What's Inside
- Diabetes and its relationship to blindness
- Lab grown "mini eyes" used in Ushers Syndrome research
- Blindness strongly associated with cardio-vascular disease
- And, about ten more articles about the science, medicine and preventing blindness
Editorial By Chris Hofstader
This was another slow week for news about the science and medicine aspects of blindness. There were a number of stories about diabetes, a major cause of blindness world wide and others about genetics but we only have eleven articles this week and hope you find them interesting.
Science and Medicine
Blindness caused by diabetes a growing issue
Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness worldwide, … to grow to 191 million by 2030. This story comes to us from: Yahoo.
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AFFECTS ONE-THIRD OF PEOPLE WITH DIABETES
a Public Health Awareness initiative of Grewal Eye Institute, Chandigarh conducted an enlightening program for common people on World Diabetic Day.
The session was led by a panel of eminent Ophthalmologists from Grewal Eye Institute, Chandigarh viz., Dr. Jagat Ram (former Director – PGI), Dr. M R Dogra (former Head of Eye Department), and Dr. SPS Grewal (CEO, GEI). The aim of the program was to provide the general public an overview of diabetes affecting the vision that leads to partial or total blindness. Great emphasis was laid on the significance of regular and detailed fundus examination. This story comes to us from: Face2News.
World Diabetes Day: Atiku canvasses for increased medical personnel
Atiku in a statement to commemorate the 2022 World Diabetes Day (WDD), Tuesday lamented that the disease is the major cause of blindness in the world today. This story comes to us from: Daily Post Nigeria.
Lab grown 'mini eyes’ unlock understanding of blindness in rare genetic condition
Researchers at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) have grown ‘mini eyes', which make it possible to study and better understand the development of blindness in a rare genetic disease called Usher syndrome for the first time. This story comes to us from: UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON.
Groundbreaking CRISPR treatment for blindness only works for subset of patients
After some early but cautious optimism, a company is shelving its pioneering gene-editing treatment for a rare inherited blindness disorder. This story comes to us from: Science.
After mid-stage stumble, CRISPR pioneer searches for partner
While excitement about the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing remains high, a setback for a leading company using this technique shows it is no golden ticket to success. Stock in Cambridge, USA-based Editas Medicine (Nasdaq: EDIT) dropped a tenth on Thursday and fell a further 4% after hours, after the unveiling of weak results from the Phase I/II BRILLIANCE trial. Editas is using the study to evaluate its candidate EDIT-101 in the treatment of blindness due to the rare genetic disorder Leber congenital amaurosis 10 (LCA10). Affecting around 1,500 people in the USA, there is no effective treatment currently available for the condition, a form of severe retinal dystrophy which causes blindness or near-blindness from birth. This story comes to us from: The Pharma Letter.
Editas Medicine Announces Clinical Data Demonstrating Proof Of Concept Of EDIT-101 From Phase 1/2 BRILLIANCE Trial
Editor: We very rarely run two articles about the same story but this one and that before it are different enough that they're both worth reading.
Three out of 14 treated subjects met a responder threshold having experienced clinically meaningful improvements in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (LogMAR >0.3) and demonstrated consistent improvements in two of the following three additional endpoints: full field sensitivity test (FST), visual function navigation course (VFN), or the visual function quality of life (VFQ). An examination of baseline characteristics of the treatment responder patients revealed that two of the three responders were homozygous for IVS26 mutation (2/2; 100% of the homozygous patients treated). No other baseline characteristics that could pre-select a responder patient population were identified in the BRILLIANCE dataset. This story comes to us from: Editas Medicine.
Blinding eye disease strongly associated with serious forms of cardiovascular disease
Patients with a specific form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the United States, are also highly likely to have either underlying heart damage from heart failure and heart attacks, or advanced heart valve disease, or carotid artery disease associated with certain types of strokes, according to a new study from New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. This story comes to us from: EurekAlert.
Why Blindness Is More Common In Menopausal Women + What To Do
Editor: This is yet another "science" article from a publisher who seems to avoid actual science in their articles.
She specializes in bioidentical hormones, gut restoration and anti-aging medicine. This story comes to us from: MindBodyGreen.
Macular Degeneration Doesn't Have to Mean Eventual Blindness
Editor: The publisher of this story is notorious for publishing sometimes dangerous pseudo-science. We include it as our readers might find it interesting but anything you read about medicine in Epoch Times should be viewed with a high degree of suspicion as it may sound "sciencey" but is rarely based on actual science.
Macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD)- is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. This story comes to us from: The Epoch Times.
Preventing Blindness
Seen at 7: Treating and Preventing Avoidable Blindness
Editor: This story is presented as a video.
Blindness and vision loss affect about 1.1 billion people worldwide, and 90% of these cases are avoidable. Watch the video to find out more. This story comes to us from: Click2Houston.
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