StemCell Therapy

Bayer will invest more than $30 million over the next five years to fund collaborative research projects focused on finding new treatments for chronic lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).

The projects will be developed in a new lab launched in collaboration with the founding members of Partners HealthCare Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Both are leaders in the field of lung diseases.

The joint lab, located at Brigham and Womens Hospital, in Boston, will host more than 20 scientists from the three partner groups.

Research projects will be led by four leading experts:Edwin Silverman, MD, PhD, BWHs chief of the Channing division of network medicine; Bruce Levy, MD, BWHs chief of pulmonary and care medicine; Benjamin Medoff, MD, MGHs chief of pulmonary and critical care; and Markus Koch, PhD, Bayers head of lung diseases preclinical research.

This collaboration will combine Bayers expertise in drug discovery and development with the clinical expertise, understanding of disease mechanisms, data analysis capabilities, and insights from the physician-scientists at BWH and MGH.

Our investigators have unique expertise in cell and molecular biology of lung disease, genetics, imaging, and bioinformatics, which complement the expertise Bayer investigators additionally have in drug development, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry, Silverman said in a Q&A published on the Bayer website.

We anticipate that we will learn a great deal from each other during this collaboration, and that those complementary strengths will lead to greater progress than either group could make by themselves, he added.

In the Q&A, Levy emphasized that current treatments are inadequate for COPD the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. While there are therapies that provide symptomatic relief, there are no treatments targeting the underlying mechanisms of the disease.

Rather than focusing on developing more bronchodilator medications for COPD, our goal is to develop new types of treatments that focus on disease mechanisms for COPD and interstitial lung disease, Levy said.

The researchers hope the initiative will speed up treatment development.

This collaboration provides the opportunity to integrate novel findings directly into the drug development pipeline, Paul Anderson, MD, PhD, BWHs senior vice president and chief academic officer, said in a press release. We strongly believe that this model will significantly accelerate the pace of discovery toward the goal of getting new therapies from the lab to patients safely and efficiently.

Joerg Moeller, member of the executive committee of Bayers pharmaceuticals division and head of research and development, believes this collaboration will complement the companys research, bringing its scientists closer to identifying and provide life-changing therapies for people with chronic lung diseases.

The joint lab concept continues to be an innovative model for collaboration between academia and industry, enabling novel approaches to drug discovery, Moeller said.

Rights of any commercially viable findings will be shared equally between Bayer, BMH and MGH.

The new joint lab expands Bayers existing footprint in the Boston region. The company last year established its first joint lab in Boston with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to focus on cardiovascular diseases.

Total Posts: 157

Patrcia holds her PhD in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands. She has studied Applied Biology at Universidade do Minho and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon, Portugal. Her work has been focused on molecular genetic traits of infectious agents such as viruses and parasites.

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Bayer Will Invest $30M in Joint Research Lab for COPD, Other Chronic Lung Diseases - COPD News Today

Dateline: Listen to this story plus more on Alzheimer's prevention as podcast from APM Reports. Subscribe now. Illustration by Dan Carino for APM Reports.

Daniel Gibbs practiced as a neurologist for 25 years in Portland, Oregon. After years of giving patients the devastating news that they had Alzheimer's disease, he began to suspect he might have it himself.

He had trouble remembering neighbors' names and kept forgetting his new clinic's address. He quietly asked a colleague to run some cognitive tests, then retired in 2013 because he didn't want any of his lapses to harm his patients.

Two years later, he was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. "It was actually kind of a relief," he said.

Gibbs, 68, enrolled in a study for a drug called aducanumab, developed by Biogen. The pharmaceutical company had just revealed stunning results from an initial test in people with memory problems. The medicine scrubbed the brain of a sticky plaque long thought to be the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

It seemed to slow cognitive decline in some patients, and as news stories hyped its promise, Biogen stock soared.

Gibbs was hopeful. Every month for a year and a half, he flew to San Francisco for an infusion of either the drug or a placebo. "I'm very high about it," Gibbs said in late 2018, while the study was still gathering data. "I think it has a good chance of being successful."

At the time, Gibbs was one of tens of thousands of people who had agreed to take experimental drugs for Alzheimer's, hoping to stave off their slide into full-blown dementia. Except for a few drugs that temporarily curtailed symptoms, no medicine had worked.

Drug studies for Alzheimer's disease were long shots because the causes of neurodegeneration were so murky. Studies had among the highest failure rates of any condition.

Even today after 40 years and billions of dollars researchers still can't agree on what it is. "I don't think anybody thought it would take this long and be this hard," said Eric Siemers, who retired from Eli Lilly in 2017 after 20 years trying to create a drug for Alzheimer's.

Researchers have tried to slow the erosion of memory with everything from estrogen replacement to anti-inflammatory pills and ginkgo biloba. They've tried new drugs to boost neurotransmitters and slash cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress.

Most drugs, though, have targeted the "amyloid plaques" that develop in the brains of many people as they age. Now, evidence is mounting that these plaques are not the cause of Alzheimer's disease, a worrisome possibility after decades of research.

A handful of neurologists and leaders at the newly formed National Institute on Aging (NIA) sent researchers down this narrow path in the 1970s. They argued that old-age mental decline was the same as a rare neurodegenerative disease of middle age Alzheimer's disease.

They told Congress and the public that with enough money, they would soon find a cure. Genetic clues from these middle-age Alzheimer's patients seemed to point to a single molecule: the protein in plaques called "amyloid beta."

Research became dominated by the theory that amyloid beta causes Alzheimer's. In fact, through the '90s and early 2000s, grant money overwhelmingly flowed to studying it, effectively stifling alternative theories.

Pharmaceutical companies poured billions of dollars into detecting amyloid beta in spinal fluid and brain scans and creating drugs to stop it from building up in brains. But brain scans revealed an inconvenient truth dementia doesn't track closely with amyloid beta. And the drugs have failed to slow cognitive decline in clinical trials.

"Every major pharmaceutical company put money into the amyloid idea, and they all failed because the idea was flawed," said Zaven Khachaturian, a former director of Alzheimer's research at the NIA.

"It became gradually an infallible belief system. So, everybody felt obligated to pay homage to the idea without questioning. And that's not very healthy for science when scientists ... accept an idea as infallible. That's when you run into problems," he said.

The disappointment is strong because, for years, the promises were so big.

TIMELINE Key events in the history of Alzheimer's research

Senility rebranded as Alzheimer's disease

The definition of Alzheimer's disease as we understand it today goes back to a fledgling agency, created in the 1970s, called the National Institute on Aging in the National Institutes of Health. Khachaturian, a neurologist, was one of its first employees and was struggling to recruit scientists to study the aging brain.

"The idea of doing aging research was considered a bit of a joke," recalled Khachaturian. "It didn't have the legitimacy of doing research in, say, cancer or heart disease."

This was something Khachaturian's boss, Robert Butler, wanted to change.

Butler had been raised by his grandparents on a chicken farm in New Jersey, which Khachaturian said gave him "a love for older individuals" that shaped his career as a psychiatrist and gerontologist. He coined the term "age-ism." His book, "Why Survive? Being Old in America," won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for drawing attention to what he called "the tragedy" of old age.

That same year, Butler was named founding director of the National Institute on Aging. He claimed one of those tragedies was confusion and memory loss in older people. Senility at the time was seen as a normal part of aging for some people, almost a phase of life. Doctors attributed it to "hardening of the arteries" in the brain and accepted it.

Butler, though, was intrigued by research that started to challenge that assumption. Scientists claimed many older people with senility had an obscure disease Alzheimer's disease.

The rare condition was named after a German psychiatrist named Alois Alzheimer, who in 1906 described the peculiar case of a 51-year-old woman with dementia. After she died, Alzheimer peered at slices of her brain under a microscope and saw destroyed neurons, blobs of protein plaque and tangles of tough, thready material. These "plaques and tangles" became the hallmarks of the odd middle-age disease named after him.

For the next 70 years, it was only diagnosed in people under age 65.

In the 1970s a few researchers began to question that age limit. When they autopsied older people with senility, they often but not always found the same "plaques and tangles" that Dr. Alzheimer described. Based on these autopsies, they argued that much of senility was really Alzheimer's disease.

"That was a mind-blowing conceptual change," said epidemiologist Lon White, who later led a major study of mental decline in older men in Hawaii.

The expanded definition of Alzheimer's disease reframed cognitive problems in old age: Suddenly millions of older people weren't suffering from inevitable aging. Instead, they were suffering from a specific disease, with the expectation that it could be studied and possibly cured.

Butler picked up this argument. He called Alzheimer's "an epidemic" and sold the public on his vision: Medical research would cure Alzheimer's, just as research had led to eradicating infectious diseases.

"When I appeared before Congress, I would argue that Alzheimer's disease is the polio of geriatrics," Butler told an interviewer in 2008, two years before he died. "And just as we no longer hear the thump-thump of the iron lung ... because we no longer have polio, so, too, I think the day will come when we will no longer have Alzheimer's disease."

Robert Butler Courtesy of American Society on Aging

There were practical marketing reasons for positioning Alzheimer's disease as a priority. It allowed Butler to attract credibility, scientists, and, most importantly, federal research funding.

Reflecting on his strategy, Butler wrote in 1999 that "the public does not see itself as 'suffering' from the basic biology of aging, nor does it generally believe that aging per se can be reversed."

He concluded that the public only mobilizes around a specific disease.

Recalled Khachaturian: "In order to bring the funding to the NIA, the claim the headline was Alzheimer's, and we defined it very broadly. It was just a linguistic kind of thing rather than a clear-cut medical diagnostic, sorting out."

Butler also was inspired by the success of citizen lobbying groups for heart disease and cancer. He helped create what became the Alzheimer's Association to use what he called the "health politics of anguish" to play a similar role raising money for Alzheimer's research. The public began clamoring for funding and some scientists began promising a cure.

