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The next time you're sipping your favorite hot beverage, consider what it Dr. Lisa Zhuoting Zhu has found a positive link between coffee and tea consumption and the thickness of our macular retinal nerve fiber layer. The macula is the central part of the retina at the back of the eye that gives us sharp central vision. The retinal nerve fiber layer is a thin layer of nerve cells that transmit visual information from the eye to the brain. "Our findings indicate if we consume two to three cups of coffee or more than four cups of tea per day,...

It could signal a new era in the treatment of age-related diseases. Anew gene therapy that reprograms cells to their younger state reversed vision loss in primates, according to a new study — potentially signaling a new era in the treatment of age-related diseases. The challenge: Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is a condition caused by decreased blood flow to the optic nerve, resulting in sudden, significant, and usually permanent loss of vision in the eye. Scientists aren’t sure what causes NAION, but most of the 6,000 Americans diagnosed with it every year are over the age of 50....

(CNN) - Recalled eye drops have been linked to dozens of dangerous infections and at least one death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified 68 patients in 16 states with infections from Global Pharma Healthcare’s Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops. The artificial tears, distributed by Ezricare and Delsam Pharma, were first recalled in February. According to the CDC, patients were infected by a rare strain of drug-resistant bacteria never before reported in the U.S. Eight patients reported losing vision, and four had to have eyeballs surgically removed. One person died. The CDC says anyone who has used Ezricare...

The Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday of another imported eye product that could be contaminated with bacteria, in the wake of an outbreak earlier this year of highly drug-resistant bacteria that hospitalized and blinded some patients. Americans should stop using Delsam Pharma's Artificial Eye Ointment, the FDA says, an over-the-counter product manufactured by Global Pharma Healthcare Private Limited. The company has agreed to recall the product. It's the same manufacturer behind the EzriCare and Delsam Pharma artificial tears products that were already recalled earlier this year. The FDA had faulted the company for multiple violations and banned imports into...

The CDC has urged several doctors and patients to stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears as it has been linked to 50 bacteria-resistant infections and one death in 11 states, according to a report. Most of the people infected said they used artificial tears, with EzriCare being the most reported brand. EzriCare drops are preservative-free and don’t have any ingredients that prevent bacterial infections from occurring. “CDC recommends that clinicians and patients immediately discontinue the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears until the epidemiological investigation and laboratory analyses are complete,” said the report.

Public health authorities are investigating an outbreak of bacterial infections across the United States caused by over-the-counter eyedrops contaminated with a rare “extensively drug-resistant” bacterial superbug. At least 68 patients in 16 states are suffering from severe side effects after using Artificial Tear eyedrops that were infected with a rare strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday. Last month, Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops, a product used to lubricate dry eyes, was recalled by its manufacturer Global Pharma Healthcare. The drops were distributed by EzriCare and Delsam Pharma and sold at drug stores...

Eyedrops from EzriCare and Delsam Phama were recalled .... As of March 14, a reported 68 patients in 16 states have been infected with this 'rare strain' of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, according to an update by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops that were distributed by EzriCare and Delsam Pharma last month. The drops had been sold at drug stores across the country, including Walmart, Target, and CVS, and on Amazon, though the products have since been pulled.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that consumers and health care providers immediately stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears as it investigates a "multistate cluster" of infections that testing has linked to the eye drops. At least one death has been associated with the infections. Infections have been found in 50 patients in 11 states, the CDC said, adding that most of them had used artificial tears and that the mostly commonly used brand was Ezricare. Results in some patients included "permanent vision loss resulting from ocular infection, hospitalization and [the] death of one patient with bloodstream infection,"...

Dietary nitrate intake is associated with a lower risk for progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study. Geoffrey K. Broadhead, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues examined the association between dietary nitrate intake and AMD progression using data from the prospective Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and AREDS2 randomized clinical trial cohorts and extended follow-up studies. Data were included for 7,788 participants in the combined AREDS/AREDS2 cohort, with 13,511 eligible eyes. The researchers found that in the combined AREDS/AREDS2 cohort, dietary nitrate intake was associated...

New research shows that a treatment for retinal vein occlusion yields long-lasting vision gains, with visual acuity remaining significantly above baseline at five years. However, many patients require ongoing treatment. Retinal vein occlusion is one of the most common blinding conditions in the United States; without treatment, central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), the most severe type of retinal vein occlusion often leads to significant and permanent vision loss. Retinal vein occlusion is caused by a blockage of the veins carrying blood away from the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The most effective treatment, injections of...

