Eye care: Declining Eyesight Could Be Given a Boost by Short Morning Doses of Seeing Red - By DAVID NIELD

A short burst of red light in the morning has been shown to improve declining eyesight, researchers report, potentially providing a simple, safe, and easy-to-use treatment for keeping our eyes sharper as we head into old age.

In tests on 20 participants exposed to three minutes of 670 nanometer deep red light in the morning between 8 am and 9 am eyesight improved by 17 percent and lasted (at a lower level) a week on average. In some of the volunteers, the improvement was as much as 20 percent.

This link between long wavelength red light and improving vision matches up with what scientists have seen in previous studies on animals, and the study follows on from a similar one carried out last year – but in this case, the red light was limited to a single, daily exposure that required less red light energy than previously.

Read more at: Declining Eyesight Could Be Given a Boost by Short Morning Doses of Seeing Red

Medical Breakthrough: Hope for blind as camera-to-retina bionic eye approved in Europe

Blind people in Europe will be able to purchase the first bionic eye.

The revolutionary technology has been approved for sale after being approved by European regulators.

The Argus II retinal prosthesis is an implanted device that works by converting video images captured from a miniature camera, fitted in the patient's glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses. These are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the retina, the light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The pulses stimulate the retina's remaining cells.  The device will cost about $100,000, excluding surgical costs.

For more: Hope for blind as camera-to-retina bionic eye approved in Europe | The Australian

Eye Care: Regeneron, Bayer cite positive eye drug study

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer HealthCare AG said Monday their developing VEGF Trap-Eye drug met key treatment goals in a late-stage study on macular edema patients.

Specifically, the study focused on patients with macular edema because of central retinal vein occlusion, or blockage of retinal veins. Macular edema is a condition in which the macula, or central part of the retina, swells because fluid leaks or builds up.

In the 114-person study, the drug prompted vision improvements. The study showed that 56.1 percent of patients receiving the injections on a monthly basis gained at least 15 letters in vision tests.

For more:Regeneron, Bayer cite positive eye drug study - Bloomberg

Washington Post: Expertsin the Netherlands Show That a Blind Man's Eyes Can Help Him Navigate - by Rob Stein

For the complete report from the washingtonpost.com click on this link

Expertsin the Netherlands Show That a Blind Man's Eyes Can Help Him Navigate - by Rob Stein

After two strokes, he was completely blind, dependent on his cane and his wife's arm to safely walk down the street. But researchers had a hunch: They suspected that, unconsciously, the man might be sensing the world around him through his eyes better than anyone realized. "We were so excited," said Beatrice de Gelder, a cognitive neuroscientist at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and Harvard Medical School, who reports the experiment today in the journal Current Biology. "It was really quite amazing to see."

The first-of-its-kind case is providing doctors with new insights into how vision works, suggesting that even when the brain's primary vision centers have been destroyed, signals entering the eyes are still registering. Although no one thinks the findings could help make the blind see, they do indicate some blind people may have hidden capabilities.