StemCell Therapy

Amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye, is a medical condition that adversely affects the eyesight of millions, but if caught early can be cured altogether unfortunately this usually means months of wearing an eye patch. NovaSight claims successful treatment with nothing more than an hour a day in front of its special display.

The condition amounts to when the two eyes arent synced up in their movements. Normally both eyes will focus the detail-oriented fovea part of the retina on whatever object the person is attending to; in those with amblyopia, one eye wont target the fovea correctly and as a result the eyes dont converge properly and vision suffers, and if not treated can lead to serious vision loss.

It can be detected early on in children, and treatment can be as simple as covering the good eye with a patch for most of the day, which forces the other eye to adjust and align itself properly. The problem is, of course, that this is uncomfortable and embarrassing for the kid, and of course only using one eye isnt ideal for playing schoolyard games and other everyday things.

And you look cool doing it!

NovaSights innovation with CureSight is to let this alignment process happen without the eye patch, instead selectively blurring content the child watches so that the affected eye has to do the work while the other takes a rest.

It accomplishes this with the same technology that, ironically, gave many of us double vision back in the early days of 3D: glasses with blue and red lenses.

Blue-red stereoscopy presents two slightly different versions of the same image, one tinted red and one tinted blue. Normally it would be used with slightly different parallax to produce a binocular 3D image thats what many of us saw in theaters or amusement park rides.

In this case, however, one of the two tinted images just has a blurry circle right where the kid is looking. The screen uses a built-in Tobii eye-tracking sensor so it knows where the circle should be; I got to test it out briefly and the circle quickly caught up with my gaze. This makes it so the other eye, affected by the condition but the only one with access to the details of the image, has to be relied on to point where the kid needs it to.

The best part is that there isnt some treatment schema or tests kids can literally just watch YouTube or a movie using the special setup, and theyre getting better, NovaSight claims. And it can be done at home on the kids schedule always a plus.

Graphs from NovaSight website.

The company has already done some limited clinical trials that showed significant improvement over a 12-week period. Whether it can be relied on to completely cure the condition or if it should be paired with other established treatments will come out in further trials the company has planned.

In the meantime, however, its nice to see a technology like 3D displays applied to improving vision rather than promoting bad films. NovaSight has been developing and promoting its tech over the last year; it also has a product that helps diagnose vision problems using a similar application of 3D display tech. You can learn more or request additional info at its website.

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Kids with lazy eye can be treated just by letting them watch TV on this special screen - TechCrunch

A surgeon at UPMC Mercy hospital implanted a wireless chip designed to act like a small, artificial retina in the eye of an Ohio woman last week in the first trial of the technology in the United States.

The treatment could offer a novel way to restore the sight of people around the world at risk of going permanently blind, according to UPMC.

The U.S. clinical trial that began this month aims to restore at least partial sight to patients with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, the leading cause of vision loss in people age 50 and over. More than 14 million Americans are losing their ability to see because of it.

We are proud to be the first center in the United States to test this next generation retinal implant that could help treat an incurable disease like AMD, said Dr. Jos-Alain Sahel, director of the UPMC Eye Center, the Eye and Ear Foundation chair of ophthalmology and distinguished professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Researchers hope the same system can be applied to a variety of other causes of vision loss.

Dr. Joseph Martel, the implanting surgeon and the trials principal investigator, described the effort as an incredibly exciting first for us at UPMC. He thanked the patient for participating. She was not identified.

In coming months, four more patients will join her in the trial.

A related trial involving five patients in France was the first human trial of its kind. The trial found that, after a 12-month period, most patients were able to identify sequences of letters and experienced no device-related, serious adverse effects, according to UPMC.

It will likely be at least several years and require multiple clinical trials until such a product obtains the clearances required to make it to the broader market.

Pixium-Animation-02 from pixium on Vimeo.

The system, called PRIMA, was invented by Stanford University ophthalmology professor Daniel Palanker.

First, a surgeon places a 2-by-2-millimeter, 30-micron thick thinner than the average strand of human hair wireless chip beneath the damaged retina. The chip works with augmented reality glasses that have a built-in camera and infrared projector.

The chip acts like an artificial retina, researchers said. Its made of 378 electrodes, which convert infrared light from the classes into electrical signals that the optic nerve carries to the brain.

After getting the implant, patients go through an intensive rehabilitation program that trains their brains to understand and interpret the signals from the implant, with help from any remaining natural vision.

An existing retinal device on the market involves an implant that connects to goggles via a physical wire and has nearly four times fewer electrodes. California-based Second Sight also is researching improving eyesight via an implant attached to the brain.

The PRIMA implant was developed and licensed by Pixium Vision, a spin-off from the Paris Vision Institute at Sorbonne University.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, [emailprotected] or via Twitter .

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

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UPMC, Pitt test out wireless eyeball implant in hopes of restoring lost sight - TribLIVE

DEERING, N.H. (AP) These days, when Nancy Cowan greets her famous falcon named Banner, she offers a bow and utters a little chup as a hello.

Banner, who went through a landmark cataract surgery in 2014, does the same in return. This bird of prey and her falconer have a unique relationship the human saved the falcon from an early demise by insisting that Banners eyesight be corrected, and thanks to animal imprinting, the falcon now sees Cowan as her mate.

low a human procedure to be performed on an animal. Once again, Cowan prevailed.

After the laser cleared up her vision, Banner was seeing the world anew. Thats when she began to view Cowan as Mr. Right.

When falcons get ready to mate they will make a food transfer, Cowan explained.

Thats the males job to bring food to the female, Cowan said. In exchange, the female will offer a piece of food back to the male.

Twice a year, during the mating season for falcons, Banner will excitedly greet Cowan when she delivers a quail and offer a piece back. That was the telltale sign that Banner was in the mood for love, Cowan said.

Cowan is considering whether she could breed Banner, a lanner falcon, with a male gyrfalcon she has at the school. But thats just an idea.

Besides the occasional desire for avian hanky panky, Banners life has mostly returned to normal for a captive bird of prey, except for one thing she isnt used for hunting anymore.

If I can just handle her and have her have a happy life, interact with her as an imprint, thats all I want to do, Cowan said. Im not going to ask her to go into an environment where if she doesnt come back to me shes gonna get killed within a day or two via great horned owl or red tailed hawk. Im not going to ask that.

Visitors still come to the school looking for Banner, who was quite the local celebrity after her story went international, including an article in the London Daily Mail.

It was fantastic, Cowan said. In London, they were very excited. It went all over the world. Shes world-famous.

As a result of Banners celebrity-status and all she has learned from the bird, Cowan is working on a second book, which has the working title Eyesight and Insights, she said.

Boy, they teach you a lot of things that you never would have suspected when you have 11 birds youre dealing with. You really get a different viewpoint of the world than you do normally, Cowan said. So the insights will be there and the eyesight part is going to be about restoring Banners vision. And thats a long story.

Online: https://bit.ly/3a5AbrB

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With restored sight, Banner the falcon learns to navigate - Thehour.com

Oscillopsia is the sensation that the surrounding environment is constantly in motion when it is, in fact, stationary.

Oscillopsia is usually a symptom of conditions that affect eye movement or the eye's ability to stabilize images, especially during movement.

Keep reading to learn more about oscillopsia, including the common causes and symptoms and how to treat it.

Oscillopsia usually occurs as a result of conditions that affect eye movement or alter how parts of the eye, inner ear, and brain stabilize images and maintain balance.

