In Africa, UK researchers are currently testing a set of eye tests based on a smartphone, which could radically change eye health in poorer countries.

 

Performing eye health tests at an ophthalmologist’s office requires expensive hospital equipment and specialized staff. In many places around the world, that creates an insurmountable barrier for patients. According to the World Health Organization, nine out of ten blind people live in poor nations.

 

The PEEK (Portable Eye Examination Kit) is made up of a mobile app and clip-on hardware that transform a smartphone into a portable eye clinic. It can be operated by a non-expert to gather detailed clinical information, diagnose cataracts, prescribe lenses and even check the retina for signs of disease, such as brain cancer or cerebral hemorrhage. The PEEK system stores information about patients together with their GPS location.

 

The researchers are presently testing the system in Nakaru, Kenya. They start by performing tests with PEEK then repeat the tests with the traditional system to compare diagnoses. Over 1,000 people have already received one form of treatment or another.

 

This type of device has great potential for Canada, namely in the northern regions.

Source:

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/264905.php

 

Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that people with sleep apnea are far more likely to develop glaucoma compared to those without the sleep condition.

 

Conducted by researchers at Taipei Medical University, the retrospective study involved 1,012 people ages 40 and older who were diagnosed with sleep apnea sometime between 2001 and 2004, as well as 6,072 people without sleep apnea. They found that the people with obstructive sleep apnea had a 1.67 times higher risk of developing open-angle glaucoma in the five years after their initial sleep apnea diagnosis.

 

“We hope that this study encourages clinicians to alert obstructive sleep apnea patients of the associations between obstructive sleep apnea and open-angle glaucoma as a means of raising the issue and encouraging treatment of those who need it,” wrote the authors of the study, published in the journal Ophthalmology.   

 

The Canadian Ophthalmological Society recommends that at-risk patients, especially people with a family history of glaucoma, see an ophthalmologist every three years by age 40, every two years by age 50, and every year after the age of 60. 

 

 

Sources:

www.aao.org/newsroom/release/20130807.cfm

http://www.cos-sco.ca/information-sur-la-sante-visuelle/quand-consulter-un-ophtalmologiste/

 

 

American researchers have published the most thorough description to date of gene expression in the human retina. And it comes with a few surprises.

 

The investigators at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School used a technique called RNA sequencing to demonstrate that the majority of the 20,000 genes in the human body are expressed in the retina. This was no real surprise to the scientific community, because the retina is a complex tissue with 60 types of cells.

 

The investigators were quite excited, however, to discover nearly 30,000 new exons and more than 100 potential new genes. Exons are the portions of the genome that are used to encode proteins or other genetic elements. Several thousand of the newly discovered exons appear to be used specifically in the retina.

 

These discoveries will help researchers to better understand how the retina works as well as how it is affected by various diseases, such as inherited degenerations, which result from genetic mutations or errors. While more than 200 genes related to retinal degenerative disease have been identified, scientists have yet to find the cause of disease for up to half of the patients with such disorders. The newly identified exons in the retina may change all that.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130718130458.htm  

 

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/14/486/abstract 

 

Some of the research at the Research Center on Aging at the Health and Social Services Centre – University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS) has focused on strategies for protecting retinal-pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The results show that vegetable oils have some benefits.

 

Dysfunction of these cells occurs in cases of retinopathy or age-related macular degeneration. These investigators found that incubating RPE cells in vegetable oil causes changes in the cell membrane that may play a role in preventing or impeding the development of retinopathy.

 

When incorporated into retinal cells, the vegetable-oil fatty acids tested increased plasma-membrane fluidity. “A decrease of membrane fluidity can affect the rotation and diffusion of proteins and other bio-molecules within the membrane, thereby affecting the functions of these molecules,” explained Professor A. Khalil, “whereas an increase in membrane fluidity makes for a more flexible membrane and facilitates the transmission of light through the eye.”

 

The investigators concluded that a diet low in transunsaturated fats and high in both omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil may reduce the risk of retinopathy. The research further suggests that replacing the neutral oil used in eye drops with oil that has biological properties that are valuable for the eye could also help prevent retina diseases.

Source:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/264937.php

 

A study carried out by Michigan State University has demonstrated that facilitating eye donations would give a boost to research on eye health and eye diseases.

 

About 90% of the 200 patients with eye diseases surveyed by researcher Andrew Williams indicated that they were willing to donate their eyes. Yet eye donations for research plummeted by 28% between 1997 and 2004. Many of the people not registered to donate cited what the researchers referred to as “non-prohibitive” reasons, such as never having been asked or considering their eyes were too diseased for research purposes. Beyond that, Williams thinks that many people who want to donate their eyes to research miss specifically designating that they wish to do so.

 

Williams’ study brought out that 41% of the patients responding to the survey would prefer hearing about organ donation from their physician, whereas 37% would rather learn from a pamphlet. In addition, the respondents indicated they would be more likely to consider donating their eyes if they strongly trusted their physician.

 

According to Williams, “a lot of people aren’t aware they can donate their eyes to research. They don’t really know how to get the process started. It comes down to a lack of education.”

Source:

http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/eyes-are-the-prize/