Category Archives: Retinitis Pigmentosa

Glasses for Macular Degeneration: Low Vision Specialists of Maryland and Virginia #5 We prescribe and design special glasses for Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, Stargardt's Disease, and Retinitis Pigmentosa. As a member of The Int... By: Thomas Azman … Continue reading →

CHRIS PEDOTA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan of Bogota with his wife, Lorraine, at a rally on Saturday at the New Egypt Speedway. CHRIS PEDOTA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Steve Lonegan is also capable of pulling in support from national figures, including an appearance by former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday. Some people can point to a moment when their life changed and they embarked on a new path. For Steve Lonegan, the conservative Republican running for U.S. Senate in Wednesdays special election, that moment arrived about two years after he graduated from college. It was 1982. Lonegan was legally blind a final diagnosis after years of deteriorating vision from retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye condition he had been battling since he was 16. He could not find a job, he said. His only income was a Social Security disability check. He felt like a failure or, as he described his predicament recently, trapped in the entitlement state. So, he said, he canceled his disability checks. What may seem reckless and irresponsible to some was, to Lonegan, a sign of personal independence. It was also a sign of things to come. Lonegan eventually jumped into … Continue reading →

Injuries have prevented blind cyclist Craig Aucoin from continuing his cross-Canada ride but they did not end his dream. Aucoin and sighted partner Lloyd McLean left St. Johns Nfld. Aug. 4 for a planned 85-day, 8,260-kilometre bicycle tour however separate incidents even before they reached Nova Scotia, curtailed his quest. Since then, Bob MacDonald, who suffers from the same condition (retinitis pigmentosa) which left Aucoin legally blind, has taken up the rear seat on the tandem, recumbent cycle. The terrain in Newfoundland was very challenging, a lot of big hills and it was unfortunate about Craig but it is what it is, said McLean in a recent telephone interview from Suffield, Alta., just east of Calgary. But the trip itself has been great and everywhere we go the response we get from the people is wonderful. But as we get closer to the end and we can feel the end coming, it is exciting and hard to believe how many experiences weve had over the last two months. The pair were preparing for their crossing of the Rocky Mountains and are expecting to be in Penticton for a meet and greet Friday, Oct. 18, at about 9:30 a.m. at Home … Continue reading →

Retinitis Pigmentosa: Almost normal vision after 12 months treatment For more information, or to book an appointment, please contact us: tel:1-877-737-7876 toll free (Canada and US only) 1-604-737-7876 (International) e-mail: ... By: Weidong Yu … Continue reading →

The Low Vision Exam: Low Vision Specialists of Maryland and Virginia #3: Low Vision Specialists of MD and VA help those with Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, Stargardt's Disease, and Retinitis Pigmentosa by providing a ... By: Thomas Azman … Continue reading →

Washington, Oct. 9 (ANI): A new study has claimed to have found the link between patient's urine to gene mutations that cause retinitis pigmentosa, or RP, an inherited, degenerative disease that results in severe vision impairment and often blindness. Ziqiang Guan, an associate research professor of biochemistry in the Duke University Medical School and a contributing author of the study, and his collaborators had previously sequenced the genome of this family and found that the children with RP carry two copies of a mutation at the dehydrodolichol diphosphate synthase (DHDDS) gene, which makes the enzyme that synthesizes organic compounds called dolichols. In humans, dolichol-19, containing 19 isoprene units, is the most abundant species. The DHDDS mutation, which was found in 2011, is the latest addition to more than 60 gene mutations that have been implicated in RP. This mutation appears to be prevalent in RP patients of the Ashkenazi Jewish origin, and 1 in 322 Ashkenazi carries one copy of the mutation. Guan said that he knew from his previous experience in analyzing urine samples from liver disease patients that I can readily detect dolichols by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Using these techniques, he analyzed urine and blood samples … Continue reading →

A bionic eye may soon help give some sight back to people who lost their vision due to a degenerative eye disease. The Argus II by Second Sight, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in February, is set to hit the U.S. market soon. Specifically, the bionic eye can help people who suffer from retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that destroys the photoreceptor cells in the eye's retina. The retina is the tissue layer at the back of the inner eye responsible for converting images to nerve signals which are then sent to the brain. When the cells are damaged, the person cannot perceive light and dark. About 1 in every 4,000 people has the disease, according to government estimates. To restore light and dark vision, a chip containing many electrodes is implanted on the patient's retina. The patient wears a pair of glasses with a video camera attached to it. The camera wirelessly sends the recorded image to the electrodes in the chip, which then turns the information into a signal that the brain can understand. Dr. Jacque Duncan, a professor of ophthalmology at UCSF, explained to CNET's Sumi Das that the device allows the patient … Continue reading →

NEW GLASGOW Bob MacDonald and Lloyd McLean are excited to get some company on the last leg of their Craig Gives Back tour. Lloyd McLean and Craig Aucoin. Vision Fire Studios Craig Aucoin, the original cyclist with the tour who was injured early on, along with MacDonalds wife Laureen and McLeans wife Andrea, will be joining the Lyons Brook men in late-October for the last three days of the journey. Craig is going to join us in Vancouver and I will get a bike somewhere and finish out the last leg with them, said MacDonald during a break from the tour in Calgary on Friday. Aucoin, with Laureen and Andrea, will fly out this month and plans are still being made for them each to have their bicycle when they arrive. MacDonald joined the Craig Gives Back tour in mid-August after Aucoin suffered an injury to his ankle and knee while cycling in Newfoundland with Lloyd McLean. Aucoin was expected to be back on the bike when it left Pictou County in mid-August, but he broke his wrist during another fall. MacDonald is partially sighted and like Aucoin; he also has retinitis pigmentosa. MacDonald said he is looking forward to … Continue reading →

Photo: Reuters Leading Indian pharma company Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Tuesday (October 1), announced the formation of a joint venture with Intrexon Corp in the US, a leader in synthetic biology, to develop controllable gene-based therapies for the treatment of ocular diseases that cause partial or total blindness. According to a press release from Sun Pharma, the joint venture will initially focus on "dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa." Intrexon and Sun Pharma will share both the financing of, and the revenues from, the joint venture. The companies will use the existing skill sets of both the companies. Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of Sun Pharma, said: "We believe Intrexon's biotechnology capabilities will enable us to develop not one, but several highly effective, novel treatments for multiple ocular disorders where there is currently an unmet need. Through this partnership, it is our goal to provide relief for millions of people who today have very few treatment options and little hope of preserving their vision." More: Sun Pharma inks joint venture with Intrexon … Continue reading →

Four new pre-clinical drug development projects at the National Institutes of Health will target a form of blindness and diseases characterized by cardiac problems. The projects were selected for their potential to treat specific rare diseases and to help scientists uncover new information that can be shared with other researchers. The studies will be funded through the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program at the NIHs National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). This group of projects also marks the TRND programs first use of stem cells as well as its first collaboration with a large pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, to co-develop a treatment for a rare disease. TRND is grounded in partnerships with academic, government, pharmaceutical and patient advocacy groups. Working in collaboration, scientists conduct pre-clinical development of new drugs and then advance them to first-in-human clinical trials, said NCATS Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D. Like all NCATS programs, TRND seeks to develop new technologies and more efficient paradigms for translation, in the context of important unmet medical needs. Two projects employ therapeutic approaches to developing a treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe form of hereditary blindness. A third project focuses on a potential treatment for hypoparathyroidism, … Continue reading →