It often links to types of nystagmus, which is a condition that causes abnormal or involuntary eye movement.

Conditions that affect areas of the brain especially the cerebellum or parts of the ocular motor system are another common cause of oscillopsia.

The ocular motor system is a series of biological processes that keep images stable when the head or eyes are moving. Ocular motor system damage tends to impair vision and make it seem as though the world is always in motion, particular when a person is changing the position of their head or moving.

Some of the most common conditions that experts have associated with oscillopsia include:

Some people are born with conditions that cause oscillopsia, but most people develop it later in life.

The American Psychological Association describe oscillopsia as "the sensation of perceiving oscillating movement of the environment."

According to this definition, most people with oscillopsia experience distorted vision usually the feeling that the world is continuously moving even when it is stationary. This sensation can cause images to:

The visual symptoms of oscillopsia can also cause:

As most cases of oscillopsia arise at least in part from problems stabilizing images, many people experience it most when they are moving.

Symptoms often start during movement and end when movement stops. However, on rare occasions, symptoms can occur while a person is lying or sitting down or standing still. It may also only manifest itself in certain body positions, depending on the individual.

Oscillopsia is often disabling regardless of its frequency or severity because it causes a loss of balance, vision problems, and nausea.

People with oscillopsia may be unable to live alone. Furthermore, they might feel frustrated because it is hard to describe the symptoms or explain how significantly it affects their lives.

Oscillopsia typically develops as a symptom of an underlying condition. Currently, there is no specific or approved way to treat oscillopsia as a condition in itself. The type of treatment, therefore, depends on the underlying cause.

Nystagmus is a condition of involuntary eye movement. If the cause of oscillopsia is nystagmus, treatment options include:

Different types of vision therapy may also help treat conditions that cause erratic or uncontrollable eye movements, such as nystagmus. Vision therapy is generally effective in reducing or even resolving oscillopsia.

Optometric vision therapy (VT) involves doing progressive exercises under the guidance of an optometrist. These exercises help retrain elements of vision and improve visual skills.

For example, they may involve reading lines of text using various tools, such as filters or therapeutic lenses. Alternatively, a person may read the text while standing on a balance board.

Oscillopsia may also respond to various oculomotor-based auditory feedback techniques, which help someone "listen" to their abnormal eye movements and gain more control over them.

There is also some evidence that relaxation practice may help someone learn how to manage the symptoms of oscillopsia more effectively.

Doctors rarely prescribe medication as a treatment for oscillopsia if the cause is a form of nystagmus.

However, a few studies have found that some conditions causing oscillopsia may respond to medications that block types of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is an amino acid that occurs naturally and functions as a chemical messenger in the brain. Examples of these medications include clonazepam (Klonopin) and gabapentin (Neurontin).

In some cases, anticonvulsant and beta-blocker medications may also help treat conditions that cause oscillopsia.

In some cases, the brain may learn how to adapt to oscillopsia over time.

Infants who have congenital conditions that cause oscillopsia may adapt to it during neural development, although their vision may still have other impairments.

However, the brain typically cannot adapt if oscillopsia symptoms fluctuate over time.

Furthermore, in cases involving severe or irreversible damage to the brain and vestibular ocular system, oscillopsia may be permanent.

In cases where oscillopsia symptoms do not respond to treatment for the underlying cause or there is no known cause, very few other treatment options exist.

People with unexplained vision problems of any kind should speak with an eyecare professional as soon as possible.

Anyone who feels as though their surroundings are constantly moving or has unexplained dizziness, balance problems, or vertigo should also see an ophthalmologist or another type of doctor as soon as possible.

Oscillopsia often has an association with conditions that can worsen without effective, early treatment. Ignoring or failing to treat oscillopsia also greatly increases the risk of injury, primarily because of impaired vision and balance.

Oscillopsia is a symptom and not an underlying medical condition. As a result, a specific diagnosis does not exist for it.

However, an ophthalmologist will diagnose the cause of oscillopsia.

To begin this process, they will usually ask questions about the person's oscillopsia, such as:

Once the ophthalmologist has evaluated the symptoms, they will likely take a full medical history and run a series of tests to diagnose the underlying condition responsible. These tests may include:

Common risk factors for developing oscillopsia include:

Many different conditions that affect eyesight or the central nervous system have a link to or can cause oscillopsia, including:

People with oscillopsia usually have trouble seeing clearly, especially during movement, and feel as though their surroundings are moving when they are not.

Oscillopsia is a symptom of several conditions that affect the eye muscles, the inner ear, and parts of the central nervous system, including the brain.

The treatment plan and outlook for each individual vary widely depending on the underlying cause.

In many cases, speaking with an ophthalmologist as soon as possible about any unexplained vision problems reduces the risk of symptoms becoming worse or permanent.

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Oscillopsia: Causes, symptoms, and treatment - Medical News Today

KEY POINTS

One of the type 2 diabetes symptoms is blurred vision. If you have this condition, you might lose sharpness in your eyesight and may not be able to see the fine details of an object. According to Diabetes UK, around one in three people predisposed to the condition will suffer complications with their eyesight by the time doctors diagnose them with type 2 diabetes.

In the case of blurred vision, it can happen unilaterally (one eye) or bilaterally (both eyes). Doctors point to high blood sugar levels as the culprit of this condition. The high levels of sugar cause the lens inside the eyes to become inflamed or swell.

A Permanent and Serious Damage

If you are experiencing blurred vision, it might indicate you already have this chronic ailment and that it is not being properly managed.Consistent high levels of blood sugar can cause damage to the back of your eye or retina. This is known in medical circles as diabetic retinopathy. diabetes to cause serious eye problem Photo: Skitterphoto_Pixabay

The retina requires a steady supply of blood to function properly. This blood supply is delivered to it using a network of miniature blood vessels. With time, uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, characterized by consistently high levels of blood sugar, can cause damage to the blood vessels delivering blood to the retina.This occurs in three major stages, namely, background retinopathy, pre-proliferative retinopathy, and proliferative retinopathy.

Background Retinopathy

This happens when small bulges develop in the tiny blood vessels, causing them to bleed slightly. This does not oftentimes affect your vision.

Pre-Proliferative Retinopathy

In this situation, the blood vessels sustain widespread and more severe changes. This includes the occurrence of considerable bleeding into the eye.

Proliferative Retinopathy

This condition is marked by the scarring of tissue and the development of new blood vessels on the retina. These new blood vessels, however, are weak and can easily bleed, causing more damage and loss of some vision.

The National Health Service, in an advisory, said it often takes many years for diabetic retinopathy to reach that point where your sight is already threatened. If left unchecked and untreated, it can lead to partial or total blindness.

Common Symptoms of Diabetes

Other symptoms of diabetes that people need to be aware of are feeling more tired than normal, itching in the genitals, and with wounds taking a longer time to heal. There is also an urgent need to go to the toilet more often than usual, particularly at night. Some diabetes patients also report losing weight without undergoing a diet or weight loss program.

Link:
Eye Problems That May Indicate You Have Type 2 Diabetes - International Business Times

In 1986 I was a young energetic 39-year-old pastor serving a young 13-year-old Eden Prairie congregation when visionary Pastor Dale Galloway from Washington State published his seminal book on church leadership titled 2020 Vision. His vision for future church communities was all about cells and celebrations, small group ministries joined with worship for congregating and celebrating with the whole church community. Leadership seminars and conferences had pastors and leaders in congregations and religious institutions focusing on Galloways theories and practices, but also wondering whether he was talking about the clarity of their eyesight for envisioning such ministries or about long-range planning and strategizing for the year 2020 or both. Envisioning ministry priorities 34 years, that was visioning with a really long view 1986 to 2020.