Federal funding for Alzheimer's Federal spending on Alzheiemer's disease research surged in the last few years. Taxpayers support most of the research done by universities, though health nonprofit organizations like the Alzheimer's Association also provide grants. Pharmaceutical companies and venture capital pay for the vast majority of clinical drug trials. *The amount for 2019 is an estimate.

SOURCE: National Institutes of Health

George Glenner, a pioneering Alzheimer's researcher at the University of California-San Diego, wrote to the Senate Special Committee on Aging in 1988 that, in part due to the discovery of the protein in Alzheimer's plaques, scientists likely could come up with a drug treatment "by the turn of the century."

In testimony typical for its optimism, Leonard Berg, chairman of the medical advisory board of the Alzheimer's Association, told Congress in 1992 that "a treatment to delay Alzheimer's" was "clearly within our reach" and that there was "a reasonable expectation in the next five to 10 years of some major impact."

As Alzheimer's disease became a household word, its boundaries grew fuzzier. Scientists initially were careful to say that not all seniors with memory loss and thinking problems had Alzheimer's disease.

But to the public, Alzheimer's became interchangeable with senility.

In just over a decade from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s Butler, Khachaturian and a handful of neurologists took what had been an obscure diagnosis of middle age and presented it to the public as a major killer and also a crisis that would overwhelm the country when the baby boomers aged.

Politics motivated this expanded definition of Alzheimer's as much as medical research.

Calling senility "Alzheimer's disease" created a rationale for funding the study of cognitive decline in old age. It also created tunnel vision that focused science on the similarities between middle-age Alzheimer's and old-age dementia, specifically those sticky plaques.

Over time, the broad study of mental decline in old age would be constrained by the narrow definition of a disease defined by Alois Alzheimer.

This means researchers would spend less time seeking clues to dementia in older people who didn't have plaque. And, this initial framing of Alzheimer's downplayed the possible role of heart disease and inflammation. In general, it underestimated the maddening complexity of dementia in old age.

"Dr. Alzheimer looked in his microscope and he saw amyloid and so that's been the definition because that's what he saw!" said Adam Brickman, an associate professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University.

"What blew my mind ... is that the field didn't say, 'Oh, maybe we were wrong. Maybe (the doctor) was wrong. Maybe it's not these plaques and tangles or maybe that's not the whole story.' That hasn't been questioned enough and that just blows my mind."

Gene defects point to a molecule

By 1990, brain aging research was no longer a backwater. The National Institute on Aging funded 15 Alzheimer's research centers at major universities. Scientists developed theories for what destroys the neurons and synapses in Alzheimer's disease: missing neurotransmitters, inflammation, aluminum, glucose deficiency, a slow-moving virus.

The most visible abnormalities plaques and tangles became prime suspects.

One camp argued for tangles. Another for plaques. But in the brains of older people ravaged by Alzheimer's, it was impossible to tell precisely what might be directly causing damage and what was merely a byproduct. One researcher compared the task to showing up at a football stadium after the game was over, and then trying to piece together what had happened from the trash on the field and in the bleachers.

The expanding field of genetics seemed to promise a map out of the chaos.

Scientists began looking at families around the world that inherit a rare form of Alzheimer's disease that strikes in middle age. They hoped that finding the gene defect that caused early Alzheimer's would pinpoint the origin of neurodegeneration. Armed with that knowledge, they thought they might be able to create a drug to help millions of people evade Alzheimer's in old age.

Marty Reiswig's extended family was at the center of the Alzheimer's gene hunt in the 1980s. Ralph, his grandfather, was from a big farm family in Oklahoma. He developed Alzheimer's symptoms at around age 50, along with nine of his siblings. They all died young.

When Reiswig was a child, medical staff showed up at a family reunion to draw blood from aunts and uncles. He didn't think much about what it meant until years later. When he was in college, he attended another family reunion and saw relatives in his father's generation starting to show symptoms. They gathered at a pizza parlor and he remembers an uncle struggling to pull his chair out from the table, and nearly fall as he tried to sit down.

"I sort of thought that was odd," said Reiswig, 40. "But as I looked around the table, I just saw fear and anger and sadness. And that's when it really dawned on me. 'Oh my gosh, this Alzheimer's thing that they say runs in our family is really real.'"

By then, researchers had finally found the genetic mutations that cause early-onset Alzheimer's in these unusual families. It was a huge breakthrough. The paper about the first mutation was one of the most cited in 1991. But knowing where in the DNA something goes wrong wasn't the same as being able to fix it.

Reiswig's father developed dementia around age 50. The family lived in Colorado and Reiswig took his father skiing throughout the early stages of his decline. "One time, we were on the chairlift the first lift of the day and I said, 'Dad, what's it like to be you right now with Alzheimer's?'" recalled Reiswig. "He didn't think very long, and he just said, 'It's prison.'"

His father died in early 2019. For now, Reiswig has decided not to find out if he carries the gene mutation. There's a 50 percent chance he does, and if he does, there's a 50 percent chance for his children, 11 and 13.

These families' heartbreak, though, provided a vital clue for science.

The challenge for researchers was just how to make sense of it. Different families had different mutations. All the mutations appeared in one of three genes affecting three brain proteins: a big protein and two enzyme proteins that, like scissors, snip the big protein into smaller chunks.

And one of the smaller chunks was a protein fragment called amyloid beta. It turned out that amyloid beta is the very same protein that piles up into the plaques that Dr. Alzheimer saw back in 1906.

The defects strengthened the theory that plaques somehow cause Alzheimer's what became known as the amyloid hypothesis. This theory came to dominate the direction of drug development from the 90s onward. Suddenly pharmaceutical companies had a target they could attack with a drug.

"The mutations shifted focus onto amyloid plaque," said David Holtzman, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, who was involved in creating one of the first drugs to attack amyloid beta. "If you have a genetic cause, that tells you amyloid is central in causing the disease."

Researchers like Lon Schneider at University of Southern California said the initial hope was that by stopping amyloid beta "we could very possibly cure or stop the progression of the illness right in its tracks."

And the discovery was good for securing more research funding.

Khachaturian was elated. "I could go tell Congress saying, 'Look at all the wonderful things we're doing," recalled Khachaturian. "We discovered the gene. We discovered the molecule and if you remove the molecule, we will solve the disease."

It didn't turn out to be that easy.

Chasing amyloid beta ...

Whoever succeeded in making a drug for Alzheimer's stood to make a fortune.

Pharmaceutical companies were willing to gamble on this unproven idea and raced ahead, betting that removing the "toxic" amyloid beta protein from the brain would slow symptoms of memory loss.

"It was an exciting time," said Siemers of Ely Lilly. The company spent billions on the approach. Others aimed at it, too.

Over two thirds of Alzheimer's drug studies from 2002 to 2012 tested amyloid-bashing drugs. Between 2015 and the end of 2018, more than half of the two dozen drugs tested annually in major studies were focused on amyloid beta.

It took years just to develop drugs to test in clinical trials. Companies tried different approaches and hit dead ends. It was difficult to get drugs small enough to penetrate the brain.In 2008, Eli Lilly became the first big pharmaceutical company to test a pill that attacks one of the enzymes that creates amyloid beta. The theory was simple: disable the enzyme that snips amyloid beta out of the big protein and levels of amyloid beta would drop. But the study was stopped early because volunteers taking the pill were twice as likely to get skin cancer and declined faster on cognitive tests compared to people taking a placebo.

"One of the things about this field is that it makes you humble in a hurry," said Siemers. "It didn't work out the way a lot of us thought it might."

Companies including Ely Lilly, Merck, and Johnson and Johnson developed pills to inhibit a second enzyme, called BACE inhibitors. Two decades after work started on them, the last remaining ones have failed in clinical trials.

In July 2019, Novartis and Amgen abruptly halted a BACE inhibitor study when the drug resulted in faster decline on cognitive tests and more brain atrophy and weight loss. In September 2019, Eisai and Biogen halted their drug study on the recommendation of a safety committee.

At the same time, pharmaceutical companies tried to wipe out amyloid beta a different way using amyloid beta antibodies. These were designed to go directly after the amyloid beta molecule and flag it, so the brain's own immune system broke it down and carried it off, which is the way some cancer drugs work.

Initially, Siemers said, Eli Lilly got encouraging data on its amyloid beta antibody, called solanezumab.

... to abrupt endings

Meanwhile, by the mid-2000s, new brain scanning technology made it possible to peer into the brains of living people. As more people were scanned, it revealed something autopsies had shown earlier, but researchers had ignored.

Amyloid plaque doesn't correlate with dementia.

Roughly a third of cognitively normal older people have plaque in their brains. Plaque raises the risk of developing dementia later, but most people with plaque never develop dementia. To some researchers this increased doubt that amyloid beta is the cause of Alzheimer's.

Amyloid PET scans developed in the mid-2000s allowed researchers to track brain changes in living people. They showed that plaque doesn't correlate closely with dementia, though it raises the risk. The protein tau does track with memory loss and cognitive decline. Evan Vucci | AP

Additionally, the scans also revealed that a quarter to a third of people with dementia don't have plaque. That meant that whatever is causing their dementia is completely unrelated to amyloid.

Eli Lilly's first big study of solanezumab had failed to slow mental decline. But Siemers saw a faint indication that the drug might have helped people with mild symptoms. He wanted to press ahead with another big amyloid study.

This time, in 2013, Eli Lilly paid for expensive brain scans to make sure all the volunteers had amyloid beta in their brains along with mild symptoms, a characteristic of the only group that seemed to benefit in a previous study. Siemers hoped that with a more carefully screened group solanezumab would work.

"These studies are ridiculously expensive, but I can tell you from my simple-minded scientist standpoint it wasn't really a hard decision," said Siemers. "It was like you have to do another experiment to prove that what you think is there is really there."

Siemers waited three more years and got his answer in 2016. The drug hadn't made a difference. "There were lots of tears," said Siemers, who still finds it difficult to talk about the failure years later.

