RxPG News : Cataract

Kuwaiti surgeon develops new method to treat cataract

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:04:19 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Dubai, Oct 18 - A Kuwaiti eye specialist has invented a process by which cataracts can be treated with a rentiscope without going for the complex option of retina transplant.

Khaled Al-Sabti, head of the retina ward in the Al-Bahar Eye Centre in Kuwait, told the official Kuwait News Agency - that his invention would spare eye cataract patients the time and money consuming process of retina transplant.

He claimed that his process improved the eyesight of his patients by 40 to 60 percent.

Al Sabti's invention has been recorded in the British Journal of Opthalmology.

Elaborating on the process, he said that in conventional surgeries of the retina, the eyesight starts to improve six months after the operation, but in many cases, bodies of the patients reject the transplanted retina.

The surgeon said he applied his innovative medical technique on nine patients, aged between 50 and 74, which helped improve their condition noticeably.

He said he would present his breakthrough method in scientific conferences and events in Canada and the US over the next month.

Kuwait's Health Minister Ali Al-Barrak Saturday praised Al-Sabti for the innovation.

Al-Barrak, in his statement, also urged other Kuwaiti doctors to follow the new method for overall promotion of national medical services.

Vitamin supplementation may slow down cataract development

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 22:01:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Age-related cataract, the world's leading cause of blindness, affects more than 20 million Americans over the age of 40 years. Surgical correction is currently the only known option for intervention, but researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University recently sought, in three different studies, to determine if prevention is possible. Their findings suggest that vitamins and polyunsaturated fatty acids--two categories of nutrients believed to have health benefits--may both affect cataract development, although not necessarily in beneficial ways.

In one study, lead scientist Paul Jacques, DSc, director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Program at the Center, and his colleagues analyzed the diets and examined the eyes of a group of Boston-area women over the course of five years. Among the study participants, who were all members of the larger Nurses' Health Study, women who reported supplementing their diets with vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant) for 10 years or more had significantly less progression of cataract development at the five-year follow-up exam. A similar relative decrease in cataract progression was seen in women who reported higher intakes of two of the B vitamins, riboflavin and thiamin, when compared to women with lower intakes.

"Our results," says Jacques, who is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, "suggest that vitamin supplementation, particularly long-term use of vitamin E, may slow down cataract development." These results build upon some of Jacques' earlier work. In 2001, while examining the same group of Nurses' Health Study members, Jacques and his colleagues found support for a similar role for vitamin C in the prevention of cataracts.

"On the other hand," says Jacques, "the results were not so clear when we looked at dietary fat." In the same population of women, Jacques and his colleagues found that high dietary intake of either or both an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) found in sunflower, safflower, corn, and soybean oils, and an omega-3 PUFA found in canola, flaxseed, and soybean oils, may increase the risk of developing cataracts in one of the three lens locations examined. The results of this study, which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are not consistent, however, with findings of other studies on the relationship between PUFAs and cataracts. In a study that was recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Jacques and colleagues observed that higher overall fat intake increased the risk of cataract development or progression, while omega-3 fatty acids, in particular the types found in dark-fleshed fish, appeared to contribute to the prevention of cataract formation.

"The results of these studies provide added support for a relationship between nutrient intake and cataracts," says Jacques. However, since there is inconsistency among studies of fat intake and cataracts, he cautions that more research is needed. Jacques adds, "finding ways to delay age-related cataract formation through diet, or even through supplementation, would enhance the quality of life for many older people, but many questions regarding the role of diet in cataract prevention remain unanswered."

FDA approves TECNIS(R) foldable acrylic intraocular lens

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 20:32:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (AMO) , today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the TECNIS(R) intraocular lens (IOL) on an acrylic platform.

The TECNIS(R) foldable acrylic IOL offers surgeons and their patients the same unique benefits as the TECNIS(R) silicone IOL. AMO is the only company to market IOLs with a claim approved by the FDA for reduced spherical aberration and improved functional vision.

"FDA approval of the TECNIS(R) acrylic IOL marks an important milestone for AMO because it represents the first approved product that combines the outstanding optical technology from our 2004 acquisition of the Pfizer ophthalmic surgical business, with our existing advanced IOL materials expertise," said AMO President and CEO Jim Mazzo. "This FDA approval broadens our portfolio of acrylic IOLs, providing more options for our customers and their patients."