But now the year 2020 has finally arrived and Pastor Galloways play on the double meaning of 2020 sight and the year 2020 is immediately in front of our eyes with 2020 vision in our planning and dreaming, not only for a New Year but also for a new decade.

In faith communities everywhere people are blessed every week and every year by a great variety of inspiring small group cells for building relationships from bowling leagues to Bible studies, book groups to prayer groups, Habitat for Humanity build groups to Loaves and Fishes, too, cooks and servers and clean-up crews, and on-and-on. Likewise, rich blessings are received in gatherings of the faithful in celebration with the community all together for inspiring and uplifting from concerts to sing-a-longs, fellowship dinners to worship services. Seeing others is required for creating relationships and being seen by others is necessary for creating and experiencing community, so in the days ahead in 2020, create and then celebrate relationships discovered and developed in these and other ways.

Pastor Dick Hamlin, my lifetime mentor and encourager, frequently reminds me to finish well and begin new great advice at the turn of the years and the decades. Now is a very special time for review and preview with 20/20 hindsight and 20/20 foresight, all the while confident that God has the long view secure and in sight. Envision with eyes wide open and 2020 vision what that looks like for you and your loved ones every day.

The Popes Christmas message at the transition of these years and decades was, Let the light of God pierce the darkness in our lives and in the world. If we are standing in the darkness well never see the light, so step into the light and get involved in something every day in this brand new year.

Queen Elizabeths Christmas message called for everyone to go into the new year and new decade with forgiveness and reconciliation that will make a difference in our lives and world.

In the end is the beginning, since 2020 vision involves seeing and being seen with an eye for friendship that will build engaging relationships with others, especially when we see God in others and believe we are seen by God also.

God gifts us with eyes of faith for believing so that we might see God at work in our daily living. If ever there was a time for New Year resolutions for opening those eyes, looking and seeing Gods word and action our lives, its now in 2020. Think about it well never get this number again 2021 wont bring to mind metaphors of eyesight and vision like 2020 does now. And neither will 3030, for any of us, should we live that long, or even for our offspring many generations from now.

The Bible speaks of abundant life and abundant love that come from our God of abundance, not scarcity. Pray that eyes of faith will see with clear vision all the big and little things God is up to in our lives and our world in 2020. Then when we say, Have a happy and prosperous New Year, we just might be a little more attentive to crediting God for what we see.

May the God of plenty be yours in 2020.

The Rev. Rod Anderson, former pastor at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, shares this space with the Rev. Timothy A. Johnson as well as spiritual writers Dr. Bernard E. Johnson, Lauren Carlson-Vohs and Beryl Schewe. Spiritually Speaking appears weekly.

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Spiritually Speaking: 2020 vision for the New Year | Eden Prairie Opinion - SW News Media

By Hristina ByrnesJanuary 14, 2020 12:33 am

Its commonly believed that as people get older their eyesight inevitably gets worse. This is technically true, but a healthy lifestyle can significantly delay the development of eye health problems.

Some common age-related eye conditions include glaucoma, dry eyes, age-related macular degeneration which is a leading cause of blindness and cataracts.

Many factors affect the eyes ultraviolet exposure, radiation, some medications. But the single worst thing you can do to cause lasting damage to your eyes is smoke, according to Dr. Scott. B. Sheren, chair of the department of ophthalmology at ProHEALTHcare. An unhealthy diet is second.

You want to avoid bad stuff like saturated and trans fats, which cause oxidative stress on the body, and want to replace them with polyunsaturated fats, omega-3s, and plant-based foods, he noted. Its all about removing the garbage and adding the good stuff.

Some foods, including eggs and supplements, are controversial topics when it comes to eye health often with inconsistent scientific evidence of their health benefits. But there is a consensus around other foods here are 29 healthy eating habits that will change your life.

Click here to see 25 good and bad foods for your eyes.

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25 Foods That Damage and Protect Your Eyes - 24/7 Wall St.

(CNN) In your health millions of Americans have glaucoma. Half of those people do not even know they have it.

Glaucoma is called the sneak thief of sight. And during National Glaucoma Awareness month, its the perfect time to learn more about the disease.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately three million people have it, and its the second leading cause of blindness.

There are no symptoms, and you can lose up to 40-percent of your vision before even realizing it.

And the vision loss is permanent.

The CDC warns that those with a higher risk of getting glaucoma have a family history of the disease, are over 60-years-old or are African American and over 40, or have diabetes.

Whatever the risk, make sure youre taking steps to protect your eye sight.

Get a comprehensive dilated eye exam by the age of 40.

Talk to your family to see if there is history of vision loss.

And make sure to maintain a healthy weight and control your blood pressure.

If glaucoma is caught early, you can prevent further sight impairment with the help of eye drops, oral medication, or surgery.

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What you need to know about a debilitating eye condition glaucoma - WTNH.com

While you wouldnt expect to find yourself sitting next to a cuttlefish in the cinema, the world of 3D movies and glasses is not closed-off to the creatures.

Scientists in the US built an underwater theatre and equipped the cephalopods with specialised specs to investigate how they determine the best distance to strike moving prey with their tentacles.

They use stereopsis (binocular vision) to perceive depth, and may even be better than humans, the study found.Stereopsis is the process of comparing the images and is the same way humans analyse depth.

In order to successfully strike, the creatures must compute depth to position themselves at the correct distance from the prey.If they are too close, the prey may be spooked and escape, and if they are too far their tentacles will not reach.

Read more about cephalopods:

To test how the animals figure out the correct distance, researchers trained cuttlefish to wear 3D glasses and strike at images of two walking shrimp, each a different colour displayed on a computer screen at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

The images were offset, allowing scientists to determine if the cuttlefish were comparing images between the left and the right eyes to gather information about distance to their prey.Depending on the image offset, the cuttlefish would perceive the shrimp to be either in front of or behind the screen.According to the offset, the sea-dwellers struck too close to or too far from the screen.

Ready to head to the cinema R Feord/PA

Trevor Wardill, assistant professor at the department of ecology, evolution and behaviour at the University of Minnesota, said: How the cuttlefish reacted to the disparities clearly establishes that cuttlefish use stereopsis when hunting.

When only one eye could see the shrimp, meaning stereopsis was not possible, the animals took longer to position themselves correctly.

When both eyes could see the shrimp, meaning they utilised stereopsis, it allowed cuttlefish to make faster decisions when attacking. This can make all the difference in catching a meal.

Scientists also found the mechanism that underpins cuttlefish stereopsis is likely different from humans due to the cuttlefish successfully determining the distance from anti-correlated stimulus the left and the right eye images have the same pattern, but are reversed in luminance.Humans cannot to do this reliably.

Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, assistant professor at the department of ecology, evolution and behaviour in the College of Biological Sciences, said: Our research shows there must be an area in their brain that compares the images from a cuttlefishs left and right eye, and computes their differences.

In the study published in Science Advances, researchers also suggest that unlike other cephalopods squid and octopus cuttlefish have the ability to rotate their eyes to a forward-facing position.They add that it is possible they are the only cephalopods with the ability to compute and use stereopsis.