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez interceded on behalf of an Ecuadorian woman who was banned from traveling to the U.S. because of allegations she had engaged in visa fraud. The woman, Estafania Isaias, is the daughter of a fugitive from Ecuador convicted in absentia for bank fraud and whose relatives in Florida made significant campaign donations to the New Jersey Democrat's 2012 campaign and the Democratic Party. Current and former U.S. government officials tell NBC 4 New York that Estefania Isaias was barred from traveling to the U.S. in 2007 because she allegedly lied on visa applications to bring immigrant...

A bionic eye firm that went out of business following the onset of COVID-19 has left people using their retinal technology blind if the implants malfunction The firm, LA-based Second Sight, discontinued its implant hardware in 2019, and reportedly let go of it's staff in the early months of the pandemic in 2020 It's 350-plus worldwide patients were then left with obsolete and unsupported retinal implants The hardware cost about $500,000 per patient in total, with 80 percent covered by insurance Barbara Campbell's Argus II retinal implant system stopped working as she made her way to transfer trains during rush...

A quick and pain-free scan of the human eyeball could one day help doctors identify 'fast agers', who are at greater risk of early mortality. Getting older obviously has an impact on everybody's body, but just because two people have the same number of years under their belt doesn't mean they are physically declining at the same rate. Looking deep into a person's eyes could be a far better way to measure their true biological age, and this could provide a glimpse into the future health of patients. A machine learning model has now been taught to predict a person's...

A total of 280 patients presenting 280 eyes were enrolled and received a series of ocular examinations. Each of our specially designed capsules contained 190 mg bromelain, 95 mg papain and 95 mg ficin. Results: In Experiment 1, 80 subjects with one SVO (symptomatic vitreous opacity, or “eye floater”) were reduced to 24 cases (30.0%; 24/80), 40 participants with multiple SVOs were decreased to 11 cases (27.5%; 11/40) three months later. In Experiment 2, the numbers of patients with SVOs in the placebo group was similar after three months. The disappeared rates of SVOs by treatment with fruit enzymes was...

Just three minutes of exposure to deep red light once a week, when delivered in the morning, can significantly improve declining eyesight, finds a pioneering new study by UCL researchers. In summary, researchers found there was, on average, a 17% improvement in participants' color contrast vision when exposed to three minutes of 670 nanometre (long wavelength) deep red light in the morning and the effects of this single exposure lasted for at least a week. However, when the same test was conducted in the afternoon, no improvement was seen. In humans around 40 years old, cells in the eye's retina...

SAN ANTONIO -- Face masks became seeded "almost instantaneously" with oral and nasopharyngeal bacteria, posing a potential risk of spread to the eyes during intravitreal injections for macular degeneration, according to a study reported here. Masks for all 73 patients involved in the study tested positive for a variety of common organisms, as well as some uncommon microbes. Bacteria grew on both sides of masks, irrespective of mask material age. [cut] "We didn't find a correlation between mask age and inside or outside growth, which suggests [other evidence] that even within a few hours of wearing a mask, you can...

HEALTH bosses have confirmed they are facing an outbreak of the “eye-bleeding fever” after four people died of the suspected disease in weeks. Uganda’s health ministry has today finally admitted it is facing the risk of a large-scale explosion of the viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). VHF causes victims to suffer a burning fever before beginning to bleed from orifices including their eyes, anuses and mouths. It comes after a girl, nine, was reportedly killed by the infection Uganda, and three people died in neighbouring South Sudan of similar symptoms. Uganda health minster Sarah Opendi confirmed emergency response teams are now...

Beneath the mild-mannered facade of a regular, everyday voice assistant, Alexa has an alter-ego -- a crime-fighter, you could say -- that can be summoned with the flip of a toggle found deep within your Amazon Echo Show's device settings. The setting is called Home Monitoring and it can transform your otherwise milquetoast smart display into a bad-guy halting security camera. (Bad guys not included.) Okay, so Home Monitoring may not be the stuff of superhero origin stories, but it's still pretty nifty as long as you don't need a lot of advanced security camera features. It doesn't record video...

Paul McCartney revealed the “eye yoga” he’s practiced for decades, saying it's the reason he still didn’t need glasses at the age of 78. The former Beatle said he discovered the exercises in India, where a yogi explained the reasoning to him. “He explained that your eyes are muscles whereas your ears aren’t, so you can’t exercise your ears,” McCartney noted on a recent episode of Table Manners With Jessie Ware. “But your eyes, you can.” He went on to explain how this works: “So, head still, and then you look up as far as you can – one, two,...