A detailed molecular map for eye disease

Understanding eye diseases is tricky enough. Knowing what causes them at the molecular level is even more confounding.

To understand eye diseases better, University of Iowa (UI) researchers have created the most detailed map to date of a region of the human eye long associated with blinding diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration. The high-resolution molecular map catalogs thousands of proteins in the choroid, which supplies blood and oxygen to the outer retina, itself critical in vision. By seeing differences in the abundance of proteins in different areas of the choroid, the researchers can begin to figure out which proteins may be the critical actors in vision loss and eye disease.

Treatment efficacy of topical unoprostone isopropyl in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

A study was conducted by Dr Akiyama & associates from the Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka in Japan to evaluate the treatment effect of topical unoprostone isopropyl (unoprostone) (in the form of eye drops) on patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). This medication is currently used in glaucoma.

Forty patients with typical forms of RP were included in the study, out of which 17 patients were treated with 0.12% topical unoprostone twice daily in a randomly selected eye. The efficacy of the treatment was monitored by visual acuity and visual field testing using the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA). In addition, 12 RP patients who were included this study and 12 normal subjects were evaluated in terms of their macular blood flow of both eyes after instillation of unoprostone using the laser speckle method. 

Is Valproic Acid effective in treating patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa?

There have been some reports in academic journals about the use of Valproic acid (VPA) in Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). We thought we can review the current status of these trials and evaluate where we stand in the outcomes.

Is docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) effective as treatment for patients with X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa?

X-linked retinitis pigmentosa is a severe inherited retinal degenerative disease with a frequency of 1 in 100,000 persons. Because no cure is available for this orphan disease and treatment options are limited, slowing of disease progression is considered to be a meaningful outcome.

A study was conducted in Dallas, Texas, at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, and others, to determine whether high-dose docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, slows progression of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa as measured by cone electroretinography (ERG).
 

Iodine supplement may limit or reduce extent of macular thicking in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa

Current treatments for cystoid macular edema (CME) in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are not always effective, may lead to adverse effects, and may not restore visual acuity. The present research lays the rationale for evaluating whether an iodine supplement could reduce CME in RP. 

A study was orgnized at the Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations, in the Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) in Boston, to determine whether central foveal thickness (CFT) in the presence of CME is related to dietary iodine intake, which was inferred from urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in nonsmoking adults with RP.

Blind veteran shows how he sees world through photography

By the time an inherited eye disease crossed into legal blindness in 2009, Ed Waldrop had already lost the ability to drive and he feared countless other freedoms would soon be next. But what he lost in sight, he gained in a seize-the-day attitude that revived a long-buried, if now unlikely, ambition to make visual art.

(c) JON-MICHAEL SULLIVAN

In the past three years, the Au­gusta Air Force veteran, who serves as the health chaplain at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, has used what free time he has to transform nature, architecture and vintage cars into unique compositions consistent with how he sees the world.


To read more, read the article in The Augusta Chronicle. 

epiCam, a camera for screening diabetic retinopathy being developed by Epipole, may save sight of millions

Epipole is building a mass market diabetic retinopathy monitoring and screening platform usable by both clinicians and non-clinicians in a home or social environment. The system will provide monitoring capabilities as well as a portable, low cost tool for clinicians for tele-medicine applications.

The platform consists of three parts:

1. A retinal fundus camera tuned specifically to this task.
2. Safe Cloud based storage for all images.
3. A sophisticated piece of software usable by non-clinicians which can run in limited-compute environments.

Diabetes, as is well known, has become a major public health concern. A significant number of those affected with this disease are likely to suffer from diabetic retinopathy. To understand the significance of the problem we face, here are some statistics from ARVO 2011 for the year 2010 (with expected numbers in 2030 in parentheses). 

• 100.8 (154.9) million people with diabetic retinopathy

• 20.6 (31.7) million with proliferative diabetic retinopathy

• 21.3 (32.8) million with diabetic macular edema and

• 33.4 (51.3) million with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

More about epiCam here.