Impact of Type Two Diabetes and Poverty on Vision

"A newly published study says there's no question that our vision is getting worse, especially non-refractive visual impairment - the kind a pair of glasses won't fix," according a report from Charles Osgood of CBS News. "Dr. David Friedman, researcher at Johns Hopkins: 'It's increased by about 20 percent over the last six or seven years.' Dr. David Friedman of Johns Hopkins is co-author of the study. He says this kind of vision loss now affects 40 percent of those of us between 20 and 40 years old - and people living below the poverty line have almost double the vision loss of people above the line. The study also identifies the villain - it's related to obesity, which is triggering a sharp increase in Type 2 Diabetes." Read more. Listen to the broadcast. Also see the post below.

Eliot Berson Receives Visionary Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness

Eliot L. Berson, M.D., director of the Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations located at the Mass. Eye and Ear, recently received the Foundation Fighting Blindness Visionary Award. Mr. Gordon Gund, chairman of the Maryland-based Foundation Fighting Blindness, presented Dr. Berson with the award at the foundation's recent "Dining in the Dark" event at the Boston InterContinental Hotel.

Other recipients awarded include Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick and Joshua S. Boger, Ph.D., founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, an international company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.

The Visionary Award was presented to Dr. Berson for his important role in research to advance the understanding of potentially blinding diseases and for the development of the first treatment for retinitis pigmentosa.

"Our studies have led to a better understanding of the causes of hereditary retinal degenerations at the DNA level and also have led to the first treatment for the common forms of retinitis pigmentosa. We have found that a high-dose of vitamin A combined with an oily fish diet and lutein will, on average, extend vision for up to 20 additional years, thereby making it possible for many patients with retinitis pigmentosa to see for their entire lives. We were also the first to show that high-dose vitamin E supplementation aggravates the course of these diseases," said Dr. Berson during his speech.

Eye Doc Uses Social Entrepreneurship to Provide Care

"So investors, take note: opportunities abound in parts of the world you might never have thought to look -- places like Tamil Nadu, India, where the Aravind Eye Care System, a non-profit purveyor of high-quality, low-cost cataract surgery and spectacles, has been treating India's visually impaired for more than 35 years," says the Huffington Post. "Founded in 1976 by the late Govindappa Venkatswamy, or "Dr. V" as he is commonly known, Aravind has grown from one hospital to a network of nine, with more than 4,000 beds and 40 primary eye centers." Read more.

Virus Used to Control Genetic Eye Disease

"A research team, led by John Guy, M.D., professor of ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has pioneered a novel technological treatment for Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), an inherited genetic defect that causes rapid, permanent, and bilateral loss of vision in people of all ages, but primarily males ages 20-40," reports Medical News Today. "Genetic mutations in the mitochondria (part of the cell that produces energy) cause the disorder. Currently, there is no cure for LHON. However, Guy and his team have successfully modified a virus and used it to introduce healthy genes into the mitochondria to correct the genetic defect. Using experimental models, they have proven that it is both safe and effective to replace mutated genes with healthy ones and that doing so prevents deterioration of the retinal cells that form the optic nerve. This research demonstrates that when efficiently introduced into mitochondria, normal DNA can correct a biochemical defect in cellular energy production and restore visual function." Read more.

Ophthalmologist Pleds Guilty to Stealing

"An ophthalmologist...pled guilty to stealing more than $51,000 from state and federal health care programs," according to a press release from the state of Washington's Attorney General office. "In July, state prosecutors charged Dr. Behrouz Pirouzkar with three counts of First Degree Attempted Identity Theft and two counts of Medicaid False Statement." Read more.

Duke Sets Up National Vision Center for Athletes

"An eye care visionary has set his sights on establishing the first national center for sports vision," according to The Chronicle. "Although sports-related eye injuries can have a significant impact on an athlete’s career, the Duke Sports Vision Center for Excellence is the only organization in the country equipped to care for athletes from diagnosis to rehabilitation, said Dr. Terry Kim, director of ophthalmology fellowship programs and associate director of cornea and refractive surgery services. The center is currently housed throughout the Duke Eye Center, but Kim said he hopes to unite these services in one building and to expand vision care to military service members with acute eye damage." Read more.

Is Turning Brown Eyes Blue Discriminatory?

"A doctor who can turn brown eyes blue has denied that his revolutionary technique is ethnically insensitive," reports the UK's Daily Mail. "Dr Gregg Homer, from Stroma Medical in California unveiled his Lumineyes technology which can permanently change a person's eye colour in just 20 seconds last month. But as the £3,200 cosmetic procedure doesn't work in reverse - meaning you cannot turn a blue eye brown - many are questioning if it is discriminatory." Read more.

Eye Health Gets Facebook Fan Page

Dr. Paul Krawitz launched a Facebook fan page that addresses news and research in vision, macular degeneration, cataract surgery, glaucoma, Lasik, dry-eye syndrome, as well as advice and vitamin discount information. The Facebook page for the assistant clinical professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York and the president and CEO of Vitamin Science, Inc., can be found by visiting http://www.facebook.com/doctorkrawitz.