After Eli's solanezumab crashed, hope shifted to amyloid beta antibodies at other companies, particularly Biogen's antibody aducanumab. In 2018, Dennis Selkoe, an Alzheimer's researcher at Harvard University who developed the amyloid hypothesis, called it "the best shot on goal."

Skeptics warned that his optimism and the world's was misplaced.

David Grainger, a venture capital investor in life sciences who has been critical of the amyloid approach, wrote in Forbes that the hype about aducanumab was "entirely excessive." Furthermore, he wrote that "there is a very real risk that some of the coverage unreasonably raises hopes of helping current patients."

Gibbs, the retired neurologist, had finished his initial 18 months in the study by then and chose to receive the drug in an extension study. He kept up his monthly flights to San Francisco until a common side effect brain swelling forced him to stop. He recovered, and thought it could be a good sign, as did many researchers, that the drug was removing plaque.

Then in March 2019 Biogen said it was stopping the trial early after a data-monitoring committee said it wasn't doing any good. The drug removed amyloid plaque but didn't slow the progression of dementia. Just three months earlier, Roche had pulled the plug on a big study of its amyloid antibody.

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The invention of a disease and the pursuit of one molecule - WNIJ and WNIU

Findings to be presented cover broad range of scientifically and clinically relevant areas including schizophrenia, sex development, cancer and muscular dystrophy

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bionano Genomics, Inc. (BNGO) today announced that disease researchers using Bionanos Saphyr system for whole genome imaging will present their results at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) Annual Meeting, between October 15-19 in Austin, Texas.

The impact of analysis using the Saphyr system for ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific genome-wide detection of structural variation will be presented at ASHG with 22 oral and poster presentations and an Educational Event hosted by Bionano.

ASHG 2019 represents a milestone for Bionano, with a record number of presentations demonstrating novel discoveries through our genome mapping technology, said Erik Holmlin, Ph.D., CEO of Bionano. The growing use of the Saphyr system in disease research illustrates the value in identifying genomic variations for deep understanding of disease origin and diagnostic development.

Optical mapping through Saphyr enables the direct observation of large genomic variations through imaging of fluorescently labeled, megabase-size native DNA molecules. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), in contrast, relies on short-reads that piece together sequence fragments in an attempt to rebuild the actual structure of the genome. NGS often misses large DNA variations, such as deletions, insertions, duplications, and translocations and inversions. Genome mapping resolves these structural variations for more insight into the genetic variations that cause disease.

Below is a summary of key presentations to be given at ASHG 2019 featuring the use of optical genome mapping:

Genetic diagnosis of sex development disorders through optical mappingHalf of disorders of sex development (DSD) patients lack a firm diagnosis. Prof. Eric Vilain, from George Washington University and Childrens National Medical Center, will present research validating the diagnostic and gene discovery use of Bionano genome mapping to identify structural variants in patients with DSD. The talk, entitled Integration of optical genome mapping and sequencing technologies for identification of structural variants in DSD, will be presented on Wed. Oct. 16 at 5:15 - 5:30 pm in the convention center Level 3, Room 361D.

Genomic mapping has the potential to replace a combination of current cytogenetic techniquesCurrently, a comprehensive clinical analysis of genomic aberrations requires a combination of various assays such as CNV-microarrays, karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Dr. Tuomo Mantere, from Radboud University Medical Center, will present data directly comparing traditional cytogenetic assays with Bionano mapping in leukemia patient samples to illustrate that genome mapping can identify all aberrations found by the three conventional technologies combined, and additional variants as well. The poster, entitled Next-generation cytogenetics: High-resolution optical mapping to replace FISH, karyotyping and CNV-microarrays will be presented on Thurs. Oct. 17, between 2 - 3pm, PgmNr 2533/T.

Genomic architecture reveals critical factors that may contribute to schizophrenia-associated 3q29 chromosomal deletionDeletions at the 3q29 chromosomal locus are associated with a 40-fold increase in risk for schizophrenia. Knowing the features that contribute to genomic instability is critical for identifying risk factors of chromosomal deletions. Trenel Mosley, from Emory University, will present the discovery of novel genomic structural characteristics found in 12 patients with 3q29 deletion and their parents using Saphyr. The poster entitled, Optical mapping of the schizophrenia-associated 3q29 deletion reveals new features of genomic architecture, will be presented on Wed. Oct. 16, between 2 - 3pm, PgmNr 1389/W.

Bionano and NGS resolve complex rearrangements in extrachromosomal, circular DNA in glioblastoma The rapid growth of aggressive tumors such as glioblastoma is partially caused by the rapid amplification of oncogenes in circular structures outside of native chromosomes. Because these structures do not occur in the reference genome, standard analysis methods fail to correctly assemble them. Jens Luebeck, from the University of California, San Diego, demonstrates that a combination of Bionano genome mapping and NGS resolves important breakpoints and gene amplifications in extrachromosomal DNA. The talk, entitled Integrated Analysis of NGS and Optical Mapping Resolves the Complex Structure of Highly Rearranged Focal Amplifications in Cancer, will be presented on Sat. Oct. 19, from 10:15 - 10:30am PgmNr: 323

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Bionano Educational Event will feature research on muscular dystrophy, prenatal development & neurodegenerative disordersAt Bionanos educational event, Dr. Alka Chaubey from Perkin Elmer Genomics, Dr. Frances High from Mass General Hospital for Children, and Dr. Mark Ebbert from the Mayo Clinic will present findings from their work using the Saphyr system for structural genomic resolution. Analysis of chromosomal repeats, complex genomic haplotypes, and risk loci found in genetic disease will be highlighted by the speakers. Entitled Resolving Structural Variants Across the Whole Genome to Power Your Next Discovery in Human Genetics, the event will take place on Thurs. Oct 17, from 12:45 - 2:00pm at the Marriott Marquis, Houston, River Oaks, Level 3, and include a complimentary lunch.

Additional presentations featuring optical genome mapping:

High Throughput Analysis of Tandem Repeat Contraction Associated with Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) by Optical MappingPresented by Jian Wang, Bionano GenomicsWed. Oct. 16, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 2535/W

Full Genome Analysis for Identification of Single Nucleotide and Structural Variants in Genes that Cause Developmental DelayPresented by Hsiao-Jung Kao, Academia SINICAWed. Oct. 16, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 2547/W

A Robust Benchmark for Germline Structural Variant DetectionPresented by Justin Zook, National Institute of Standards and TechnologyWed. Oct. 16, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 1695/W

De Novo Genome Assembly and Phasing for Undiagnosed ConditionsPresented by Joseph Shieh, University of California, San FranciscoWed. Oct. 16, 2 -3 pm PgmNr: 2529/W

Bionano Prep SP Isolates High Quality Ultra-high Molecular Weight (UHMW) Genomic DNA to Improve Research of Cancer and Undiagnosed DisordersPresented by Henry Sadowski, Bionano GenomicsWed. Oct. 16, 3 - 4pm PgmNr: 2598/W

nanotatoR: An Annotation Tool for Genomic Structural VariantsPresented by Surajit Bhattacharya, Childrens National Medical CenterWed. Oct. 16, 3 - 4pm PgmNr: 1506/W

Detection, Characterization, and Breakpoint Refinement of Balanced Rearrangements by Optical Mapping in Clinical CasesPresented by Alex Hastie, Bionano Genomics + LabCorpThurs. Oct. 17, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 2569/T

Genetic/epigenetic Diagnosis of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) via Optical MappingPresented by Yi-Wen Chen, Childrens National Medical CenterThurs. Oct. 17, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 2533/T

Comprehensive Analysis of Structural Variants in Clinical Cancer SamplesPresented by Ernest Lam, Bionano GenomicsThurs. Oct. 17, 3 - 4pm PgmNr: 1060/T

Advanced Structural Analysis of CDH Risk Loci with Optical Genome Mapping TechnologyPresented by Mauro Longoni, Massachusetts General HospitalThurs. Oct. 17, 3 - 4pm PgmNr: 2578/T

Structural Variants Associated with GWAS SNPs Provide Mechanistic Explanation of Phenotypic AssociationsPresented by Seth Berger, Childrens National Medical CenterThurs. Oct. 17, 3 - 4pm PgmNr: 2254/T

The Complete Linear Assembly and Methylation Map of Human Chromosome 8Presented by Glennis Logsdon, University of WashingtonFri. Oct. 18, 1 - 2pm PgmNr: 1703/F

High Throughput High Molecular Weight DNA Extraction from Human Tissues for Long-read SequencingPresented by Kelvin Liu, CirculomicsFri. Oct. 18, 1 - 2pm PgmNr: 1769/F

Optical Mapping for Chromosomal Abnormalities: A Pilot Feasibility Study for Clinical UsePresented by Gokce Toruner, UT MD Anderson Cancer CenterFri. Oct. 18, 1 - 2pm PgmNr: 2447/F

Comprehensive Detection of Germline and Somatic Structural Mutation in Cancer Genomes by Bionano Genomics Optical MappingPresented by Mark Ebbert, Mayo ClinicFri. Oct. 18, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 1760/F

Dark and Camouflaged Genes May Harbor Disease-relevant Variants that Long-read Sequencing Can ResolvePresented by Andy Pang, Bionano GenomicsFri. Oct. 18, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 1814/F

Bionano Genomics Sample to Answer Workflow for Single Molecule Analysis of Variation in Genome StructurePresented by Sven Bocklandt, Bionano GenomicsFri. Oct. 18, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 1838/F

Draft Assembly of an Armenian GenomePresented by Hayk Barseghyan, Childrens National Medical CenterFri. Oct. 18, 2 - 3pm PgmNr: 2342/F

About Bionano GenomicsBionano is a life sciences instrumentation company in the genome analysis space. Bionano develops and markets the Saphyr system, a platform for ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific structural variation detection that enables researchers and clinicians to accelerate the search for new diagnostics and therapeutic targets and to streamline digital cytogenetics, which is designed to be a more systematic, streamlined and industrialized form of traditional cytogenetics. The Saphyr system comprises an instrument, chip consumables, reagents and a suite of data analysis tools. For more information, visit http://www.bionanogenomics.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as may, will, expect, plan, anticipate, estimate, intend and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes and are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, including among other things: the timing and content of the presentations identified in this press release; and the ability of genome mapping to perform comprehensive clinical analysis as well as conventional technologies. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include the risks that our sales, revenue, expense and other financial guidance may not be as expected, as well as risks and uncertainties associated with general market conditions; changes in the competitive landscape and the introduction of competitive products; changes in our strategic and commercial plans; our ability to obtain sufficient financing to fund our strategic plans and commercialization efforts; the ability of key clinical studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of our products; the loss of key members of management and our commercial team; and the risks and uncertainties associated with our business and financial condition in general, including the risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in other filings subsequently made by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made and are based on management's assumptions and estimates as of such date. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise.

