The judge ruled that "attorneys relying on the expert opinion of" Dr. Cohen "did not submit any peer-reviewed studies, articles, or case reports concluding that there is a causal relationship between MoistureLoc and non-Fusarium infections."

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