Continue reading here:
Scientists give cuttlefish 3D glasses to test their eyesight - sciencefocus.com

This article was reviewed byRhonia Gordon, MD, who is a clinical assistant professor with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology atNYU Langone.

For many new parents, watching their baby become aware of his or her surroundings is an exciting, beautiful process. As the baby begins to pay more attention to faces and interact socially, it's clear that the once pea-sized embryo is finally becoming a tiny little person of their own.

"Babies can actually make eye contact right from birth," says Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Early Childhood.

Eye contact is one way that parents can tell that their baby is starting to take a greater interest in the people around them.

Early on, in the first few months, newborns will be especially attracted to a few specific things, like the color red and heavy contrast like black and white, Navsaria says. They're also attuned to the human face, or at least its general outline, even as their eyesight is still developing.

As babies grow, they begin to make conscious efforts to engage socially, which goes beyond just a natural propensity for human faces.

Compared to their first month, when they could only focus on objects about a foot away, babies three or four months of age have better color perception and can start to make out other objects besides faces, like toys.

By four months, they should also start to exhibit more conscious behavior like reaching for their toys and smiling deliberately at you when you make eye contact.

Babies might show a reflexive smile, grinning for no apparent reason, from birth, but between four weeks to four months, they'll develop a social smile, either responding to another person or trying to get someone else to smile at them, Navsaria says.

By age one, if a child doesn't seem to be able to lock onto objects or make conscious eye contact, it's crucial to speak with your pediatrician, Navsaria says. Going to the doctor can also help parents understand if their baby is actually having trouble with their vision, or if the problem is with hearing or something else, like autism.

Eye contact is very important in terms of a child's brain, social, and emotional development, Navsaria says. "It's one of the key ways in which we make connections with other human beings."

In early childhood, forming those early connections with parents and having a loving, nurturing, supportive relationship is the single most important thing for development, Navsaria says.

For the most part, though, a baby's vision will develop on its own. "The eyes generally take care of themselves," Navsaria says. So there's no need to try to give your infant an at-home eye exam unless you think something might be wrong. When in doubt, always contact your pediatrician.

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When babies make eye contact and what to expect as their eyes develop over the first year of life - INSIDER

It is not just experienced drivers that have issues with their eyesight either; on average 12 people a week fail their driving test before it even starts because they cant read a clean number plate from a distance of 20 metres. The DVLA requires drivers to be able to read (with glasses or contact lenses if necessary) a car number plate from 20 metres, have accurate vision to at least decimal 0.5 (6/12) measured on the Snellen scale and an adequate field of vision.

With an estimated 8.9 million (21 per cent) of drivers admitting to not having their eyes tested in the last two years and 1.1 million (3 per cent) never having had their eyes tested at all, it is likely thousands of drivers are unaware they are not safe to be in charge of a vehicle because of poor vision. Drivers can be fined up to 1,000 if they dont inform the DVLA about a medical condition that affects their driving and could be prosecuted if involved in a collision as a result. Eye care professionals believe there should be stricter rules regarding eye check-ups, with 81 per cent of optometrists supporting a change in law so annual eye tests are made mandatory for drivers.

Almost one in four (24 per cent) drivers would put their own life and that of others at risk by waiting until their licence was revoked rather than giving up driving voluntarily because their eyesight had deteriorated so badly they couldnt drive safely. People are also unwilling to report friends and family to the DVLA, allowing them to keep driving even if they thought they couldnt see to drive safely. Only four per cent of people have reported a friend or family member to the DVLA over concerns that their eyesight was too bad to drive.

Steve Barrett, head of motor insurance at Direct Line, commented:If people do not have regular eye tests, they may not even realise their vision is impaired when they get behind the wheel, which leaves them a danger to themselves and other road users.

A simple eye test, that takes a moment in time, can ensure drivers have the appropriate corrective glasses or contact lenses so that their vision is adequate to drive.

Dr Nigel Best, clinical spokesperson for Specsavers said: Our vision can deteriorate slowly, meaning it is sometimes difficult to detect a change ourselves but subtle variations can increasingly affect both perception and reaction time when driving. We welcome this research and hope it will make more road users aware of the risks they run by not having regular eye tests, whether it is potentially losing your driving license or worse, causing a collision on the road.

It takes around 25 minutes for an optician to conduct a thorough vision and eye health check. To take this simple step every two years or more, if recommended by your optician, isnt an arduous task, particularly when you weigh up the potentially negative consequences of driving with impaired vision.

Regional findings

Residents of Brighton are the least likely across the UK to regularly visit the optician, with a third (33 per cent) of people failing to have an eye test in the last two years. Residents of Birmingham (30 per cent), Glasgow (30 per cent) and Leeds (30 per cent) are also risking driving without the right corrective lenses because they have failed to have their eyes tested in the last two years.

Table one: Regional insight into how recently residents have had an eye test

Link:
134 drivers a week have licence revoked by poor eyesight - Actuarial Post

A potential new treatment for a disease that robs people of their sight is being tested in Coquitlam.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is, according to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the leading cause of vision loss in Canada. More than 1.4 million Canadians suffer from AMD and the diseases prevalence among older Canadians will only grow as Canadas seniors population doubles over the next 25 years. There is no known cure.

People with the dry version of AMD are being sought for a clinical trial led by Coquitlam ophthalmologist Kevin Parkinson. The study involves treatment with an investigational medical device that could possibly help patients retain and, in some cases, improve their visual acuity.

The trial will be conducted on behalf of EMC Inc., a Calgary-based company. Participants will be treated with a computerized electrotherapeutic device the companys engineers have researched, designed and built to treat the symptoms of dry AMD.

The Canadian governments regulator for medical devices, Health Canada, authorized the trial in July. A regulatory panel, the Western Institutional Review Board, which is based in Washington state, will confirm the trials investigators are appropriately qualified and the protocol approved by Health Canada is being implemented correctly. The Coquitlam trial will involve 60 volunteer patients.

Dr. Parkinson is the primary investigator leading the trial. About 30 optometrists in the Metro Vancouver area have been recruited to refer patients with AMD for participation.

The treatment is not intrusive. It requires no drugs as part of its regime. Instead, it employs EMCs own patented micro-current therapy. The idea is as old as electricity but is comparable to a modern-day TENS device. Its both cutting-edge in design and technology, lightweight for ease of use and patient comfort, and simple to operate in the hands of trained personnel.

The goal of the Coquitlam research study is to enroll a sufficient number of subjects to see how safe and effective the investigational device is with people who have dry AMD, said Brent Saik, EMCs optometry consultant. We want to evaluate the devices ability to improve participants eyesight. Each treatment session lasts approximately 30 minutes.

AMD causes damage to the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for seeing details. It limits the sufferers ability to drive a vehicle, recognize faces, read, sew or do fine work. Virtually all AMD begins in the dry form; the Canadian Ophthalmological Society says nine of 10 Canadians who have AMD suffer from the dry version.

Another of the trials objectives is to confirm EMCs mechanism of action theory: that is, treatment with the EMC device improves permeability of the blood vessel membranes and cells, and allows better oxygen and nutrition delivery to the cells. In other words, pulsed micro-current electrotherapy can re-awaken hibernating cells that impair vision.

The likelihood of an individual developing AMD is largely determined by genetic predisposition, ethnicity and health. Caucasians, and those whose parents, grandparents or siblings have had AMD, are at a substantially increased risk of developing the disease. Many studies have asserted that those with a history of smoking are also particularly susceptible.