ContactsCompany Contact:Mike Ward, CFOBionano Genomics, Inc.+1 (858) 888-7600mward@bionanogenomics.com

Investor Relations Contact:Ashley R. RobinsonLifeSci Advisors, LLC+1 (617) 775-5956arr@lifesciadvisors.com

Media Contact:Kirsten ThomasThe Ruth Group+1 (508) 280-6592kthomas@theruthgroup.com

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Top Researchers to Present Discoveries Made Possible by Bionanos Saphyr System for Genome Imaging Technology at the ASHG 2019 Annual Meeting - Yahoo...

CLEMSON, South Carolina Clemson University College of Science professor Hong Luo has received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop genetically improved and more robust turfgrass and switchgrass. These perennial plants represent a multibillion-dollar segment of the U.S. agricultural economy.

Hong Luo, professor of genetics and biochemistry.

Covering millions of acres on golf courses, athletic fields, cemeteries and parks nationwide, turfgrasses require large amounts of water to remain healthy, which leaves them particularly vulnerable to extreme heat and drought. We want to develop technologies that improve turfgrass so it becomes more stress-resistant, said Luo, a professor in the department of genetics and biochemistry. If we can genetically improve the plants then they will need much less water.

The tall, hearty switchgrass plant is a promising biofuel crop that could someday produce greater ethanol yields than corn. In addition, switchgrass is considered a weed and can grow in poor soil conditions and requires less water and fertilizer than corn.

A key challenge to engineering better turf and switchgrass is preventing lab-engineered genes from escaping into the non-modified grasses or weeds growing in nearby fields. This type of transfer could have unpredictable environmental consequences. Scientists agree that one of the most effective ways to prevent this spillover is to produce completely sterile grass plants.

The purpose of this newly funded research is to develop a molecular strategy and achieve trans-gene containment, while producing a clean final product or plant that is environmentally safe, Luo said.

Luos approach to containing the engineered genes is to integrate two site-specific DNA recombination systems with total sterility induction mechanisms in the final transgenic product.

The first line will contain three active genes for Cre recombinase, hygromycin resistance (hyg) and endonuclease Cas9, and an inactive RNAi expression cassette for a flowering control gene, FLO/LFY homolog. The second line will contain an active herbicide resistance gene bar, recombinase gene phiC31 and FLO/LFY homolog gene guide RNA (sgRNA), and an inactive stress-regulating rice SUMO E3 ligase gene, OsSIZ1.

When Luo cross-pollinates the two lines in the lab, certain genes will activate and others will be removed, resulting in a new genetic line that is completely sterile and more stress-resistant. These new plants will not produce pollen or seeds, making it impossible for the modified genes to spread in the wild.

Luo anticipates having a genetically modified new line ready for testing at the end of the four-year research project. If all goes well, the new transgenic line would then be ready for the stringent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) field tests before it could potentially be commercialized.

Luo is familiar with the development and testing process. Before joining the Clemson faculty, he was the director of research at HybriGene Inc., where he led the development of the first genetically engineered, environmentally safe, male-sterile and herbicide-resistant turfgrass. He also helped create a new method for hybrid crop production using site-specific DNA recombination systems.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under Grant No.2019-33522-30102. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NIFA.

The rest is here:
Clemson researcher developing perennial grasses that could reduce water use and be fuel source - Clemson University

More than two billion people globally have uncorrected poor vision, something that can be corrected with a simple pair of glasses. As the WHO releases the first ever global analysis of the state of poor vision, James Chen, founder of Vision for a Nation and Clearly shows how concerted action can make a world of difference

The publication of the World Health Organizations (WHO) World Report on Vision last week was a landmark moment for the eye health sector. The report brings to a conclusion a 30-month study from the premier global health institution. There have been decades of darkness on the world's largest unaddressed disability. Now, at long last, this report shines a light upon this issue.

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The report establishes three critical arguments that all public health and development professionals must heed. First, it finds that at least 2.2 billion people have poor vision nearly a third of the worlds population. Of these, at least one billion have vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. The number is huge but intuitive. Imagine how many peoples lives would be blighted in the developed world if eye care and the use of opticians was the preserve of a wealthy elite. Yet this is precisely the predicament for people in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO concedes that the estimate is conservative and points to the gaps in knowledge, particularly about childrens vision. Previous estimates by respected bodies such as the World Economic Forum and lens manufacturer, Essilor, of 2.5 billion people with uncorrected poor vision may be closer to the mark.

Improving eye health in Rwanda (Image: Vision for a Nation)

Second, the World Report outlines how poor vision affects a persons quality of life and negatively impacts education attainment, workplace productivity and road safety. It points out that women are more likely to have vision-related problems and less likely to get treatment. As WHO boss Dr Tedros writes: We take vision for granted, but without vision, we struggle to learn to walk, to read, to participate in school, and to work. I have often argued that vision is the golden thread through the Sustainable Development Goals that ties all of these areas together. If we are to get serious about tackling the SDGs, which are already a third of the way through their lifespan, we must tackle poor vision.

Third, the report argues that eye care must become part of universal health coverage. This argument should be tautological: how can health coverage be truly universal if it excludes eye health (or any area of healthcare for that matter)? But for too long eye health has been seen as an optional extra. The UK is a prime example. Cost-cutting measures in the early days of the National Health Service ended a brief period of fully integrated optometric services. Instead, the UK has a fragmented eye service where the poorest have the worst access to necessary services. The US is even worse with the precise type of health insurance determining the availability and cost of eye care services.

(Source: Vision for a Nation)

As the WHO report makes clear, the rest of the world has an opportunity to leapfrog markets such as the UK and US by putting in place systems of primary eye care for all. In 2012, I began working with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to do just that. We created a three-day training programme for community nurses to carry out basic sight tests; dispatched 2,600 nurses to 15,000 villages around the country, and have to date screened 2.5 million Rwandans, around 20 per cent of the population. This seemed impossible just a decade ago since Rwanda had just eight eye doctors in total. Without the innovation, it would have taken them four centuries to examine this number of people. Given the positive results, the Rwandan government has absorbed all of the costs into its own health budget.

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More than 2.5 million Rwandans have been treated since 2012 (Image: Vision for a Nation)

Rwandas next step is piloting sight screenings in schools. Childhood myopia (or short sightedness) is growing rapidly. By 2050, it will nearly double to affect 500 million kids worldwide. Many more children struggle with eye allergies such as conjunctivitis, which become highly distracting and incapacitating when left untreated. As noted in the WHO report, the impact on education attainment of uncorrected poor vision is profound.

James Chen is the founder of Clearly and Vision for a Nation

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WHO shines a light on the global vision crisis - Geographical

More than 1 billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the care they need for conditions like short and farsightedness, glaucoma and cataract, says the first World report on vision by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report, launched ahead of World Sight Day on October 10, found that ageing populations, changing lifestyles and limited access to eyecare, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are among the main drivers of the rising numbers of people living with vision impairment.

Eye conditions and vision impairment are widespread, and far too often they still go untreated, says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. People who need eyecare must be able to receive quality interventions without suffering financial hardship. Including eyecare in national health plans and essential packages of care is an important part of every countrys journey towards universal health coverage.

It is unacceptable that 65 million people are blind or have impaired sight when their vision could have been corrected overnight with a cataract operation, or that over 800 million struggle in everyday activities because they lack access to a pair of glasses, he adds.

Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. An estimated $14.3 billion would be needed to address the backlog of 1 billion people living with vision impairment or blindness due to short and far-sightedness, and cataracts.

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Keeping an eye on vision impairment and its cost - BusinessLine

While blue light has been blamed for sleep loss, its not the only bad light. Chaoss/Shuttterstock.com

Blue light has gotten a bad rap, getting blamed for loss of sleep and eye damage. Personal electronic devices emit more blue light than any other color. Blue light has a short wavelength, which means that it is high-energy and can damage the delicate tissues of the eye. It can also pass through the eye to the retina, the collection of neurons that converts light into the signals that are the foundation of sight.

Laboratory studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high-intensity blue light damages retinal cells in mice. But, epidemiological studies on real people tell a different story.

As an assistant professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, I teach and conduct vision research, including work with retinal eye cells. I also see patients in the colleges teaching clinics. Often, my patients want to know how they can keep their eyes healthy despite looking at a computer screen all day. They often ask about blue-blocking spectacle lenses that they see advertised on the internet.

But when it comes to protecting your vision and keeping your eyes healthy, blue light isnt your biggest concern.

Sunlight has more blue light than your computer. miamgesphotography/Shutterstock.com

One way to think about blue light and potential retinal damage is to consider the Sun. Sunlight is mostly blue light. On a sunny afternoon, its nearly 100,000 times brighter than your computer screen. Yet, few human studies have found any link between sunlight exposure and the development of age-related macular degeneration, a retinal disease that leads to loss of central vision.

If being outside on a sunny afternoon likely doesnt damage the human retina, then neither can your dim-by-comparison tablet. A theoretical study recently reached the same conclusion.

So, why the disconnect between blue lights effects on rodent eyes and human eyes?

Human eyes are different than rodent eyes. We have protective elements, such as macular pigments and the natural blue-blocking ability of the crystalline lens. These structures absorb blue light before it reaches the delicate retina.

