A team of scientists from Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland, have made a major breakthrough that could lead to new AMD therapies.

 

The scientists found that a component of the immune system called IL-18 acts as a guardian of eyesight by suppressing the production of damaging blood vessels behind the retina at the back of the eye. In addition, experiments conducted on pre-clinical models showed that IL-18 can be administered in a non-invasive way, which could represent a major improvement on the current therapeutic options that are available to patients.

 

“We were initially concerned that IL-18 might cause damage to the sensitive cells of the retina, because it is typically linked to inflammation,” explained Sarah Doyle, lead author of the paper published in Science Translational Medicine. “But surprisingly we found that low doses had no adverse effects on the retina and yet still suppressed abnormal blood vessel growth.”

 

The only therapeutic options available today for wet AMD are intraocular injections of antibodies. However, IL-18 could produce the same results through intravenous injections, according to preclinical study findings.

Sources:

http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/230/230ra44

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140402144310.htm

 

Optrafair, the British optical-eyewear show was held for the first time in London this year.

 

Held from April 11 to 13 in West Kensington, the Optrafair London debut attracted 4,616 attendees. They were able to see 500 brands presented by 150 exhibitors. The organizers, The Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO), the journal The Optician and Reed Exhibitions were all pleased with the results.

 

The event, which was held in Birmingham for over 40 years, will now alternate between the two cities. This decision is not unrelated to rival organizations’ attempts to hold a show in London, providing competition for Optrafair. The FMO said its efforts to move the show to West Kensington means the profession and the industry can be confident that a world-class event will now take place in London as well and will provide a showcase for UK optical brands.

 

In 2013, The Eye Show London was scheduled to be held February 12 to 14, but was cancelled two weeks before its official opening by organizer Emergexpo. Despite the letdown, this seems to have alerted Optrafair organizers to the urgent need for a show in London.

 

Optrafair 2015 will be held April 13–15 in Birmingham.

Sources:

http://www.fmo.co.uk/news.html

http://www.opticianonline.net/Articles/2014/04/15/32434/Optrafair+London+visitor+numbers+announced.htm

http://www.insightnews.com.au/_blog/NEWS_NOW!/post/The_Eye_Show_in_London_collapses/

http://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/optrafair-london-2014-debuts-in-west-kensington-1/

 

 

 

 

 

A US study shows that young Caucasian boys are at the highest risk of being colour blind.

 

Researchers from the Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study Group tested 4,005 California children between three and six years of age. For girls, the rate of prevalence ranged from 0% to 0.5%, which is too low to compare rates among ethnic groups.

 

However, among the boys, the study findings highlighted certain trends. The researchers found the following prevalence by ethnicity for boys:

 

• 5.6% of Caucasians;
• 3.1% of Asians;
• 2.6% of Hispanics;
• 1.4% of African-Americans.

 

According to the researchers, this shows the importance of screening children early on for this vision deficiency. It is all the more important because it can have a negative impact on a child’s school performance and ability to learn. An early diagnosis will help them benefit from appropriate learning strategies and tools.

 

The study findings were published in the journal Ophthalmology.

Sources:

http://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(14)00049-9/abstract

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140403084243.htm

 

 

Why do our eyes widen in fear and narrow in disgust? Researchers tried to answer this question.

 

The team of researchers, led by Adam Anderson, a professor at Cornell University, published their findings in the journal Psychological Science. According to them, these opposite facial expressions are based on emotional responses that use the way our eyes gather and focus light to detect unidentified threats.

 

When our eyes open wider, this increases sensitivity and expands our field of vision to identify surrounding danger. Alternatively, when our eyes narrow, this blocks light and sharpens focus to determine the source of our disgust.

 

This explanation supposes that human facial expressions come from adaptive reactions to stimuli in our environment, not a desire to communicate. These expressions later became social communication signals. For example, we narrow our eyes when we think about an idea or widen them to show our enthusiastic acceptance of it.

Source:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274346.php

 

The Galleria and The Underground will both be relocated to the Level 3 exhibition hall of the New York Jacob Javits Center for Vision Expo East 2015.

 

In an interview at the end of Vision Expo East 2014, Tom Loughran, industry

vice-president at Reed Exhibitions, took a moment to explain this decision. “As a result of this change, all the frames presented at Vision Expo East will be located in the same exhibition hall,” he said. “This decision was made namely after we received numerous comments from visitors complaining about the lengthy walk between The Galleria and the eyewear and accessories pavilion.”

 

Nonetheless, The Galleria is somewhat of a world apart at Vision Expo East, with its designer frames and designers who are equally as spectacular as their creations. Won’t they be disappointed with this move?

 

“The feedback that we have received so far from exhibitors is rather positive,” said Tom Loughran. “They understand that it’s logical to make changes that enhance the buyer’s experience at the show. Combining the two spaces will provide buyers with a much better experience, and the exhibitors will benefit in the end.”