Connection between Glaucoma and Apnea? Maybe

"Scientists have successfully measured the eye pressure of sleeping patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome for the first time, finding an unexpected correlation with glaucoma," according to Science Daily. Read more.

Australian Scientists Have a New Glaucoma Test

"UNSW Australia scientists have developed a testing protocol that identifies the blinding eye disease glaucoma four years earlier than current techniques," reports Science Daily. "The patented method involves patients looking at small dots of light of specially chosen size and light intensity. An inability to see them indicates blind spots in the eye and early loss of peripheral vision. A study assessing 13 patients using this improved technique for visual field testing has been recently published in the journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics." Read more.

Stopping Glaucoma with Stem Cells, a Hope

Medical News Today (MNT) wrote, "By devising a way to produce retinal ganglion cells from stem cells derived from individual patients, researchers hope to improve personalized treatments for glaucoma." Read more.

 Related MNT story: "Using stem cells derived from human skin cells, researchers led by Jason Meyer, assistant professor of biology, along with graduate student Sarah Ohlemacher of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain. Their goal is the development of therapies to prevent or cure glaucoma." Read more.

Eye Grows Lens after Cataract Surgery

“A new study describes a pioneering new cataract treatment - tested in animals and in a small trial with human patients - where, after the cloudy lens is removed, the eye grows a new lens from its own stem cells,” according to a Medical News Today post. “The researchers - including teams from the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and Sichuan University, both in China - describe their new regenerative medicine approach in a paper published in the journal Nature. The treatment was tested in 12 babies born with cataracts. It resulted in significantly fewer surgical complications than current treatments, say the researchers. Sight was improved in all 12 patients. In the new study, the team used the ability of stem cells to grow new tissue. They did not use the more common approach - where stem cells are taken out of the patient, grown in the lab and then put back in the patient. This method can introduce disease and raise the risk of immune rejection. Instead, the team coaxed stem cells in the patients' eyes to regrow the lenses. So-called endogenous stem cells are stem cells that are naturally already in place, ready to regenerate new tissue in the case of injury or some other problem. In the case of the human eye, the endogenous stem cells - known as lens epithelial stem cells (LECs) - generate replacement lens cells throughout a person's life, although production wanes with age.” Read more.

Rate of Glaucoma Determined by Smart Contact Lenses

"Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center have found that smart contact lenses that emit patterns of electrical signals can be used to detect the rate of glaucoma. The smart contact lens system, known as Triggerfish, is from Swiss startup Sensimed and is designed as a diagnostic. It offers an automated, continuous recording of ocular dimensional changes when worn over a 24-hour period," reports Fierce Medical Devices. "In addition to the lens itself, Triggerfish includes an adhesive antenna, which is worn around the eye during that period and transmits the data through a cable from the antenna to a portable recorder that's worn around the patient's neck. Data is transferred via Bluetooth from the recorder to software installed on a health care provider's computer. This latest data on this lens system was published online today in the journal Ophthalmology." Read more.

Eat Leafy Greens, Reduce Glaucoma Risk, Says Study

"Greater intake of dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetables was associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower risk of primary open-angle glaucoma, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology." That's the summary from Science Digest. Read more.

Gene Therapy Might Restore Optic Nerve Function

"Research from Boston Children's Hospital suggests the possibility of restoring at least some visual function in people blinded by optic nerve damage from glaucoma... or from trauma," reports Medical News Today. "As reported online January 14 by the journal Cell, the scientists restored vision in mice with optic nerve injury by using gene therapy to get the nerves to regenerate and -- the crucial step -- adding a channel-blocking drug to help the nerves conduct impulses from the eye to the brain. In the future, they believe, the same effect could be achieved with drugs alone." Read more.

NEI Study Finds Three More Genes Associated with Glaucoma

"An analysis funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has identified three genes that contribute to the most common type of glaucoma. The study increases the total number of such genes to 15." That's the start of a Science Daily post. Read more.

NEI Notes January as Glaucoma Awareness Month

Glaucoma Awareness Month starts next week. The disease is a major cause of vision loss in the U.S. It affects about 3 million Americans, and that number could more than double by 2050. “Early detection by having a comprehensive dilated eye exam is key to protecting vision,” said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NEI (National Eye Institute). Anyone can get glaucoma, but African Americans over age 40, everyone over age 60, especially Mexican Americans, and people with a family history of glaucoma are at higher risk. People at higher risk should have a comprehensive dilated eye exam every one to two years. Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damages the optic nerve, the bundle of nerve cells that relays visual information from the eye to the brain. In the most common form of glaucoma, called primary open angle glaucoma, nerve damage results from increased pressure inside the eye. Increased eye pressure occurs when the fluid that circulates in the eye drains too slowly. Read more.

Increased Visual Scanning Helps Glaucoma Suffers Pass Driving Tests

"A new study shows how some drivers with glaucoma safely passed a driving test by increasing visual scanning to compensate for loss of visual field," says a post on Medical News Today. Read more.

