8 DAYS IS MAGIC NUMBER FOR MACULA-OFF REATTACHMENT

Medwire News reported a new study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology that investigated the relationship between visual acuity improvement post macula-off reattachment surgery and the time between retina detachment and reattachment surgery.  They discovered:

 Individuals who have a macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) for up to 8 days before being treated can expect continued improvement in their visual acuity (VA) for up to a year after reattachment surgery, show study results.Conversely, those who have the condition for more than 8 days before being treated will only see an improvement in VA up to 6 weeks postsurgery.

CATARACT SURGERY MAY NOT INCREASE RISK OF AMD PROGRESSION

Here is a quote from a report on a study in the November issue of Ophthalmology:

 Susan Bressler, MD, of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, gave a review of the literature on the relationship during the briefing, concluding that she doesn't "believe there's clear evidence that AMD eyes are at a clinically important increase in risk of progression to advanced disease following cataract surgery."
"I think all individuals with AMD should be counseled about the risk of progression, whether they have surgery or not," Bressler said. "And those looking at cataract surgery for vision rehabilitation can generally be reassured that there's no significant increase in risk that their AMD will progress because of the intervention of cataract surgery."

GENE THERAPY FOR COLOR BLINDNESS

This article in the Wall Street Journal states:

A cure for colorblindness might be in the offing. Vision scientist Jay Neitz and his colleagues at the University of Washington are building on their 2009 breakthrough in which they restored red-green vision in two colorblind squirrel monkeys by inserting the missing gene into a virus and injecting it into their retinas. Four years later, the monkeys, Sam and Dalton, still pass daily vision tests, identifying colors on a computer screen correctly. They also have a newfound liking for green M&M's, Dr. Neitz says.
He and his colleagues are working on a similar therapy for humans, but many hurdles remain. "We know it's effective. The issue is whether it's safe," says Dr. Neitz

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FACTORS IN INCREASING AXIAL LENGTH

Interesting study in Ophthalmology that concludes:

Less outdoor activity, more indoor studying, older age, maternal myopia, and urban region of habitation were associated with longer ocular axial length and myopia in grade 1 and grade 4 primary school children in Greater Beijing. Remaining outdoors more (e.g., during school) may reduce the high prevalence of myopia in the young generation in Beijing