Participation in the trial is limited so EMC is asking that inquiries be limited to those whose vision is between 20/50 and 20/200. Participants can live anywhere, but must be willing to travel regularly to Coquitlam. There is no cost to the participant, who will be provided with a detailed consent form. Those wanting more information are asked to call 604-685-3937 or email clinicaltrialsemc@gmail.com.

Read this article:
Possible treatment for leading cause of vision loss seeks study volunteers - The Tri-City News

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A little girls Marfan syndrome was identified after she had her eyes tested for the first time in Ilkeston.

Kathleen OHara, known as Kitty, was only three years old when she first visited Specsavers with her mother, Amy, for a routine eye exam in November 2017.

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I noticed that Kitty had vision problems, she held the books very close to her face and looked up, so I took her to the optician, said Amy.

Very young children who can identify simple forms can have an eye exam at opticians. An eye test examines the overall health of the eye as well as vision. When examining Kittys eyes, Specsavers optometrist, Navin Nehra, found a problem with his crystal lenses, structures in the middle of the eye that focus light on the retina, these are the same structures that can be affected. by cataracts, usually when we get older. But with Kittty, it was not a cataract, the lenses themselves were not in the right position and a referral to the Queens Medical Center (QMC) in Nottingham was made, where Kitty was seen in the week.

About one in 5,000 children experience this type of lens shift, known as ectopia lentis, so its really very rare, says Navin. This is the first time I have seen the problem with a client in my ten year career.

At the hospital, the doctor talked about a few ways to explain Kittys symptoms, before diagnosing connective tissue disorder, Marfan syndrome. Although there is no cure, without treatment, victims risk sudden death and may go unnoticed because of its obscurity.

Since the diagnosis, Kitty has had countless doctors and hospital appointments to improve her chances of a healthy life as she ages. She has had two eye surgeries, uses a wheelchair because she gets tired easily and takes medicine for her heart.

Amy adds, If it wasnt for me to have her take the eye test, we might not have been wiser. The earlier it is detected, the better, so I am very grateful for the quick reference made by Navin.

Very few people know about Marfan syndrome, so we really want to raise awareness of the signs it could save lives.

As a rule, people with the disease are tall with long fingers. The eyes are often the first indication, as lenses tend to slip, although not everyone with Marfan syndrome has eye problems.

The syndrome is a genetic disorder and about three-quarters of people inherit the gene from their parents, while one-quarter have no family history of the disease. Its signs are not always present in early childhood. Some people do not develop functionality, including heart problems like an aortic enlargement, until they are adults.

Without early diagnosis and treatment, people may be at risk for life-threatening complications. The earlier certain treatments are started, the better the results.

Krishna Parmar, manager of Specsavers Ilkeston, said: Kitty is a wonderfully resilient little girl and we are delighted that she is getting the treatment she needs. She always brightens our day when she comes to the store.

If you notice any changes in your childs eyes or eyesight, it is important to check them as soon as possible.

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Link:
Kitty's eye condition discovered during a routine trip to the optician - themediatimes

WITH her eyes swollen beyond recognition and her sight failing by the minute, reality star and TV presenter Lizzie Cundy was petrified.

Just two days earlier, the 51-year-old mum of two had had filler injected in her eye sockets in an attempt to get rid of her under eye bags.

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Lizzie's self-esteem was in tatters after her boyfriend, nightclub owner Jeremy Gordeno, had also been seeing the 21-year old daughter of a previous lover in October last year.

"I was devastated," she says quietly.

"He could have been her granddad. It was such a betrayal. I couldnt sleep, my self-confidence was at rock bottom."

A friend recommended a new cosmetic treatment to boost her self-esteem Lizzie quickly booked an appointment.

"She told me she had had some filler in her under eye area to take away the bags and that it took 10 years off you. Shed actually had it done and she looked great," says Lizzie.

"It was a case of wanting a quick fix."

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The practitioner had rooms on Londons swanky Harley Street, yet within minutes of the treatment Lizzie knew something was wrong.

Her under eye area had puffed up beyond recognition and as the hours went by her vision was blurring, leaving her panicked and terrified.

"I literally didn't know whether or not I would go permanently blind," she says, her eyes filling with tears at the memory.

"It was like something from a horror film my vision had gone blurry, I was blinking and blinking trying to focus and I just couldnt. I was panic-stricken."

Now she was desperately relying on the intervention of an experienced cosmetic doctor to save her sight.

"I thought of everything I would lose being able to look at my gorgeous boys all because I had been trying to improve the way I look. My heart was beating so fast. It was horrendous."

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While little known, botched filler procedures have led to 200 documented cases of vision loss in recent years, with 35 in the UK alone being left blind in one eye or both.

It happens when filler is mistakenly injected into an artery, blocking crucial blood circulation to the optic nerve.

This can happen even when the injected area is much lower in the face.

"I didnt know any of this," Lizzie says. "Now it makes me sick to think I risked my sight."

Her terrifying near-miss which unfolded just three months ago - is one reason Lizzie has lent her voice to Fabulous's Had Our Fill campaign, calling for tighter regulations of the cosmetic treatment industry and urging people to do their research before they submit to potentially life-changing procedures.

"I want what happened to me to be a warning to others," she says.

"It was the scariest time and I wouldn't want anyone else to go through what I did."

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No stranger to cosmetic interventions, Lizzie - who openly admits she had a boob job following the birth of sons Josh, 24, and 19-year-old James - is candid about the fact that she first turned to facial treatments in the wake of the 2010 breakdown of her marriage to former footballer Jason Cundy.

"I literally didn't sleep, I felt really tired, and I looked awful, so I had a bit of Botox in my forehead and suddenly I looked better. People told me I looked good considering everything I was going through," she recalls.

It quickly became 'shall I have a little bit more?'

She quickly moved on to facial filler in her cheeks and laughter lines - and it didnt take long before she was addicted to both fillers and Botox.

"It quickly became 'shall I have a little bit more?'. I would leave it a month and then I'd start feeling anxious and want a little top-up," she reveals.

But little did she know that this chasing youth would almost cost her her sight.

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Had Our Fill campaign

BRITAIN'S Botox and filler addiction is fuelling a 2.75billion industry.

The wrinkle-busting and skin plumping treatments account for 9 out of 10 cosmetic procedures.

50% of women and 40% of men aged 18 to 34 want to plump up their pouts and tweak their faces.

Fillers are totally unregulated and incredibly you dont need to have ANY qualifications to buy and inject them.

83% of fillers are performed by people with no medical training, often in unsanitary environments - with devastating results.

Women have been left with rotting tissue, needing lip amputations, lumps and even blinded by botched jobs.

Despite the dangers, there is no legal age limit for dermal filler, which is why Fabulous has launched Had Our Fill, a campaign to:

We're working in conjunction with Save Face and are backed by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).

We want anyone considering a non-surgical cosmetic treatment to be well-informed to make a safe decision.

Weve Had Our Fill of rogue traders and sham clinics - have you?

Lizzies television work, reporting from the red carpet, also left her under pressure to look younger.

"I was told by one boss that I had to take a few years off my age because it's a young industry. I felt that younger people were snapping at my heels," she says.

"The irony was that I'd never worked so much - yet inside I was really unhappy and lonely.

"Looking back, I probably should have spoken to a therapist but instead I thought another appointment with the cosmetic doctor would sort me out."

