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Researchers have discovered early signs of clinical benefit while testing niraparib, a PARP inhibitor, in patients with advanced melanoma whose tumors had specific genetic changes impacting DNA repair. The single-arm, investigator-initiated phase II trial examined the effectiveness of niraparib in a select group of patients whose disease previously progressed after standard treatment such as immunotherapy, and BRAF/MEK-targeted therapies. The U.S. FDA approved tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for advanced melanoma in patients who have previously received anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibody therapy, and if their tumors are V600 BRAF-mutant, a combination of BRAF and MEK inhibitors. "Despite these available, approved combination...

The suicide of a 26-year-old Pennsylvania police officer over the aftereffects of the popular eye surgery LASIK was not an isolated incident, with others saying the procedure left them with agonizing and life-changing symptoms, patients and doctors told The Post. LASIK providers say the procedure is 95% to 99% safe, but one LASIK survivor said she had suicidal ideations for two years after her “disastrous” surgery in 2000. She also claimed to know of at least 40 people who took their own lives because they couldn’t stand constant pain and vision problems, which developed after the procedure. “The LASIK lobby...

A young Pennsylvania police officer took his own life after he suffered from side effects caused by elective eye surgery, according to his family. Ryan Kingerski, 26, took time off from his job at the Penn Hills Police Department in August to undergo the popular eye surgery, LASIK, in hopes it would improve his vision, his grieving parents, Tim and Stefanie Kingerski, told CBS News Tuesday. However, he began suffering from painful side effects, including headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots and floaters — tiny spots that appear as streaks or cobweb-like shapes across a person’s field of vision, they...

A vitamin supplement that improves metabolism in the eye appears to slow down damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma. In glaucoma, the optic nerve is gradually damaged, leading to vision loss and, in the worst cases, blindness. High pressure in the eye drives the disease. Glaucoma researchers have long theorized the substance homocysteine is somehow relevant to understanding the disease. Now, researchers have investigated the role of homocysteine in several ways. In the current study, the researchers discovered that when rats with glaucoma were given elevated levels of homocysteine, their disease did not worsen. The researchers also found that...

The Chinese military is guilty of “irresponsible actions” toward American forces stationed at Djibouti’s Camp Lemonnier on the Horn of Africa, a senior U.S. military intelligence officer said. The home of U.S. military operations in the region and the biggest U.S. base on the continent, Camp Lemonnier is near the People’s Liberation Army’s first overseas military base, and the proximity has been a continuing source of tension. Rear Adm. Heidi Berg, director of intelligence at the U.S. Africa Command, told a small group of African-based journalists in a telephone media roundtable that China tried to “constrain international airspace” by barring...

Each hour a person spends squinting into a smartphone or staring at a screen increases their risk of nearsightedness, a new evidence review suggests. Every daily one-hour increment in digital screen time is associated with 21% higher odds of myopia, researchers report. What's more, the risk continues to increase as more time each day is spent with screens, researchers found. "Myopia risk increased significantly from one to four hours of screen time and then rose more gradually thereafter," the research team wrote. The risk of nearsightedness is doubled for people who spend four or more hours with a screen every...

With 'near time' identified as a problem, parents urged to boosting outdoor timeNew research shows the rate of myopia among children and teens worldwide has tripled over the past three decades, with a particularly steep increase noted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. A paper in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, which reviewed 276 studies published to June 2023 from around the world, concluded that more than one in three of all children and teens are nearsighted, triple what it was in 1990. "Emerging evidence suggests a potential association between the pandemic and accelerated vision deterioration among...

Drug repurposing shows promise in the treatment of retinal degenerations, according to a new study. A combination treatment incorporating three existing drugs—tamsulosin, metoprolol and bromocriptine—slowed disease progression in pre-clinical retinopathy models. Drug repurposing refers to the use of existing drugs to treat diseases or conditions that they were not originally developed or approved for. The new study focused on drug repurposing in the context of inherited retinal degenerations, IRDs. IRDs are a group of genetic diseases that cause the deterioration of retinal anatomy and function, leading to gradual loss of vision and often blindness. Most IRDs are currently inaccessible therapeutically,...