Latinos with African Ancestry Greater Risk of Glaucoma

"Latinos with African ancestry are at a higher risk for high pressure within the eye, a condition that if untreated can damage the optic nerve and impair vision, according to a report in the journal Ophthalmology," according to Medical News Today. "Greater African ancestry carried more risk for high intraocular pressure than high body mass index, older age and high blood pressure - factors known to contribute to increased pressure inside the eye. Researchers led by Xiaoyi Gao, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences in the UIC College of Medicine, analyzed the genomes of 3,541 participants 40 and older from the Mexican American Glaucoma Genetic Study, part of the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study." Read more.

Glaucoma Vision Loss Not as Random as Once Thought

With glaucoma, "patients lose seemingly random patches of vision in each eye. This random pattern of vision loss is in stark contrast to loss from a brain tumor or stroke, which causes both eyes to develop blind spots in the same location. Scientists have long thought that glaucoma's progression is independent of - or uncontrolled by - the brain. Last year, researchers found evidence that the progression of glaucoma is not random and that the brain may be involved after all," according to Science Digest. Read more.

Implant to Help Regulate Eye Pressure

"Elevated or diminished eye pressure impairs our ability to see, and in the worst cases, can even lead to blindness. Until now, there has been no effective long-term treatment," notes Science Digest. "In response, Fraunhofer researchers are developing an implantable microfluid system that can efficiently and durably stabilize intraocular pressure." Read more.

Tear Component Use to Make Contacts for Glaucoma Treatment

"A McMaster PhD candidate has harnessed a component naturally found in tears to develop a contact lens-based drug delivery system for glaucoma patients," according to a Medical XPress post. "Chemical engineer Myrto Korogiannaki has used hyaluronic acid to help get drugs to the eye from a lens in a controlled way. Patients with front-of-the-eye diseases, such as glaucoma, traditionally use medicated eye drops twice a day to treat their ailment. But those drops are incredibly inefficient: only about five per cent of the drug they carry actually makes it to the cornea." Read more.

Hypertension Can Increase Chances for Glaucoma

"A new study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS) has found that chronic (long term) hypertension increases a person’s susceptibility to glaucoma," reports Science Digest. "These results suggest that doctors should consider a patient’s blood pressure levels in managing the potentially blinding eye disorder." Read more.

Treatment Costs for Glaucoma to Soar

More than 2.8 million Americans now have glaucoma, according to the 2014 Prevent Blindness “Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems” report. In the next 18 years, those numbers could jump 50 percent. They will leap again by the middle of the century by 92 percent (5.5 million cases). Related treatment costs also will spiral upwards. During the next 18 years, they will double to $12 billion annually, and by the middle of the century, they will leap another $5.3 billion. The study also noted that today 64 percent of glaucoma patients are white and 20 percent are black.  By 2050, most will be non-white because of a rapid increase in Hispanic glaucoma patients. By 2050, blacks and Hispanics will each constitute about 20 percent of all glaucoma patients. By 2018, the largest age group of glaucoma patients will be 70-79. Fourteen years later: 80-89 year olds. Read more.

How We Watch TV Could Identify Glaucoma Earlier, Says Study

"One of the leading causes of blindness worldwide could be detected by how our eyes respond to watching TV according to a new study," notes Science Daily. "With millions of people living with undiagnosed glaucoma, the research could help speed up diagnosis, enabling clinicians to identify the disease earlier and allowing treatment to begin before the onset of permanent damage." Read more.

Detecting Glaucoma with an iPad App

"Using a tablet screening app could prove to be an effective method to aid in the effort to reduce the incidence of avoidable blindness in populations at high-risk for glaucoma with limited access to health care, according to a study released today at AAO 2014, the 118th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology," reports Medical News Today. "In this study, researchers from the University of Iowa, the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan and the Tilganga Eye Institute in Nepal used a free peripheral vision assessment app to screen approximately 200 patients in Nepal for glaucoma using an iPad. The results show promise for screening populations that have limited or no access to traditional eye care and certain ethnic groups that have a high risk of developing the disease." Read more.

U-2's Bono Has Glaucoma

"Bono [the lead singer for the music group U-2] rarely steps out without wearing his trademark sunglasses, but the reason he goes dark has nothing to do with fashion. The U2 frontman recently revealed that he wears glasses (even inside) because he suffers from glaucoma," according to US Weekly. "'This is a good place to explain to people that I've had glaucoma for the last 20 years,' the 54-year-old explained during a recording for the Graham Norton Show, when asked if he ever takes his shades off." Read more.

Designer of a Field's Test for Drivers with Glaucoma Wins Award

Glaucoma damages the visual field, and if the loss is severe, an individual can loss driving privileges. At present, no objective, office-based tests accurately estimates the impact of visual field loss on driving. So, Dr. Hannes Devos at Georgia Regents University has worked on a project entitled "Performance-Based Visual Field Testing to Detect Driving Impairments in Individuals with Glaucoma." For his efforts, Fight forSight and Prevent Blindness named as the recipient of the new “Fight for Sight-Prevent Blindness Public Health Award,” which comes with a one-time $20,000 grant for a year of full-time research.

According to the 2014 “The Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems” report from Prevent Blindness, more than 2.8 million Americans ages 40 and older have glaucoma, with glaucoma and disorders of the optic nerve costing $6.1 billion annually.  Read more.