What's Inside
- Will a new GMO with more vitamin A catch on?
- New techniques for early detection and treatment of glaucoma.
- Ophthalmologists lobby for more blindness prevention funding.
- And, about ten stories about the science and medicine of blindness and the prevention thereof.
Editorial By Chris Hofstader
Welcome to edition 41 of World Blind Herald's Science Briefs. This is a relatively brief edition of Science Briefs as we simply did not get many articles about the science and medicine related to blindness in the past week. We don't make the news, we curate it and deliver it to our readers so we can't control how many articles we get in any given week.
While there are not too many articles this week, those that are here are very interesting and I'm always enthusiastic when I read about another promising development in this area. We hope you find something valuable in this edition as well.
Disclaimer
World Blind herald does not write the stories to which we link in Science Briefs, we gather them, curate them and bring them to our readers. We are not scientists ourselves and cannot guarantee the validity of the stories in this digest. We do, however, want to be very clear that you should not attempt any of the medical interventions mentioned in Science Briefs without first consulting a professional ophthalmologist and discussing it with them. Do not take medical advice from this or any other web site or podcast without first consulting a professional.
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Science and Medicine
This 'super banana' was designed to save lives. Will it matter that it's orange?
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in Uganda. This story comes to us from: National Geographic.
Restoring Sight in Patients at Home and Abroad
“When I decided to go into medicine, what I really wanted to do was … through educating surgeons in Sierra Leone on how to cure blindness. This story comes to us from: Tufts Now – Tufts University.
[New treatment could be instrumental in restoring the blood-brain barrier's normal function][104]
In the study's mice, the gene is inactivated, and the key is missing causing a leaky barrier and blindness. This story comes to us from: News Medical.
Almost 10 million Americans have diabetes-linked eye disease
Nearly 10 million Americans are at risk for blindness from diabetic retinopathy. This story comes to us from: Medical Xpress.
Blind Uruzgan Residents Receive Treatment After TOLOnews Story
Officials said that the cause of blindness is hereditary and those who cannot be treated inside the country will be sent abroad. This story comes to us from: TOLOnews.
Preventing Blindness
Glaucoma can lead to vision loss! Know the signs for early detection and treatment
Glaucoma is a serious eye disease that may cause blindness or complete vision loss. Check out symptoms, causes, and ways to treat glaucoma. This story comes to us from: HealthShots.
Shell begins medical outreach in Bayelsa community
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has begun a three-day medical outreach in Onopa community, Bayelsa to eliminate and prevent visual impairment and childhood blindness in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state. This story comes to us from: WorldStage.
Committee To Monitor Blindness Control Policy
The main objective of the policy is to bring down the rates of blindness in the state by setting up of eye banks. This story comes to us from: The Times of India.
[Ophthalmologist advocates provision of budget lines to prevent childhood blindness][105]
“Early detection and treatment of childhood eye diseases are important to prevent/ reverse vision impairment/blindness. This story comes to us from: The Sun Nigeria.
Prevention Program Saves Sight for More Than 50K People
Without treatment, corneal abrasions often lead to irreversible blindness. This story comes to us from: InvisionMag.com.
]: https://sunnewsonline.com/ophthalmologist-advocates-provision-of-budget-lines-to-prevent-childhood-blindness/