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Category: Macular Degeneration

Researchers Continue to Explore the Potential of Human Echolocation and Acoustics for People with Vision Loss

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy , Getting Around , Glaucoma , Macular Degeneration , Orientation and Mobility , Retinitis Pigmentosa , Stroke or Brain Trauma
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Vision rehabilitation professionals, including Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Vision Rehabilitation Therapists, and Low Vision Therapists, have long been aware of the need to incorporate sensory input, including echolocation, in their instructional programs. Human echolocation describes the ability of humans to detect objects in their environments by sensing reflected sound waves from those objects. Now it … Continued

New Research: A Potential Eye Drop Treatment Could Take the Place of Injectable Drugs for Wet Macular Degeneration

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: In the News , Low Vision , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates
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Currently, there are a number of treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration, including the drugs Lucentis, Eylea, and Avastin, administered by injection with a very small needle directly into the eye after the surface has been numbed (also called “intra-vitreous injection”). From a patient’s point of view, however, the “gold standard” for treatment would be … Continued

Treating Macular Degeneration with Gene Therapy: New Research Shows Promise but Also Has Limitations

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Avastin , Clinical Trials , Eylea , Gene Therapy , Low Vision , Lucentis , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates
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Currently, there are a number of treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration, including the drugs Lucentis, Eylea, and Avastin, administered by injection with a very small needle directly into the eye after the surface has been numbed (also called “intra-vitreous injection”). There are also a number of treatments that have proven to be inconclusive or … Continued

New Genetic Research in Diabetes Identifies a Protein That May Stop or Reduce Abnormal Blood Vessel Growth in the Retina

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy , Gene Therapy , In the News , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates
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New genetic research in diabetes, led by a team from Harvard Medical School, has identified a potential new therapy targeting RUNX1 (explained below) that significantly reduced abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, which is a hallmark of advanced diabetic eye disease. Although the research has been conducted only with “in vitro” (explained below) laboratory … Continued

May Is Healthy Vision Month: Make Your Eye Health a Priority and Learn How to Protect Your Vision

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Cataracts , Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy , Glaucoma , In the News , Low Vision , Macular Degeneration
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May is Healthy Vision Month, a national eye health observance established by the National Eye Institute (NEI) in May 2003. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This year, NEI is encouraging women to make eye health a priority and has … Continued

New Research: Emotional Support and Physician Communication Must Accompany Medical Treatment for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Aging , Avastin , Caregiving , Eylea , In the News , Low Vision , Lucentis , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates , Support Groups
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Although the advent of anti-VEGF therapy (explained below), administered via eye injection with Lucentis, Eylea, or Avastin, has revolutionized the treatment (but not cure) of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), there remain a number of challenges associated with treatment, including the need for appropriate emotional support and development of effective coping strategies. A new study … Continued

H.R.2050: The Medicare Demonstration of Coverage of Low Vision Devices Act of 2017 Needs Your Advocacy and Support

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Aging , Assistive Technology , Cataracts , Getting Around , Glaucoma , Health , In the News , Low Vision , Macular Degeneration , Planning for the Future , Public Policy , Retinitis Pigmentosa , Stroke or Brain Trauma , Technology
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The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Public Policy Center has announced the reintroduction of federal legislation that seeks to establish a nationwide Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the fiscal impact of a permanent change in Medicare coverage that would, for the first time, provide reimbursement for low vision devices. The AFB Public Policy Center, … Continued

Do the Brains of Blind Persons “Rewire” or Adjust to Significantly Enhance the Other Senses? New Research Says Yes

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy , Glaucoma , Health , In the News , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates , Retinitis Pigmentosa , Technology
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An age-old question that surfaces regularly in my work is this one: “Is it true that blind people develop super senses, like extra-sensitive hearing or touch, to compensate for not being able to see?” A variation of the “super senses” question asks this: “Are the other senses truly enhanced, or do people without the sense … Continued

Understanding Our Shifting Health Insurance Landscape – and What It Means for People with Vision Loss

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Assistive Technology , Cataracts , Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy , Glaucoma , Health , In the News , Low Vision , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates , Personal Reflections , Planning for the Future , Public Policy , Retinitis Pigmentosa , Stroke or Brain Trauma , Veterans
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Guest blogger Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D., is the Senior Policy Researcher with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The AFB Public Policy Center collaborates with policy makers in Congress and the Executive Branch to ensure that Americans with vision loss have equal rights and opportunities to fully participate in … Continued

Readers Beware: In a Dangerous and Unregulated Stem Cell Treatment, Patients Lose Sight After Stem Cells Are Injected Into Their Eyes

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Avastin , Clinical Trials , Eylea , In the News , Lucentis , Macular Degeneration , Medical Updates , Personal Reflections , Readers Want to Know
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Of all the eye research developments reported on the VisionAware blog, it is stem cell research for eye disease that generates the most inquiries from our readers. Many readers request information about stem cells, assuming that this is an established and widely-performed treatment for eye disease; others ask for help in finding a doctor who … Continued