Alkahest Inc. has reported that AKST4290, an oral medication for treatment of wet AMD, was shown in trials to be safe, effective, and “extremely promising”. Speaking at the 2019 Retina World Congress, Michael Stewart, MD (Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville), reported that 83% of subjects’ eyes had improved acuity of a mean 7+ letters, and 21% gained [Read More]
Author: Dan Roberts
Musings on Growing Old
by Dan Roberts I’ve become an absent-minded, decrepit, sleep-deprived, unfit, anti-social, wrinkled image of my former self. For one thing, I’m forgetting words mid-sentence. My listeners usually suggest a few words until either they either lose interest or hit upon a good substitute, at which time I forget what I was talking about anyway. Then [Read More]
New Eye Scan Can Detect Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
Eye exams may soon serve a larger purpose than detecting vision changes. Because the retina is an extension of the brain and shares many similarities with the brain, researchers believe that the deterioration in the retina may mirror the changes going on in the blood vessels in the brain, thereby offering a window into the [Read More]
Announcing “Lookout” AI App for Android
Google has created a new Android app to help the visually impaired. Similar to Microsoft’s Seeing AI for Apple devices, the application, named Lookout, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify objects, read text, scan barcodes, and identify currencies. It is available to download though only for Google’s Pixel devices in the U.S. at this time. It is not clear [Read More]
First Gene Therapy for AMD Performed
Researchers at the University of Oxford have carried out the world’s first gene therapy operation to tackle the root cause of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). An 80-year-old woman with AMD is the first of ten people to receive the treatment. The procedure was carried out at the John Radcliffe Hospital by Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor [Read More]