Visual performance degrades with age, including a loss of functional vision, which is caused by an increase in the optical aberration of the eye that may result in difficulty seeing in low light conditions. Cataract patients with reduced functional vision may be challenged driving at dusk or at night, experience trouble reading or doing work at close range, or lack confidence navigating stairs or unfamiliar settings. The TECNIS(R) lens reduces spherical aberration and improves functional vision in varying light conditions, which is likely to provide a meaningful safety benefit for older drivers and pedestrians with whom they share the road.

In a simulated night driving study, patients viewing a rural road through the TECNIS(R) lens identified a pedestrian hazard significantly sooner than through a traditional spherical IOL. The TECNIS(R) lens also provided a 45-foot advantage in detection and identification distance. At 55 MPH, this would provide an additional 0.5 seconds to perceive and react to a pedestrian hazard.

AMO plans to release the TECNIS(R) foldable acrylic IOL commercially in the U.S. and Europe in September 2005.

About the TECNIS(R) IOL

The eyes, like other parts of the body, actually fall out of balance with age. The cornea and natural crystalline lens of a young person work together to focus light onto the retina. Over time, the natural lens loses some of its ability to balance the cornea, resulting in vision that is not quite as crisp as it used to be. Typical cataract surgery restores cornea/lens balance to a level equivalent to that of a healthy older person. The TECNIS(R) lens implant restores the cornea/lens balance to a level more like that of a healthy younger person. While most IOLs are made with a spherical (rounded) surface, the TECNIS(R) lens is an aspheric wavefront-designed optic. This design was developed by collecting actual wavefront measurements from human corneas of a representative sample of the population. Then, a modified prolate intraocular lens surface was created that reduces spherical aberration and works with the cornea in a way that more closely resembles the balance of a natural lens and cornea of a young person. The result is improved functional vision for most people after cataract surgery.

TECNIS(R) foldable intraocular lenses are indicated for primary implantation for the visual correction of aphakia in adults in whom a cataractous lens has been removed by phacoemulsification. The lenses are intended to be placed in the capsular bag. Rx Only. For a complete listing of precautions, warnings and adverse events, refer to the package insert.

Cosmic radiation associated with risk of cataract in airline pilots

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:07:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Airline pilots have an increased risk of nuclear cataracts [common type of cataract, associated with aging] compared with non-pilots, and that risk is associated with cumulative exposure to cosmic radiation, according to a study in the August issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Commercial airline pilots are reported to be at an increased risk for some cancers, but studies on the biological effects of their exposure to cosmic radiation have been limited, according to background information in the article. Previous studies have shown that cataracts can be caused by exposure to radiation, including a recent study of astronauts showing an association of incidence of cataracts with space radiation at exposure levels comparable to those of commercial airline pilots.

Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, and colleagues conducted a case control study involved 445 men to determine whether employment as a pilot is associated with lens opacification. The cases included 71 men with nuclear cataract, and the controls (n = 374) were those men with different types of lens opacification or without lens opacification. Among the 445 men, 79 were commercial pilots and 366 had never been pilots. All participants in the study were 50 years or older and other factors that contribute to cataract risk, including smoking, age and sunbathing, were controlled for in the statistical analysis. Exposure to cosmic radiation was assessed based on employment time as pilots, annual number of hours flown on each aircraft type, time tables, flight profiles and individual cumulative radiation doses calculated by computer.

Among the 71 cases with nuclear cataract, 15 were employed as commercial pilots, whereas among the 374 controls (without nuclear cataract), 64 were employed as pilots.

"The odds ratio for nuclear cataract risk among cases and controls was 3.02 for pilots compared with nonpilots, adjusted for age, smoking status, and sunbathing habits," the researchers report. The researchers found an association between the estimated cumulative radiation dose and the risk of nuclear cataract.

"The association between the cosmic radiation exposure of pilots and the risk of nuclear cataracts, adjusted for age, smoking status, and sunbathing habits, indicates that cosmic radiation may be a causative factor in nuclear cataracts among commercial airline pilots," the authors conclude.