That doesnt mean you should throw away those sunglasses; they provide benefits beyond protecting your eyes from the Suns blue light. For example, wearing sunglasses slows down the development of cataracts, which cloud vision.

Just because blue light isnt harming your retina doesnt mean your electronic devices are harmless, or that blue light doesnt affect your eyes. Because of its wavelength, blue light does disrupt healthy sleep physiology. Blue-light-sensitive cells, known asintrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or ipRGCs, play a key role here, because they tell the brains master clock how light it is in the environment. That means, when you look at a brightly lit screen, these cells help set your internal clock for daytime-level alertness.

But these cells are sensitive to colors beyond blue because they also receive input from other retinal neurons that are sensitive to the entire color spectrum.

Therefore, eliminating blue light alone doesnt cut it when it comes to improving sleep; you need to dim all colors.

As for your tired eyes after a long day spent staring at your computer another common complaint I hear from my patients blue light isnt solely to blame for that, either. A recent study demonstrated that cutting blue light alone did not improve peoples reported comfort after a long computer session any more than simply dimming the screen.

Many patients want to know if they should buy certain products they have seen advertised to block out blue light. Based on research, the short answer is no.

First, the truth is that any bright light too close to bedtime interferes with sleep.

Mounting evidence suggests that, compared to reading a paperback, screen time before bed increases the time it takes to fall asleep. It also robs you of restorative rapid-eye-movement sleep, dulls focus and diminishes brain activity the next day. Holding your phone close to your eyes with the lights on likely exacerbates the problem.

Second, the products that my patients ask about do not block out much blue light. The leading blue-blocking anti-reflective coating, for example, blocks only about 15% of the blue light that screens emit.

You could get the same reduction just by holding your phone another inch from your face. Try it now and see if you notice a difference. No? Then it shouldnt surprise you that a recent meta-analysis concluded that blue-blocking lenses and coatings have no significant effect on sleep quality, comfort at the computer, or retinal health.

Computers cause eye strain because people dont blink as often when staring at a screen. fizkes/Shutterstock.com

There are ways to make your screen viewing more comfortable and more conducive to sleep.

First, turn off your electronic devices before bed. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that bedrooms be screen-free zones for children, but we should all heed this advice. Outside of the bedroom, when you do look at your screens, lower the brightness.

As for eye strain, ensure that you have the appropriate glasses or contact lens prescription. Only an optometrist or ophthalmologist can give you this information.

You also need to take care of the surface of your eyes. We dont just look at our computer screens, we stare at them. In fact, our blink rate plummets from about 12 blinks a minute to six. As a result, tears evaporate off the eyes, and they dont accumulate again until we step away from the screen and start blinking. This causes inflammation on the eyes surface. Thats why your eyes feel dry and tired after a day spent at the computer. I counsel my patients to take two steps to ensure that their eyes stay moist during long computer sessions.

First, follow the 20-20-20 rule. The American Optometric Association defines this rule as taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet in the distance. This will allow your eyes to blink and relax. There are many apps available to help remind you to follow this rule.

Second, use a lubricating eye drop before extended computer use. This tactic will reinforce the bodys natural tears and keep the eyes surface hydrated. But, avoid those get-the-red-out drops. They contain drugs that cause long-term redness and preservatives that may damage the outer layers of the eye. I have found that artificial tears labeled preservative free often work best.

Based on my research, my advice is dont believe the hype about blue light and dont waste your money on products you dont need. Instead, keep screens out of your bedroom and dim them before bedtime and keep your eyes lubricated. And dont forget to blink!

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Phillip Yuhas, Assistant Professor of Optometry, The Ohio State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Blue light isn't the main source of eye fatigue and sleep loss - it's your computer - The Ohio State University News

Express News Service

CHENNAI:Renowned eye hospital, Rajan Eye Care has expanded its charity services by issuing cards to the members of Tamilnadu Maatru Thiranaligal Munnetra Sangam on Thursday. The Chennai-based hospital, which has been providing subsidised eye care to the economically weaker sections of the society, launched the project Vision First, Visda 2 - Vision for the Differently Abled, as part of World Sight Day. Rajan Eye Care has joined hands with Chennai Vision Charitable Trust, Rotary Club of Madras T Nagar and Tamilnadu Maatru Thiranaligal Munnetra Sangam to launch this version of the card.

At the launch, chairman of Rajan Eye Care, Dr Mohan Rajan said, We are focussing on a special category of people this time persons with disabilities (PwD). Last time we extended these cards for the visually impaired only. Tamilnadu Maatru Thiranaligal Munnetra Sangam president R Thangam received the first card.

Apart from that, the hospital has provided cards to Chennai police, kidney and cancer patients who cannot afford to spend and State Transport Corporation drivers. This vision card will help them avail services at the Rajan Eye Clinic branches in Chennai.

Actor Srikant was the chief guest. Representatives from differently abled organisations, and A Shankar, president of the Rotary Club of Madras T Nagar, were present. Around 2.5 lakh people have already been availing services using these cards.

I am fulfilling my fathers dream of providing eye care to everyone who needs it. My father did not want anyone to be deprived of treatment because he/she cannot afford to pay for it, said Dr Mohan.

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Rajan Eye Care unveils Vision First for PwD - The New Indian Express

DeAndre Hopkins and his mother (Instagram)

*DeAndre Hopkins mom is visually impaired after being assaulted in an acid attack in 2002, and shes set to be the subject of a new film.

Sabrina Greenlee is also getting candid about the day a woman threw a mixture of lye and bleach on her after learning her boyfriend was cheating with Greenlee. In 2013, she told USA Today that her boyfriend left me there to die.

He left me there to die, Greenlee said. All my skin came off of my body. I was laying out there, dying. There was blood all over this womans store.

Today, she is blind in her right eye, with 60% sight in her left eye. Savannah Carlita Grant, the woman responsible for the attack, pleaded guilty to assault and battery with intent to kill and was sentenced to 20 years in a South Carolina penitentiary, according to USA Today.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:Bishop Marvin L. Sapp Announces Rory Marshall As New Sr. Pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center

Moma you raised a @GQMagazine man. pic.twitter.com/VdbnCG9Imi

Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) September 3, 2019

In a trailer for her ESPN Cover Story, Greenlee, who runs a non-profit domestic violence campaign, recalls, I remember laying there, just thinking, This is it. A white curtain comes over my eyes and Im going blind.

27-year-old Hopkins, who was 10 at the time, tells ESPN, I was young, I didnt understand how big the situation was, I didnt know my mom wasnt ever going to be able to see.

His mothers ESPN Cover Story will publish on Wednesday and will also cover their close bond.

My mom has always put everyone before herself and sacrificed things unimaginable, said the Houston Texans wide receiver. Now its time for people to see her true value and learn that giving up is not an option.

Variety previously reported that the true-life feature film about Greenlee will focuses on a young, single mother who is attacked and left for dead and finds herself in a battle to change the course of her life and stay on the new path shes created for herself and her four children.

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Mother of NFL Player DeAndre Hopkins to Open Up About Losing Vision in Acid Attack - Eurweb.com

THE recent haze ended as quickly as it began and the skies in Singapore are blue again. In medical parlance, such episodic problems are usually termed an "attack", such as a heart attack, a gout attack or more relevant to my profession, a glaucoma attack.

After each annual episode of "haze attack", our region seems to bounce back, finger-pointing subsides and life returns to normalcy, until the attack repeats again the following year. However, unlike the haze, human organs once "attacked" usually decline in function, causing ill-health that may become irreversible to the point of demise.

A glaucoma attack is an acute disease that the eye may suffer from, which can be associated with irreparable damage. For the uninitiated, glaucoma is a group of eye diseases typically characterised by elevated eye pressure, loss of field of vision and a classic glaucomatous appearance of the eye nerve ending, visible only through an examination of the back of eye.

Field of vision is a concept that warrants explanation to many people. Each eye has its own field of view - the area that it can see - and in combination they provide comprehensive navigation of our environment. A minimum visual field criterion denoted as at least 120 degree of angle horizontally with either single or both eyes is legally required for driving.

Mixed bag of subtypes

As a disease, glaucoma comprises a mixed bag of subtypes, arising from various causes. These may be as innocent as being born with the genes for glaucoma whose effect manifests as one ages, or simply being anatomically predisposed.

It may arise as an association of general diseases such as diabetes or as a side effect of prolonged use of steroid medications. It may even be a result of other local eye diseases such as ischaemia (a lack of oxygen), inflammation or injury.

What ties these various subtypes together is the ultimate destiny of the eye nerve: that there is thinning and loss of the nerve cells as a result of the eye pressure, which in some cases may be deceptively normal on measurement but high for the individual eye nerve (to each eye nerve its own eye pressure, so to speak).

Unchecked, glaucoma can surreptitiously lead to irreversible blindness. By year 2020, as the third leading eye disease, it will affect an estimated 80 million people worldwide. Of these, 3.2 million is estimated to be blind from glaucoma.

Being the top irreversibly blinding eye disease, public education of glaucoma is one of the leading ophthalmic priorities.

Nevertheless, compulsory glaucoma screening has not been deemed cost-effective in public health policies worldwide. Opportunistic screening is hence the usual approach.

In general, glaucoma is divided into two broad categories based on the shape of the outflow apparatus of the eye (yes, there is a plumbing system in the amazing design of the human eye). These two categories are the open angle type versus the closed angle type.

Although the open angle variety is commoner worldwide, closed angle glaucoma has a higher incidence in East Asians and Caucasians compared to Africans, due to racial differences and anatomical features.

Both types are silent diseases, with few warning signs of the loss of field of vision, hence nicknamed "the thief of sight".

However, the closed angle variety of glaucoma is notorious for being associated with episodes of not-so-silent attacks during which the eye pressure becomes acutely elevated due to vicious cycles of outflow blockage within the eye. During an attack, one would experience a red, painful and blurry eye, often with severe accompanying headache, nausea and vomiting, so much so that confused sufferers had on occasions been misdirected to the gastroenterology department for the prominent symptoms suspicious of a stomach flu.