Then, in 2012 her straight-talking mum told her she had gone too far.

"I did a big photo shoot and afterwards my mum said, 'Lizzie you look different and it's not in a good way'.

"It was the wake-up call I needed, and I decided to embrace a more natural look, she reveals.

"A lot of people said I looked better so that boosted my confidence. I was in a much better place."

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But when she discovered Jeremy, who she met in a bar near her Hampshire home in December 2018, had been cosying up to another woman, her old securities came flooding back and she returned for filler.

Yet from the moment the 15-minute treatment was administered by the therapist - who The Sun has chosen not to name - Lizzie says she felt uncomfortable.

"I could feel the injections were very near my eye - the needle was brushing on my lashes. I kept saying, 'Is this right?' but she just reassured me," she recalls.

Leaving the clinic, Lizzie could already feel her eyes swelling.

"I rang on my way home and said it didnt feel right - but the woman said that was normal. Then as soon as I got home, I looked in the mirror and it looked like there was a shelf under my eyes. It was also slightly burning."

Panicked, Lizzie rang the clinic again, only to be told to give her treatment time to settle.

"By the next day they looked even more swollen, so I actually went to my GP. He thought I might have a sinus problem and gave me antibiotics."

Back home her eyes continued to swell.

"I'd never had such a reaction like this. I literally had to put Vaseline over my face and all these different things to try and help. It just kept getting worse."

When she woke up the following morning her vision was blurry.

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Fillers by numbers

2.75 billion - estimated value of UKs non-surgical cosmetic industry

59% - 13 to 24 year olds see lip fillers as routine as getting a haircut or manicure

68% - young people say friends have had fillers

160 - different types of dermal filler available for use in Europe, compared to only 10 in the US where they have tighter regulations

1,617 - complaints received by Save Face last year regarding unregistered practitioners

1.2 million - posts for #lipfillers on Instagram

3.9 million - Google searches for lip fillers in UK last year

40% - 13 to 19 year olds say images on social media cause them to worry about body image

She says: "I had to get up early for filming and my eyesight was already a bit blurry and my eyes were more swollen than ever.

"I was filming a documentary about Meghan Markle and kept thinking 'I cant let people down'. The make-up lady had done her best to cover the swelling but when I was looking at the auto cue, I literally couldn't read it.

"I was really blinking, trying to focus and it was really difficult and I was thinking 'I can't properly see'. "It was like something from a horror movie and I realised I had to act fast."

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Lizzie rang the number of a cosmetic doctor who had helped a friend when she had lip filler that had gone wrong.

"I got his number, sent him a picture and he said, 'You have to come in now'," she recalls.

She got there as quickly as she could, only to be told by the doctor that the treatment was so dangerous that he had to try to dissolve it instantly.

Worse, there was no guarantee that the treatment would work.

"He said he could only do his best, but he had to attempt to get rid of the filler now before it did any more damage," says Lizzie.

"I was petrified. I had to keep my eyes open while he administered more injections round my eye socket praying it wouldnt make things worse."

Thankfully the treatment combined with a collagen wave, which uses radio frequency energy to smooth skin did the trick.

"Literally it was like watching magic at work, you could see it all going. The doctor told me I was incredibly lucky.I vowed never again."

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Three months later she is still counting her blessings as well as vowing she is done with cosmetic injectables.

"Whats happened has given me a bit of kick up the backside - I know I have to have a bit more self-esteem because cosmetic surgery isn't the answer. Never say never but for now I want to learn to love who I am and to be the best I am at my age."

Lizzie is using vitybox as an alternative source of collagen.

Here is the original post:
Lizzie Cundy reveals fillers in eye sockets BLINDED her as she battled to stay young after catching lover - The Sun

One symptom of type 2 diabetes you need to watch out for is blurred vision. This refers to the loss of sharpness and inability to see fine details. Diabetes UK report that one in three people will have complications with their eyes by the time theyre diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Blurred vision can happen in either one eye (unilateral) or both (bilateral) eyes, and is caused by high levels of blood sugar with those with type 2 diabetes (diagnosed or not) resulting in the lens inside the eye to swell.

Diabetes UK point out there are other common symptoms of diabetes people should be aware of:

If you notice blurred vision, it could indicate that you have diabetes that isnt controlled.

Persistent high blood sugar levels can damage the back of the eye (retina), medically known as diabetic retinopathy.

The retina needs a constant supply of blood to function, which it receives through a network of tiny blood vessels.

Over time, uncontrolled type 2 diabetes (signified by persistent high blood sugar levels) can damage the blood vessels servicing the retina.

READ MORE:How to lose visceral fat: Best oil to cook with if you want to reduce harmful belly fat

This happens in three main stages:

Background retinopathyBackground retinopathy is when tiny bulges develop in the blood vessels, which may bleed slightly but don't usually affect vision.

Pre-proliferative retinopathyPre-proliferative retinopathy is when more severe and widespread changes affect the blood vessels, including more significant bleeding into the eye.

Proliferative retinopathyProliferative retinopathy is when scar tissue and new blood vessels, which are weak and bleed easily, develop on the retina. This can result in some loss of vision

The NHS point out that it usually takes several years for diabetic retinopathy to reach a stage where it could threaten your sight, but it can cause blindness if left undiagnosed and untreated.

Anyone with type 2 diabetes is potentially at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.

However, those with the highest chance of developing this complication of diabetes include those who:

Read the rest here:
Type 2 diabetes symptoms: The sign in your eyes that could signal the condition - Express

Over the past two decades, the field of medical genomics underwent nothing less than a revolution in terms of both technological advancement and accumulated knowledge. This revolution holds the promise of changing the entire medical practice, and while the industrycontinues to improve genome sequencing technologies and decrease the price of sequencing a genome, other challenges are lurking that hinder the prospects of this revolution and undermine the efforts of wide-scale integration of genomics into mainstream medicine.

To emphasize this point further, even though the technologies to help diagnose patients with rare genetic diseases exist, the rate of underdiagnoses and misdiagnoses is still alarmingly high, and patients who receive diagnoses end up waiting too long for them, sometimes years. These extensive diagnostic journeys directly impact the ability to recruit patients for clinical trials, and thus the ability to develop more treatments for rare diseases. To date, only 5% of more than 7,000 known rare genetic diseases have FDA-approved treatments.

At my company, a leading digital health company, our mission is to end the diagnostic odyssey for undiagnosed pediatric patients with rare diseases. I've seen that the main contributors to this state of affairs are the excruciatingly long wait times for genetics appointments, coupled with the significant workforce shortage of experts in the field.

To reach more than 400 million patients globally (50% of whom are estimated to be young kids) with earlier intervention to improve outcomes and help many of them live relatively healthy and productive lives, the diagnosis must shift from the geneticists clinic to the primary point of care, or at least it must be initiated much earlier by primary care physicians.

Without adopting technological solutions that will support the integration of genomics into mainstream medicine, genomics will never live up to its promise and become a standard of care. In my opinion, realizing that vision will be a balancing act between the affordability for payers, accessibility for providers and actionability for patients, and it will depend on technological solutions combining AI-based phenotyping, as well as connecting front-line providers with human experts in genetics, alongside the most advanced genome sequencing technologies.

High Throughput Genetic Testing

As noted, genome sequencing technologies have made huge strides over the last two decades. The affordability of genomics is now increasingly dependent on the ability to sift through and interpret vast amounts of data produced from a genome, and to determine which data is pertinent for a medical diagnosis and for disease treatment a task fitting for AI.