Slimmers were today warned that weight loss jabs could trigger a worrying eye condition causing blindness. Semaglutide, available as Ozempic and Wegovy, has been hailed as a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity. But according to US experts, people with diabetes prescribed semaglutide were four times more likely to be diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). And overweight or obese people taking the drugs were seven times more likely to develop the condition, known as an 'eye stroke', than those on other weight-loss medications. Researchers labelled the findings 'significant but tentative' and urged medics to warn patients...

If so, pros/cons? My eyes are getting bad as I get older. Oh, and approximate cost? I know it's a very quick procedure with a 24 hr healing period. Thank you in advance......

Despite parental warnings, modern kids can’t seem to keep away from cell phones As we know smartphones are incredibly versatile devices with a wide range of uses that make them indispensable in modern life but the impact of mobile phone usage on children is a topic of increasing concern among parents, educators and several health professionals. Today, mobile devices allow instant communication through calls, text messages, emails and various messaging apps while keeping the people at large connected regardless of their location. This enables easy communication with friends, family, colleagues and businesses. Browsing websites, searching information, accessing news, watching videos...

A team of medical researchers has found further evidence that regular consumption of melatonin reduces an older person's chances of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that often leads to blindness. In their study, the group researched case histories of 200,000 older patients looking for an association between regular consumption of melatonin and the development of AMD. Prior research has shown that as they age, many people begin to experience degeneration of the macula, a central part of the retina. Currently, approximately 11 million people in the U.S. alone are experiencing vision loss due to AMD. Medical scientists have...

I've got some mild macular degeneration (early 70s) that is making it hard to read. I've got a "pucker" on my right retina that causes some mild distortion which makes it hard to read. The images from the left and right eye don't line up perfectly anymore. My retina specialist doctor says he can operate on the retina to improve the problem, but he can't say for certain what the outcome would be. There's always a risk of any surgery and in this case it could be losing the affected eye. Also, recurrence of the problem in a few years...

Common drugs prescribed to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with an increased risk of glaucoma, a recent Canadian study found. Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that causes vision loss. Angle-closure glaucoma is a subtype that contraindicates with popular ADHD drugs. Dr. Rami Darwich, an ophthalmology resident and the study’s lead author, told The Epoch Times that the study “does not establish causation but rather highlights an elevated risk of glaucoma.” Common ADHD Drugs Many popular ADHD drugs are sympathomimetic drugs, meaning they activate the sympathetic nervous system to help people focus. However, their downstream effects can inadvertently contribute...

No matter what I try, I can't get my screen background to be a black background. I'm 74 years old with cataracts and the white background just washes out the foreground text. Is there any way to make a dark background? No matter how I change my computer settings, Freerepublic still has a white background.

Dick Bramer, 76, likes to watch birds. But for two years he couldn't see them well enough to identify the various species. Bramer suffered what doctors diagnosed as an ocular stroke (they said a small particle of plaque must have blocked blood flow to the optic nerve) in one eye. A friend happened to tell about Low Vision Restoration in Blaine, Minnesota. Optometrist Chris Palmer prescribes devices that can help improve people's vision when other glasses can't. Palmer fitted Bramer with the devices, which are like miniature binoculars or telescopes affixed to regular glasses. Bramer tried them out and suddenly...

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form, and yet the cause of this disease is poorly understood. Findings from previous genome-wide association studies suggest that there is a complex metabolic network that affects optic nerve health. Researchers aimed to identify plasma metabolites associated with risk of developing POAG in a case-control study nested within the prospective Nurses' Health Studies and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. This study included 599 participants who developed POAG and 599 matched controls and examined pre-diagnostic circulating plasma metabolites from approximately 10 years before POAG...

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...

The startup, Mojo Vision, showed off a very early prototype in meetings at CES last week and is now ready to start talking about the product’s development. Mojo Vision hopes to first create a smart contact lens that can assist people with low vision by displaying enhanced overlays of the world, sharpening details or zooming in to help them see. But that reality seems to be a ways away. The prototype shown at CES included a green, monochromatic display that was wired to a large battery, and the company still needs to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration...

Do any of you suffer from "floaters" in your eyes? I'm finding it increasingly difficult with my vision. Is there a remedy for this? I have noticed that my vision has deteriorated significantly the past few years. Just want some input.