Disclaiming any intended ageism and sexism, the classic scenario of an attack of angle closure glaucoma is of a little old lady watching television at night: advanced age, being female and in the dark are indeed risk factors, although televisions are commonly swapped for mobile phones these days.

While the management of an acute attack of glaucoma is considered a gift question in the eye specialty board examinations, real life cases are not as straightforward.

After a glaucoma attack is "broken" or stopped, much else needs doing, including prevention of recurrence, repairing sight and safeguarding the fate of the fellow eye. Ramifications affect the front and back of the eye as the high pressure affects them all.

Closely associated with vascular diseases, glaucoma has a higher incidence in those who suffer poor circulation in the extremities (cold hands and feet). A big drop in night time blood pressure, snoring or sleep apnoea are possible contributors too.

Certain yoga postures involving inverse poses were documented to be associated with elevated eye pressures (particularly the sirsasana pose), hence glaucoma-sufferers should consider modifications to these poses.

In terms of treatment of glaucoma, there are roles for topical eyedrops, laser treatments and surgical therapies, with recent advances in minimally-invasive glaucoma surgery, all of which target lowering of the eye pressure to halt progression of visual field loss.

Preventive care

However, the mantra remains "prevention is the best medicine". Opportunistic screening and regular monitoring are highly recommended particularly when there is a positive family history or significant risk factors.

Detection of strong signs of suspicions of glaucoma is followed by management strategies unique to each subtype of disease.

Preventive treatment involving lasers and surgeries such as early cataract extraction are recommended for closed angle glaucoma.

The latter represents a shift in management strategies as a result of large scale multinational studies conducted in the recent years, and is believed to be a more cost-effective treatment to lower the risk of an attack.

As I resign myself to the high probability of a repeat haze "attack" next September, I find solace in the thought that in healthcare, active steps can be taken by the individual to prevent acute phases by monitoring and managing chronic conditions, in an evidence-based manner, before devastating problems arise.

The best defence may indeed be a good offence, in the form of an eye-check, for a start!

This series is produced on alternate Saturdays in collaboration with Singapore Medical Specialists Centre

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Safeguarding your eyes from the 'thief of sight' - The Business Times

Equity markets seem to have lost their compass at present. Politics and trade deals dominate our analysis, leaving hardly any room for standard stock talk that many of us love. Its tempting to abandon logic for emotion and resort to passive investing rather than individual stock picking. But that would be a big mistake! There are too many obvious themes that are durable and easily lead to solid stock selections.

During times of great tumult, I focus on thematic trends that have the greatest success of prevailing despite political or even economic shifts. For example, I have discussed the relentless need for cyber security that will never end, and the way to invest in that theme. I also invest in cloud storage facilities, because we need a bottomless well to store our endless data production. Are there any other themes out there? Absolutely: the aging population that is growing at a very rapid rate will create demand for many medical services.

According to the United Nations Population Division, in the next 25 years, the global population of people aged 65-and-older will double to almost 1.3 billion. Think thats a lot? The ovrt-80 age group is expected to more than triple in absolute size over the next 35 years! That age group is expected to rise from 1.7% of the global population today to 4.5% by 2050. In thinking about these demographics, seniors will need many services that are inelastic and not dependent on economic conditions. Just like we will continue to need data storage or data security, our aging population will need maintenance services to stay in the best physical shape possible for active seniors. From a health care perspective, the low-lying fruits for seniors are eyesight and hearing.

Consider vision first. The numbers are simple: 50% of people above 80 years old will develop cataracts, which cause vision problems. Surgery is the only way to remove a cataract. About 5 million people in the U.S. have cataract surgery. This is the most performed surgery in the United States and is a very large number. World-wide there are about 10 million performed. Since the aging population is growing and at least one-half of them will develop cataracts, this is one of the most obvious investing opportunities to research.

There are many areas to examine, but I search for companies that are developing exciting medications to treat vision problems for seniors. Eyepoint (EYPT) is a tiny public company that has gained FDA approval for treatment in post-cataract care, and other sight-threatening diseases.

Simply put, EYPTs products replace the patients need for 100 eye drops to a single, tiny time-release implant administered during the surgery. This treatment is extremely important to prevent post-surgical inflammation and other complications. Additionally, EYPT uses the same time release delivery technology to administer therapies for various sight-threatening eye diseases with very good results. Their patents dont expire until 2034, giving the company plenty of time to capture a large market share.

At about $2 per share, I think that buying EYPT now is getting in early, but the company has already locked down FDA and insurance approval. I estimate that every 1% market share in U.S. cataract surgery market bolsters annual revenue $30 million. Every 1% capture in the eye disease market adds another $8 million to the top line. Given that the companys latest 12-month revenue was $12 million, a 1% market gain in both segments would triple revenue. Keep in mind that China trade wars, threats of impeachment, etc. should have no impact on this simple analysis.

Lets move on to hearing. Like vision, understanding the addressable market for hearing issues is simple and straightforward. More than 50% of people over 75 years old will develop disabling hearing loss. Currently, there are more than 16 million people in the U.S. that are over 75. That number is expected to grow as a percent of our total population, so I think the market for hearing aides is an obvious opportunity. But unlike vision research, the hearing aid market has been astonishingly slow to leverage the latest technologies that other consumer products employ (think Alexa for example).

I like Sonova Holding (SONVY) because it has incorporated the latest sophisticated technologies to improve hearing aid product. I have written in detail about this company before, and still think this little-followed stock is has great potential for growth.

At first, it seems that the data security and storage markets would have very little in common with the senior healthcare industry. But when viewed through the common lens of future demand driven by growing customer bases, there are striking similarities. Contrast this to the failed unicorns like Peloton, Wework, Smile Direct Club, which also share a common ground: difficult-to-predict future markets. When choosing my investments, I prefer to take the easier, obvious path. Shouldnt you?

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Two Great Stocks Of Sight And Sound - Forbes

(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK Lighthouse Guild, a not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization, presented the Bressler Prize to Dr. Vladimir Kefalov and the Pisart Award to Dr. Tiffany Schmidt at the 2019 Alfred W. Bressler Vision Science Symposium and Pisart Seminar in New York on Oct. 5.

These two outstanding researchers, chosen by an independent panel of judges who are leading physicians and scientists in the field of vision care and research, are being recognized for their significant contributions to vision science and research, said Alan R. Morse, JD, PhD, president and CEO of Lighthouse Guild.

The theme of the Symposium was Understanding and Preserving Photoreceptor Function. Kefalovs lecture was entitled Mechanisms Mediating the Function of Cone Photoreceptors and Daytime Vision. Schmidts lecture was entitled Illuminating Visual Circuits.

Dr. Kefalov, Bressler Prize Recipient

Kefalov, one of the leading retinal scientists in the world, is a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, and the Department of Neuroscience, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. His work has generated new insights into mechanisms of multiple human vision disorders, including the causes of photoreceptor dysfunction and degeneration, which affect color and night vision, that are spurring treatments for vision loss.

Every year since 2003, the Bressler Prize has recognized a mid-career vision clinician or scientist whose leadership, research and service have led to important advancements in the understanding of vision loss, treatment of eye disease, or the rehabilitation of people with vision loss.

I am humbled to be named the recipient of the prestigious Bressler Prize, said Kefalov. I am honored to be recognized for my research contributions and believe the Bressler Prize will further energize our efforts to study the mechanisms of human vision disorders.

Dr. Schmidt Pisart Award Recipient

Schmidt was recognized for her significant contributions in sensory research and circadian biology, which is advancing the understanding of adult retinal function and retinal development. Schmidt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Associate Director of the Neurobiology Masters Program at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

The Pisart Award recognizes an early-career vision clinician or scientist whose contributions have the potential to substantially influence vision care and/or vision science and has a proven record of accomplishment.

I am honored to be the recipient of the 2019 Pisart Award, said Schmidt. I share Lighthouse Guilds commitment to improving the lives of people with vision loss and look forward to further advancing our understanding of the circuits by which light influences our behavior and physiology.

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University Optometry Acquired by VSP Ventures - InvisionMag

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You only have one set of eyes. Are you taking care of them? - Human Resources Online

A Mabopane family was elated when Gogo Joyce Khunyedi (70) was given her full sight back as part of World Sight Day recently.

Last Thursday, miracles were performed on 160 patients as they received the gift of sight at the Pretoria eye institute in Arcadia.

Clear vision was brought back to the patients for free, by various ophthalmologists from the institute as part of their unclouding cataracts campaign which aims to remove cataracts through surgery.

READ MORE:UPDATE: Construction worker doing well after cement mixer mishap

Khunyedi said over the years, she had noticed that her eyesight was not 100 percent, which led her to get subscription glasses.

However, the glasses did not really assist her for long.

I noticed that my eyesight was deteriorating even more. I knew there was an issue with my eyes.

At some stage, an unknown substance oozed from her eyes.

A cataract removed from a patient.

Khunyedi said she complained to her daughter and her husband about her eyesight and they took action.

Kenneth Malema said he was happy that his mother-in-law was well after surgery.

READ MORE:Government to scrap the controversial birth certificate regulation

She would constantly complain about her right eyesight and at that point, we were very worried as we did not know what was wrong.

Malema said what saddened him was when they first went to George Mukhari hospital and they were told that she could only be assisted in two years time.

Two years was a long period, and we feared that it might get worse within that time. Thats when we approached the institute.

Malema said, however, the institute was very expensive especially without medical aid.

Dr Sanushka Moodley busy removing cataract from a patient.

He said he was pleased to hear of the free initiative the institute offered.

It was a major relief, he said.

Khunyedi said: I am grateful to God. I am extremely happy and I can continue keeping busy.

READ MORE:93-years jail term for one of SAs most wanted criminals

Now I can continue taking care of my garden and washing clothes.

She said keeping herself busy through chores was soothing.

The institute has operated on more than 3 000 patients as part of the unclouding cataracts campaign.

