Eye / Vision Problems
Omega-3s help stave off age-related vision loss
Want to keep your eyesight sharp as you age? Eating lots of fish packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids could help, new research suggests.
Among 1,837 people who had early signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), those with the highest consumption of omega-3 fatty acids were 30 percent less likely to progress to the advanced form of the disease over a 12-year period than those with the lowest omega-3 intake, researchers found.
Dr. John Paul SanGiovanni of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and his colleagues report their findings in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
High-dose vitamin C may boost women’s cataract risk
Women who take high-dose vitamin C supplements may be increasing their risk of age-related cataracts, hint findings of a Swedish study.
Among nearly 24,600 adult women followed for more than 8 years, those who reported regular or occasional vitamin C supplementation of about 1000 milligrams per serving were about 25 percent more likely than those who did not take supplements to have age-related cataracts removed.
Women who took extra vitamin C for 10 years or longer; or in combination with being 65 years and older, or taking hormone replacement or corticosteroid medications had even greater risk, researchers found.
Glaucoma patients overrate their eyedrop skills
Although more than 90 percent of patients taking ocular medication reported feeling confident about their eyedrop instillation technique, less than one third actually demonstrated adequate skills, researchers report in the Archives of Ophthalmology.
“A large component of adherence to a medical regimen,” investigator Dr. Alan L. Robin told Reuters Health, “is the ability to adequately execute the proper ingestion or instillation of a medication. Physicians often do not dwell on this aspect as they think that one does not have to educate a patient on how to take a pill. However, the proper instillation of an eye drop into the eye is far different than taking a pill.”
Robin went on to point out that apart from it being essential to get a drop into the eye, it’s also important to avoid release of multiple drops, which leads to waste, increased costs and possible inadequate dosing should the medication run out prematurely.
Natural Compound Stops Diabetic Retinopathy
Oklahoma City, OK—Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a natural compound to stop one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. The research appears online this month in the journal Diabetes, a publication of the American Diabetes Association.
The discovery of the compound’s function in inflammation and blood vessel formation related to eye disease means scientists can now develop new therapies –including eye drops – to stop diabetic retinopathy, a disease which affects as many as five million Americans with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
“There is no good treatment for retinopathy, which is why we are so excited about this work. This opens an entirely new area for pharmaceutical companies to target,” said Jay Ma, the principal investigator on the project and a research partner at the OU Health Sciences Center, Dean A. McGee Eye Institute and the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center.
Retinopathy of prematurity diagnosis time significantly reduced using telemedicine
To be properly diagnosed, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), the leading cause of childhood blindness in the United States and worldwide, requires a time intensive process and significant coordination between ophthalmologist and NICU staff. A recent study examining ROP diagnosis speed using indirect ophthalmoscopy versus telemedicine, remote medical consultation, is featured in the July issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology (http://www.ajo.com), published by Elsevier.
The study was designed to compare the ophthalmologist’s speed of ROP diagnosis using telemedicine versus traditional bedside ophthalmoscopy. The findings reveal that: 1) ROP diagnosis by the ophthalmologist is significantly faster via telemedicine, and 2) there are significant time requirements by ophthalmologists associated with ROP diagnosis at the NICU bedside beyond ophthalmoscopy. In particular, additional time is taken for travel and communication with families and hospital staff.
To counteract these time requirements the implementation of telemedicine for ROP management has the ability to decrease the time commitment for examining ophthalmologists. Previous studies have shown that telemedical ROP diagnosis is highly accurate and reliable compared with ophthalmoscopy, and future work is required to address workflow questions in more detail.
Program offers free eye care to America’s elderly
Between June 1 and August 31, EyeCare America, a non-profit public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, is offering no-cost medical eye care to qualified seniors.
By the age of 65, one in three Americans has some form of vision-impairing eye disease. The downturn in the U.S. economy has many seniors on fixed incomes struggling with health care costs, including eye care.
Last Updated: 2009-06-11 15:04:35 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Certain foods may thwart age-related vision loss
A new study suggests that older adults who eat diets rich in citrus fruits, leafy greens and fish oil, but low in “glycemic index,” may have a lower risk of age-related macular degeneration—the leading cause of vision loss among older U.S. adults.
AMD, also known as “age-related macular degeneration” refers to gradual damage to the macula, a structure in the retina that allows for seeing fine detail. The condition affects more than 1 million Americans, usually after the age of 65.
A number of studies have suggested that individual nutrients, including the antioxidants lutein, vitamin C and vitamin E, can help protect against AMD. This latest study, published in the journal Ophthalmology, looked at the overall diet patterns of 4,000 older adults and the links to AMD risk.
Action video games sharpen eyesight: U.S. study
Adults who play a lot of action video games may be improving their eyesight, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
They said people who used a video-game training program saw significant improvements in their ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray, a finding that may help people who have trouble with night driving.
“Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery—somehow changing the optics of the eye,” said Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester in New York, whose study appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
B vitamins may ward off age-related vision loss
Taking folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12 may help women preserve their eyesight as they age, a new study out in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows.
Among 5,205 women 40 and older, those who had been randomly assigned to take the vitamin combo were about 35 percent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a deterioration of the retina that is the leading cause of vision loss among older US adults.
“There’s no way other than avoiding cigarette smoking to reduce the risk of the onset of age-related macular degeneration, and this is the first suggestion that maybe there’s something else we can do,” Dr. William G. Christen of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, a researcher on the study, told Reuters Health. But the findings must be confirmed before the vitamins can be recommended for AMD prevention, he added.
Losing belly fat may cut risk of eye disease
New research suggests that people who lose weight around their middle, particularly those who are obese, can decrease their odds of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of severe vision loss among elderly people.
“Reduction in risk of AMD may be an additional benefit of reducing weight, especially in obese and overweight patients,” Dr. Tien Y. Wong, from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and co-researchers wrote in report published this month.
Prior research looking at the link between obesity and AMD has yielded conflicting results. In the current study, Wong’s team examined how changes in weight impact the risk of AMD in 12,515 adults between 45 and 64 years old who were followed for 6 years.
Disease Leads to Vision Loss More Often in Men
A new study shows that men are more likely to lose vision as a result of a particular cause of intracranial hypertension, or increased pressure in the brain, than women with the condition. The research is published in the October 15, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a neurological disorder involving too much cerebrospinal fluid pressure, resulting in severe headaches, swelling of the optic nerves, vision loss, double vision, and a whooshing noise in the ears. The disease affects about one in 5,000 people, and is more common in women.
Researchers reviewed the medical records of 721 people with this kind of intracranial hypertension. Only nine percent of the group was male. Participants underwent eyesight exams and brain scans.
Vision loss more common in people with diabetes
Visual impairment appears to be more common in people with diabetes than in those without the disease, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Approximately 14.6 million Americans had diagnosed diabetes mellitus in 2005 and another 6.2 million had undiagnosed diabetes, according to background information in the article. It is estimated that the number of individuals with diagnosed diabetes will increase to 48.3 million by 2050. “Diabetic retinopathy [damage to the retina caused by diabetes], one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes, is considered to be one of the major causes of blindness and low vision,” the authors write. Although studies suggest that controlling glucose and blood pressure have reduced the rate of retinal diseases, other ocular conditions suffered by diabetic patients, such as cataract and glaucoma, may increase the risk of visual impairment. Additionally, decreased vision caused by an abnormal shape of the cornea is also common among people with diabetes.
Many Hispanics with diabetes unaware of potential eye disease, do not receive eye exams
Hispanic patients with diabetes appear to have less frequent eye examinations than the national average for Hispanic individuals, and many are not aware of the potential ocular complications of diabetes, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
One in five Hispanic individuals older than 40 years currently has diabetes, and almost half have diabetic retinopathy, a related eye disease, according to background information in the article. “The limited use of health care services in minority groups may make them more susceptible to the complications of uncontrolled diabetes,” the authors write. “In addition, a substantial proportion of those with diabetes are unaware of their condition, although already presenting signs of moderate to severe diabetic retinopathy. The importance of appropriate and timely care for diabetic retinopathy or macular edema [swelling in the retina] is paramount, as it is the leading cause of visual loss among working-age Hispanic individuals.”
Beatriz Muñoz, M.Sc., of the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues interviewed 349 randomly selected Hispanic individuals without diabetes and a group of 204 Hispanic individuals with diabetes. Participants answered questions about demographic information, health care habits and knowledge of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.
Eating fish may curb risk of age-related eye disease
Diets high in omega-3 fatty acids and oily fish appear to lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to pooled data from nine “observational” studies that evaluated omega-3 or fish intake in the prevention of AMD.
AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss among elderly people, the Australian research team notes in the latest issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. New treatments for AMD carry risks and treat only certain forms of the disease. Therefore, preventing AMD by modifying risk factors, like cigarette smoking, “remains an important public health strategy,” they write.
Glaucoma vision loss leads to more health problems
A new study of Medicare beneficiaries with glaucoma demonstrates that vision loss is associated with a greater risk of depression, nursing home admission, and femur fracture.
Care became more costly as vision worsened, Dr. Thomas Bramley of Xcenda in Salt Lake City and colleagues also found, ranging from $8,157 for patients with no vision loss to $18,670 for those with complete blindness.
Glaucoma accounts for about three quarters of all cases of visual impairment, Bramley and his team note in their report. Recently, they add, Medicare has been emphasizing awareness of glaucoma and progression of the disease.