Indeed, in the last few years, we have witnessed many AI-driven solutions sprouting to address this problem. Some of these solutions are home-grown, in leading laboratories such as Invitae, GeneDx and PerkinElmer Genomics. (Full disclosure: PerkinElmer Genomics uses FDNA's technology in its genetic analysis.) Others are developed as software platforms by vendors such as Sophia Genetics, Fabric Genomics, Congenica and Emedgene.

Harnessing AI to perform data analysis challenges has proven to be very successful and is a direct contributor to the affordability of genetic testing today, as well as the gradually increasing rate of reimbursement by payers. I believe AI will continue to play a key role in driving down prices to the $100 range, which will make genomics extremely affordable, both for health systems and for individuals paying out-of-pocket.

Phenotyping Driven By AI

AIs impact goes far beyond applying machine learning algorithms that sift through genetic variations and proprietary knowledge bases of pathogenicity. As more OMICS technologies stack up with genomics, and more AI modalities like natural language processing and computer vision image analysis are integrated directly into the genome analysis pipeline, we will see an increasing standardization of data across disparate data silos and a closing of the genotype-phenotype gap between the clinic and the lab. This trend will drive genomic data to become more actionable for patients and allow them to make informed decisions about their health.

Much of todays phenotyping is performed by humans and is inherently subject to biases such as age, gender and ethnicity. If we approach this problem with legal and ethical rigor, care and are cautious of patient privacy, and with respect to the providers and their workflow, AI could enhance human skills and capabilities. I think that helping primary care providers collect, structure and analyze phenotypic information of patients with rare diseases is an area worth prioritizing.

Connecting The Expert Community

Finally, technology is more than AI. Technology is also an enabler for fostering connections and interactions between humans. Some tasks in practicing medicine must be left to humans, but even then, technology can assist. An alternative abbreviation of AI (augmented intelligence) is my preferred one. It implies a symbiotic relationship between people and machines, making each other stronger, rather than threatening to replace each other.

Tailoring a solution combining all three components (genomics, AI-based phenotyping and community connection) like the one described above is not an easy task, and it depends on the ability of stakeholders from many disciplines to work together, share data and collaborate on research and development.

To achieve this, a best-of-breed approach should be taken, and not only should data be shared, but a global collaboration between commercial companies, academic research institutions and caregivers should occur. The integrity of the data, ethical and privacy policies, and trust in workflow should be established. This requires an open dialogue between all parties involved, as well as a fast-pace framework to allow developers to move quickly in building these tools.

Certainly, working with different stakeholders with sometimes conflicting interests is challenging, but the one common goal we all have is helping patients, especially kids with rare and undiagnosed genetic diseases.

Read more from the original source:
Access And Actionability Are Key For Genetic Testing And Precision Medicine - Forbes

Nima Sharifi, M.D.

A new Cleveland Clinic study has uncovered a genetic anomaly associated with poor response to a common asthma treatment. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that asthmatic patients with the gene variant are less likely to respond to glucocorticoids and often develop severe asthma.

The research team, led by Nima Sharifi, M.D., of Cleveland Clinics Lerner Research Institute, identified that the gene variant HSD3B1(1245A) is associated with glucocorticoid response and may be clinically useful to identify patients most likely to benefit from other treatments.

Glucocorticoids, which modulate systemic inflammatory response, are commonly prescribed to treat severe asthma. However, until now we have not understood why many patients do not benefit from them, said Dr. Sharifi, senior author of the article. These findings make the case for genetic testing and personalized treatment and provide important information for identifying which patients should be treated using different therapies.

In the study, Dr. Sharifi and his collaborators retrospectively analyzed the association between patient genomes and lung function in more than 500 asthmatic patients who received daily oral glucocorticoids treatment or no glucocorticoids treatment.

Joe Zein, M.D.

They found that a change to the gene HSD3B1 specifically the HSD3B1(1245A) variant is associated with poor lung function and glucocorticoid treatment resistance. The analysis revealed that among patients receiving glucocorticoids, those with the variant had poorer lung function than those who did not have the genetic anomaly, suggesting that it contributes to resistance and helps drive the progression to severe asthma.

Previous studies have shown that HSD3B1 encodes an enzyme that converts less active hormones called androgens into more powerful androgens. While additional research is necessary, the team suspects that HSD3B1(1245A)s effect on lung function may be attributed to inhibition of this process.

This study is the first to provide genetic evidence suggesting that variants related to androgen synthesis affect glucocorticoids treatment resistance in asthma or any other inflammation-related disease, said Joe Zein, M.D., first author on the study and a practicing pulmonologist in Cleveland Clinics Respiratory Institute. These findings provide us with important new information that may lead to more tailored treatments for asthma patients and the ability to prevent the development of severe disease.

Asthma is a chronic condition that causes the airways of the lungs to narrow, the lining of the airways to become inflamed and the cells that line the airways to produce more mucus, making it difficult to take in enough air. According to the CDC, about 25 million people in the U.S. have asthma, including more than six million children. Asthma accounts for nearly two million emergency department visits each year.

Previously, Dr. Sharifis laboratory has extensively studied the role of HSD3B1 in prostate cancer. In 2013, he made the seminal discovery that prostate cancer cells with the HSD3B1(1245C) variant survive androgen deprivation therapy, the first line of defense against prostate cancer, by producing their own disease-fueling androgens. He has spent more than seven years studying and publishing peer-reviewed articles on the variants effect in prostate cancer.

Dr. Sharifi holds the Kendrick Family Chair for Prostate Cancer Research at Cleveland Clinic and directs the Cleveland Clinic Genitourinary Malignancies Research Center. He has joint appointments in the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute and Taussig Cancer Institute. In 2017, he received the national Top Ten Clinical Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum for his discoveries linking HSD3B1(1245C) with poor prostate cancer outcomes.

Dr. Zein is a member of the Cleveland Clinic Asthma Center, which provides a comprehensive approach to asthma management and care along with innovative research, offering patients access to the most advanced diagnostic testing and innovative treatments.

This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Cancer Institute, both of the National Institutes of Health.

Link:
Cleveland Clinic Study Identifies Genetic Anomaly Associated with Poor Response to Common Asthma Treatment - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Researchers say theyve discovered six genetic variants associated with the development of anxiety disorders in what they call the largest study of anxiety traits.

In a study published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers examined genetic and health data from 200,000 U.S. veterans. The data was compiled by the Million Veteran Program, a research groupfunded by the federal government to determine how genes, lifestyle and military exposures affect health and illness.

While there have been many studies on the genetic basis of depression, far fewer have looked for variants linked to anxiety, disorders of which afflict as many as 1 in 10 Americans, Murray Stein, a staff psychiatrist in the VA San Diego Healthcare System, said in a statement.

In the analysis, researchers discovered six genetic variants associated with higher risks of developing anxiety disorders. The variants related to anxiety disorders were found on chromosomes 1, 3, 6, 7 and 20. The studys authors called it an important step forward in understanding how genes contribute to mental conditions.

The variant on chromosome 7 is identified to be correlated with higher occurrences of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Its also associated with the reception of estrogen, but researchers were reluctant to draw the conclusion on whether that could explain why women are twice as likely than men to be affected by anxiety disorders. While female veterans were included in the study, more than 90 percent of the participants were men. The studys authors said more research is needed on the topic.