Dr Sanushka Moodley busy removing cataract from a patient.

Institute marketing and communication manager Maryke Lotz said: For us at the institute and the many other people who help make this possible, sight is the ultimate gift that keeps on giving. Year after year, operation after operation, we are humbled by the enormous difference that this relatively small procedure makes in peoples lives.

Lotz said the impact of cataracts often extended beyond the trauma of lost sight.

READ MORE:Clean-up operation around Pretoria mountain

Small childrens motor development is delayed, people lose their jobs as a result of losing their ability to see, and solutions are delayed by a lack of medical aid or dwindling funds.

She said the consequences of cataracts were endless and impacting not only the sufferers, but those around them.

That is one of the reasons why each individual story and the challenges behind each operation continue to inspire us on to even greater things.

Dr Sanushka Moodley busy removing cataract from a patient.

Cataracts are formed by the clouding of the normally transparent crystalline lens in the eye, causing blurry vision.

An ophthalmologist at the institute Dr Sanushka Moodley said there was currently a waiting list of 500 patients, and it was growing daily.

This may sound like a source of concern, which it is, but above all, it motivates and inspires us and many other stakeholders to try even harder to keep on giving the gift of sight, she said.

Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to[emailprotected]or phone us on 083625 4114.

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Families happy as sight returns to many on World Sight Day - Rekord North

As per the WHO vision report, eye conditions and vision impairment are widespread. (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

According to the World Health Organizations first report on vision, more than one billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the required care for conditions like short and far sightedness, glaucoma and cataract. Launched ahead of World Sight Day on October 10, the report found that ageing populations, changing lifestyles and limited access to eye care, particularly in low and middle-income countries, are among the main drivers of the rising numbers of people living with vision impairment.

ALSO READ | Notice flashes or black spots in your vision? Heres what you need to know

Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed.

Eye conditions and vision impairment are widespread, and far too often they still go untreated, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General while presenting the report. People who need eye care must be able to receive quality interventions without suffering financial hardship. Including eye care in national health plans and essential packages of care is an important part of every countrys journey towards universal health coverage, he added.

Other findings of the report indicated that the burden of eye conditions and vision impairment is not borne equally: it is often far greater in people living in rural areas, those with low incomes, women, older people, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and indigenous populations.

The unmet need of distance vision impairment in low and middle-income regions is estimated to be four times higher than in high-income regions, the report says.

Low and middle-income regions of western and eastern sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have rates of blindness that are eight times higher than in all high-income countries. Rates of cataract and trachomatous trichiasis are higher among women, particularly in low and middle-income countries. US $14.3 billion is needed to address the backlog of one billion people living with vision impairment or blindness due to short and far sightedness, and cataracts.

ALSO READ | Ten ways: How to keep your eyes healthy

Eating habits are also a factor, since, in type 2 diabetes, the number of retinopathy cases increase.With age, the possibilities of eyesight worsening increase, but WHO warned that these should not be seen as irreparable old age problems.

It is not necessary to accept the loss of vision as a natural consequence or part of the aging process, because with the appropriate treatment, there is no reason to develop a visual impairment, said Spanish doctor Alarcos Cieza, WHO coordinator of blindness and deafness prevention, who presented the report.

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Vision problems affect 2.2 billion people, warns WHO - The Indian Express

Reducing macular scarring to avoid vision loss is the aim of a new Griffith University study led by Dr Audra Shadforth from the School of Environment and Science.

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in Australia with one in seven Australians over the age of 50 showing early signs of AMD, said Dr Shadforth, who was one of three recepients awarded a research grant as part of the Macular Disease Foundation Australias Research Grants Program on World Sight Day (October 9).

The macula is responsible for our sharp central vision, the vision we use for reading, driving, and recognising faces. The eventual scar that forms in this region is the defining cause of major visual impairment in AMD.

Dr Shadforth said although anti-VEGF therapies (medicines injected into the eye on a regular basis to control abnormal blood vessel growth) had proven valuable in halting vascular symptoms experienced by some AMD patients, nearly half of eyes receiving these treatments will continue to develop blinding scars within two years.

This scar tissue distorts the macula leading to further reductions in vision.

As there are currently no treatments available to reduce or prevent the scar tissue from forming, our project will investigate the cells and mechanisms responsible for scar tissue formation under the macula, using emergent technologies and important clues from studies on human tissues capable of regenerative healing.

This study aims to inform the development of new, sustainable treatments for AMD patients.

Dr Shadforth is working with researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland and the Queensland Eye Institute on the three-year study funded by the Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA).

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Study aims to reduce macular scarring and avoid vision loss - Mirage News

DUBLIN, Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company with more than 70 years of heritage in eye care, today announced a national education campaign called My Glaucoma. The campaign is designed to help people understand the burden of living with glaucoma and empower those with the disease and their caregivers to feel comfortable speaking with their doctor about a treatment regimen that fits their lifestyle. The resources available on http://www.MyGlaucoma.com are supported by a new survey of patients living with glaucoma and eye doctors, conducted in collaboration with Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), that found more than 75 percent of patients worry about vision loss because of the disease, but nearly half consider glaucoma to be only somewhat or not serious. In fact, research published by the American Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that 27 percent of patients with glaucoma are estimated to go blind in one eye over a 10-year period.

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8584151-allergan-my-glaucoma-world-sight-day/

"Glaucoma is clearly a national health issue and one that is overlooked in favor of other diseases perceived as more critical. Given the potential for vision loss, it is increasingly important that we highlight the seriousness of glaucoma, the emotional toll it takes on those living with the disease every day and the importance of doctor-patient communication," said Thomas M. Brunner, President and CEO, Glaucoma Research Foundation. "As we mark this year's World Sight Day, we are proud to partner with Allergan to magnify this data for the general public and offer resources that help preserve people's sight."

"Our perception of glaucoma must change from one that characterizes the disease as 'part of getting old' to one that reinforces its severity and the importance of active treatment," said Ramin Valian, Vice President, Allergan Interventional Glaucoma. "Our interactive website and partnership with the eye care community and Glaucoma Research Foundation is a major step forward in ensuring patients and their caregivers feel comfortable and confident taking greater control of their glaucoma in the doctor's office and at home."

As a leader in eye care, Allergan sought to listen to the voices of patients with glaucoma and eye care professionals to put together meaningful resources that everyone living with glaucoma can benefit from. The interactive website http://www.MyGlaucoma.com offers access to videos that include perspectives from patients living with glaucoma and their caregivers, more information from the survey and patient resources, such as a conversation guide and facts about glaucoma diagnosis and treatment.

"More than 3 million Americans are estimated to be living with glaucoma. As such, it is vital patients keep an open-line of communication with their eye doctors about struggles they may be having with their glaucoma and treatment routine, as well as what they may be experiencing emotionally," said Sahar Bedrood, M.D., Ph.D., Glaucoma Specialist at Acuity Eye Group and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology. "A patient should not hold back discussing their challenges, as every piece of information can be important to customize their care and lessen the burden of the disease."

About the SurveyIn an online survey commissioned by Allergan, in collaboration with Glaucoma Research Foundation, of 500 glaucoma patients and 100 eye doctors in the United States, results showed that glaucoma takes a significant emotional toll on people with the disease, as 4 in 5 glaucoma patients admit that they worry about how their lifestyle will change as a result of the disease. Additionally, there is a need for a more proactive two-way dialogue between eye care doctors and patients, especially around treatment, as patients stated current treatment options cause disruption in their lives. Almost 9 in 10 eye doctors wish their patients would take their medication as prescribed. Specifically, 79 percent want their patients to tell them if they're struggling with it.

About GlaucomaGlaucoma is one of the primary causes of irreversible vision loss and blindness. An estimated 70 million people globally are living with glaucoma. This progressive disease is characterized by elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Uncontrolled, elevated IOP causes damage to the optic nerve and loss of vision. Reduction of elevated IOP is the only proven way to slow the progression of vision loss associated with glaucoma.

Current treatments to lower IOP include topical medications (eye drops), laser trabeculoplasty, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery and incisional surgery. Eye drop medications are the standard first-line treatment for open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, but low patient adherence to these medications is common up to 80 percent of patients are not using topical medications as prescribed. Poor adherence to glaucoma medication could result in disease progression and vision loss. According to a study published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, up to 59 percent of patients on treatment for glaucoma continue to progress, meaning they experience vision loss and damage to the optic nerve.

About Allergan Eye CareAs a leader in eye care, Allergan has discovered, developed, and delivered some of the most innovative products in the industry for more than 70 years. Allergan has launched over 125 eye care products and invested billions of dollars in new treatments for the most prevalent eye conditions including glaucoma, ocular surface disease, and retinal diseases such as diabetic macular edema and retinal vein occlusion. Our eye care pipeline includes 13 additional agents for multiple ocular conditions.

Our commitment to the well-being of patients is also reflected in social responsibility. Allergan, The Allergan Foundation and The Allergan International Foundation support more than 150 organizations around the world working to improve lives and communities. We remain steadfast in helping eye care providers deliver the best in patient care through innovative products and outreach programs.

About Allergan plcAllergan plc (NYSE:AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a global pharmaceutical leader focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world. Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products primarily focused on four key therapeutic areas including medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system and gastroenterology. As part of its approach to delivering innovation for better patient care, Allergan has built one of the broadest pharmaceutical and device research and development pipelines in the industry.

With colleagues and commercial operations located in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at http://www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking StatementStatements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; the impact of uncertainty around timing of generic entry related to key products, including RESTASIS, on our financial results; risks associated with divestitures, acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; risks related to impairments; uncertainty associated with financial projections, projected cost reductions, projected debt reduction, projected synergies, restructurings, increased costs, and adverse tax consequences; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and Allergan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2019. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS: Allergan: Investors:Manisha Narasimhan, PhD (862) 261-7162

Media: Lisa Brown (862) 261-7320

Lisa Kim(714) 246-3843

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/on-world-sight-day-allergan-launches-national-campaign-to-raise-awareness-of-the-toll-glaucoma-takes-on-everyday-living-300936174.html

SOURCE Allergan plc

Excerpt from:
On World Sight Day, Allergan Launches National Campaign to Raise Awareness of the Toll Glaucoma Takes on Everyday Living - Benzinga

New Delhi, Delhi, India: SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, on World Sight Day, reiterated its commitment to the health and wellness of the society and communities it operates in. As part of this commitment, SABIC has partnered with Rotary, Mission for Vision and United Way of Baroda, to support the large-scale comprehensive eye-care initiative They See, They Learn. The program is specifically aimed at students of government and government aided schools.

They see, they learn aims at ensuring that poor eyesight is not a reason for dropping out of school. Under the program, more than 300,000 students have been screened across 900+ Government schools in Delhi NCR, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Vadodara, with a frequency of two camps for each academic year. Over 20,000 children have been provided free spectacles while many have been referred to hospitals when in need of additional attention. SABIC aims to screen 5Lakh students in the next two years.

Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Vice President, South Asia & ANZ for SABIC said on the program, While working with these schools, we observed that government school children rarely wear spectacles as compared to private school children. This was even more noticeable among girl students. This is where SABICs They See They Learn finds its origins. At SABIC, we want to continue to focus on health and wellness of the society, and ensure this has positive impact on peoples lives. The program has come a long way since its inception and we will continue to expand on it as much as possible. We inherently believe that things like lack of spectacles should not come in the way of a quality education.

The impact of the program has been far-reaching.

Take the case of Lavanya, the youngest of three sisters of a subsistence farming family from Kudenuru village, Malur district, Karnataka. Her father Nataraj is a small farmer and just about manages to sustain his family through the year. But despite being impoverished, he has ensured that the daughters received education in the village school. Lavanya was considered one of the brightest students. However, some time when she was in the fifth standard, she started experiencing difficulty seeing the blackboard and would be forced to copy from her friends notebooks, which would disrupt the class. The teachers would reprimand her often and her grades fell sharply. During the They See They Learn screening at her school, she was identified with uncorrected refractive error and her vision (without spectacles) was noted as poor 6/60 in both eyes. After visiting the hospital for a detailed examination, she was prescribed spectacles and today her vision is improved 6/6 in both eyes. Not only have her grades improved, but her confidence is back and so is her mischievous smile.

Then there is Shashank, from village Pichanguntrahalli, the youngest of a family of four. His father Narayanaswamy, had an accident some years back and is disabled leaving him unable to work. His mother Yashodhamma and elder sister Shweta scrape through by doing odd jobs largely as agricultural laborers and domestic jobs in others households. In the fifth standard, Shashank was diagnosed with uncorrected refractive error and referred to the hospital for check-up. His teachers complained about him sitting close to the board to see the writing and taking his friends copies to note down class notes. At the hospital, Shashank was prescribed spectacles (vision without correction was 6/24 in the right eye and 6 / 60 in the left eye and with correction, his vision improved to 6/9 in right eye and 6/12 in left eye). Now he can go back to playing and watching cricket and his mother is grateful for seeing her son being his cheerful and bubbly self again.

For a long time, Ramcharan was considered shy and an introvert. During the They See, They Learn screening, he was diagnosed with cataract in his left eye (right eye was perfect). After his condition was brought to the notice of the teachers and his parents were called, it was revealed that he used to always copy down class notes from friends and he never volunteered to participate in any class activities or even in reading out to the class, when called to do so by his teachers. His parents admitted that they never had the time or the awareness to do any further medical examination and were later hesitant and afraid to take their son for surgery. After intervention of the SABIC team and by some of the community elders, whom the team asked to intervene, Ramcharan was provided with quality care at the hospital. While he did not recover complete vision, he proudly wears his spectacles now. He is at the forefront of activities and actively takes parts in class and is not shy he voluntarily comes forward to read passages from books whenever opportunity presents. His teachers say that they not only see a bright child in front of them but one who has a lot of positive attitude today.

Currently, poor vision is considered one of the worlds largest unaddressed disabilities. Data from the WHO says that globally, approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of vision impairment. Of this, around 80% is avoidable. Further, impaired vision among children translates to poorer learning outcomes as the inability to see what is written on the board, or in a book, results in motivation loss and consequently, higher drop-out numbers. In fact, similar research on primary school children in China, from last year, showed that correcting vision enables an additional average 3-6 months of schooling. In India, this is a bigger issue as school drop-out numbers are extremely alarming, especially among girls.

SABIC partners with organizations like Rotary, Mission for Vision and United Way of Baroda to conduct eye tests in collaboration with doctors/hospitals. Each program is comprehensively documented and the analysis of the data has thrown some interesting results regarding demographics among other insight. We would be keen share the detailed reports with you, should you like to peruse on the same.

SABIC has been present in India for the last 25 years and has been working to address critical local issues and challenges with a specific focus on driving quality education. As part of this program, since 2014, SABIC has adopted 10 Government schools across Gujarat and Karnataka and upgraded/renovated them, directly impacting 8,000 students.

SABICs various CSR activities include the restoration of Lake and sponsorship of a community hall in Hosahalli village near Bengaluru, Blood donation drive, tree plantation and education drives etc.

Originally posted here:
SABIC Aims to Screen 5 Lakh Students Under 'They See, They Learn' Eye Care Initiative in the Next Two Years - Business Wire India

Dr Felicity Gill

Road safety organisation GEM Motoring Assist says the current eyesight test for drivers is long out of date and not fit for purpose. GEM is calling for a detailed check of every drivers visual acuity and field of view every 10 years.

GEM road safety officer Neil Worth renewed the organisations call for the government to update driver vision laws to ensure that a detailed eye examination formed part of the driver photocard licence renewal process, every 10 years.

If you cant see properly, you shouldnt be driving, he said. Poor eyesight is linked to more than 3,000 fatal and serious injury collisions every year. We are worried that there are just too many people driving whose eyesight has deteriorated to an unacceptable level.

We believe it is entirely practical and sensible to require a test of visual acuity and field of view every 10 years, something that would fit in with licence renewal. Tests of this kind would not only make our roads safer, saving lives, disability and many millions of pounds through the reduction in the number of crashes, but they would also play a vital role valuable tool in the early diagnosis of many other costly medical conditions, irrespective of driving.

The professional perspective

GEM has been working with community optometrist Felicity Gill, who outlined the extent of the issue. Day to day, I talk both to patients concerned about their own driving experiences and also to those worried about an elderly friend or family member who is driving, she said.

Remember that driving is not just about clarity of central vision, so asking your loved one to read a number plate at 20.5 metres (67 feet) is not the best way of ensuring they are safe to continue driving.

Eye examinations are free for over 60s on a two-yearly basis or more frequently if recommended by an optometrist. They offer an opportunity for a professional to check that vision is clear enough for driving and that field of vision is sufficient using a visual fields machine. The tests offer the opportunity to identify at an early stage any eye conditions that might affect driving, and to address them if necessary.

The most common ageing change in the eye is cataract (clouding of the lens inside the eye). An optometrist is best placed to detect these and to give advice on how to live with the early stages of cataracts. If they worsen, a patient can be referred to the local eye hospital for treatment.

Other common conditions include diabetes/diabetic eye disease, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

Any condition is better detected early, as intervention can often help delay or stop it from progressing.

Responsible mobility

GEM believes that regular mandatory eyesight tests for drivers is now even more important, as so many more people are staying behind the wheel into their 80s and beyond.

There are many benefits for a driver to staying mobile as long as possible, concluded Neil Worth. However, safety must remain the number one priority for everyone.

We also cannot ignore the greater volume of traffic and the general increase in distractions, both inside and outside the vehicle, which further point to the clear need for more regular and detailed eyesight testing.

Felicity Gills practice, Jackson and Gill Opticians, is based in Hay-on-Wye

Read more from the original source:
Why being able to read a number plate just isn't good enough - FleetPoint

Maintaining good eye health is crucial for having unobstructed, clear vision, in the long run.

However, given the unhealthy environment surrounding us, fast-paced lifestyles, and bad eating habits we've developed, our eyes remain at a significant risk.

Rest assured, a healthy lifestyle and good diet can help you maintain strong eyesight.

Here are five natural ways to help improve your eyesight.

Certain vitamins, including Vitamin A, C, and E, and minerals like zinc and copper, are essential for good eyesight.

Carrots, broccoli, spinach, strawberries, and citrus fruits are great sources of all these vitamins and minerals, and green/yellow vegetables, in general, are beneficial for your eyes.

Furthermore, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, nuts etc. can also help.

Performing eye exercises regularly can go a long way in giving you good eyesight.

Rubbing, warming, gentle eye massages are a few such exercises.

Additionally, staying physically fit is important, especially if you're overweight or obese, since obesity increases the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes which, in turn, can damage the tiny blood vessels in your eyes, thus affecting eyesight.

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Enough quality rest is instrumental in maintaining good eyesight.

Sleep helps your eyes to repair and recover from the stress of the day and continued exposure to computer screens.

One should aim for sound, undisturbed, 7-9 hours of sleep each night to improve eyesight.

Frequent mini-breaks and power-naps during the workday also go a long way in providing some much-needed rest to your eyes.

When working in environments harmful for your eyes, like a laboratory or a garage, wearing appropriate protective eye-gear is a must.

Additionally, when heading out during the day, consider wearing good quality sunglasses. This will help protect your eyes from the harmful UVA and UVB radiation from sunlight.

Also, go for regular eye checkups and see if there's a need for spectacles or not.

Unhealthy lifestyle habits are also known to adversely affect eye health.

Smoking, among other harms, significantly raises your risk of developing cataract and age-related macular-degeneration.

Fortunately, however, your eyes, lungs, and other body parts start recovering from tobacco-induced damages fairly soon after you quit smoking.

So quit now, if you want yourself (and your eyes) to live a healthy and long life.

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Five simple ways to improve your eyesight - NewsBytes