The study also found that five of the genetic variants were found in white Americans, while an additional variant was found in African Americans.

Minorities are underrepresented in genetic studies, and the diversity of the Million Veteran Program was essential for this part of the project, Dan Levey, of the VA Connecticut Healthcare Center and Yale University, said in a statement.The genetic variant we identified occurs only in individuals of African ancestry, and would have been completely missed in less diverse cohorts.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, almost 40 million people in the U.S. experience an anxiety disorder in any given year.

See original here:
Scientists discover six genetic links to anxiety - The Hill

A presentation by a Bayer Crop Science rep described the company's successful Multiplex PCR genetic detection

Incs () BHQplex CoPrimer technology, which is used in diagnostics tests utilizing DNA or RNA, was the star of a presentation from Bayer Crop Science at an agricultural presentation on Tuesday.

The presentation, titled "CoPrimer Assays for Multiplex PCR," was put on by a Bayer representative at the International Plant & Animal Genome XXVIII conference this weekin San Diego.

It described a study that involved developing genotyping assays which detect genetic sequences using the Utah-based companys CoPrimer technology. That detection process includes includes multiplex PCR (polymerase chain reaction), a system for detecting multiple genetic sequences all at once, rather than having to do a new test for each particular sequence.

"We are excited to announce this third-party validation, the importance of which cannot be overstated, and which further supports our confidence in the uniqueness and superior advantages of our patented CoPrimer platform technology, CEO Dwight Egan said in a statement. Bayers commitment to a world where more sustainable farming practices and more adaptive, resilient plants are part of the solution to making hunger a thing of the past aligns perfectly with our mission to improve the lives and quality of life in communities across the world.

Co-Diagnostics technology is being licensed by LGC Biosearch Technologies, a biotechnology company based in the UK.

"With partners like LGC, including their globe-spanning footprint in over 200 countries, and validation from such an important force in the world of agriculture as Bayer, we believe that Co-Diagnostics is better positioned than ever to leverage our technology platform and establishing the Company as a valuable player in the world of AgBio, Egan said.

Contact Andrew Kessel at [emailprotected]

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel

See original here:
Co-Diagnostics" genetic detection technology on display at international agriculture conference - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

More consumers are developing a taste for goat cheese, milk, and meat as they become aware of the high protein and great taste of these products. While U.S. goat producers are enjoying this steady trend, they remain focused on keeping their animals healthy, especially from scrapie a fatal brain disease that affects goats and sheep.

The goat industry is one of the fastest growing animal industries in agriculture, said Stephen White, an Agricultural Research Service geneticist. Not too many years ago, there were only a few hundred thousand goats in the country. But in January 2018, goats and kids totaled 2.62 million head.

Meat and dairy are the biggest markets, followed by mohair, but goats serve in other unique capacities, said ARS veterinary medical officer David Schneider. Goats are being used to manage weedy areas along highways, get rid of kudzu in the Southeast, and even mow lawns. Theyre also used as pack animals to carry supplies through rugged areas.

For any of these businesses, a single outbreak of scrapie could be devastating.

There is no cure or treatment for scrapie, which is in the same family transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases as mad cow disease. TSEs are rare degenerative brain disorders characterized by tiny holes that give the brain a spongy appearance.

Most often scrapie is transmitted through birth fluids to other goats and sheep, and it can remain infectious in the environment for many years. It was first recognized in sheep in Great Britain and other European countries more than 250 years ago and was first diagnosed in U.S. sheep in 1947 in a Michigan flock.

All animals that get scrapie die. But there is good news from ARS. White and Schneider, who both work at ARSs Animal Disease Research Unit in Pullman, Wash., are the first to demonstrate by infectious disease challenge that goats with the S146 allele (a different form of a gene) are less susceptible to scrapie over a usual goat lifetime. They also tested the K222 allele in goats. Their research shows that goats with one copy of either the S146 or K222 allele did not develop scrapie after being challenged with infection at birth. The study was published in The Veterinary Journal in 2018.

Commercial goats raised for either meat or milk age out of herd participation as milkers, dams of commercial offspring, or as sires by around 6 years of age, White said. In this ongoing ARS research, goats with the resistance alleles have lived beyond this commercial lifetime up to 7 years with no clinical disease and without getting sick.

The only countries considered to be scrapie free are Australia and New Zealand. Currently, if one goat is diagnosed with scrapie on a U.S. farm, all goats are quarantined for life or euthanized. You couldnt restock your operation with any susceptible animal, White said. The farmers operation would be over.

This research is good news for both goat and sheep producers because it could help with eradication efforts. Before U.S. producers can take advantage of import and export markets, scrapie must be eradicated from the United States and meet the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) criteria for disease freedom.

I think for the sheep industry alone, thats about $10 to $20 million annually in lost revenue, Schneider said.

ERADICATION EFFORTS

The U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service heads the National Scrapie Eradication Program. The agency reports that the prevalence of scrapie has decreased significantly since 2002 through eradication efforts. According to OIE rules, to be declared free of scrapie a country must conduct extensive surveillance for the disease and have had no scrapie cases for seven years, Schneider said.

In sheep, genetic resistance was discovered years ago. A test was then developed to allow U.S. sheep producers to test flocks and breed for the resistance allele. Now if theres a scrapie outbreak on a farm, sheep that have the resistant genotype do not have to be quarantine or euthanized.

The goat industry is hoping that APHIS will recognize the S146 and K222 genetic alleles and give the resistance goats the same get out of jail card that sheep have, White said.

In 2007, White and Schneider started their study by challenging goat kids at birth with a mega dose of scrapie. The ongoing study consists of three genotype groups: goats with the protective S146 allele, goats with the K222 allele, and a control group with the common U.S. goat allele.

Most of the goats with the S146 or K222 allele lived a very long time and did not contract scrapie. Those that died were euthanized due to other natural causes. In contrast, all animals in the control group got scrapie within two years.

The S146 and K222 alleles had previously been associated with scrapie resistance in goats, but resistance to challenge had not been scientifically demonstrated, White said. Were the only ones, to our knowledge, testing these alleles for scrapie resistance to challenge with scrapie from anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Also, our research is one of the longest running studies, he added.

In 2016, the U.S. Animal Health Association passed a resolution declaring that the evidence for these two alleles is compelling and should be incorporated into the scrapie eradication program, White said. Last year, a European Food Safety Authority panel of scrapie experts determined that there was enough evidence for the two alleles, plus a third known as D146, to be considered resistance alleles for classical scrapie in goats. The panel, which cited ARS research, concluded that these are resistance alleles and recommended they be used in scrapie control and eradication programs.

A DNA test was developed to identify animals with the S146 and K222 alleles and became commercially available in 2018. ARS scientists did not develop the test, but they played a major role in making sure it worked and helping to get it to the goat industry.

This ARS research is a definitive demonstration of goat scrapie resistance, Schneider said. Its important to farmers, their networks, the goat and sheep industries, and other countries with goat scrapie problems.

We have a long-time cooperation with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Schneider said. Weve been asked to help them with their in-house testing so they can apply the data to their scrapie eradication program.

Scientists continue to study the goats in the project to find out how long theyll live. This is ARS making an impact serving a role in long-term experiments that only ARS can and its happening now, Schneider said.By Sandra Avant, formerly with ARS Office of Communications.

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Wiping out scrapie in goats, the genetic way - Fence Post