The human eye lens consists of a highly concentrated mix of several proteins. Protective proteins prevent these proteins from aggregating and clumping. If this protective function fails, the lens blurs and the patient develops cataracts.

Statin medications are used to lower patients' cholesterol levels, thus helping prevent coronary heart disease, stroke and other deaths related to high cholesterol levels.

Current research suggests that melatonin therapy may help treat uveitis, a common inflammatory eye disease. The related report by Sande et al., "Therapeutic Effect of Melatonin in Experimental Uveitis," appears in the December issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Children who screen positive for amblyopia, reduced vision in one eye, before age 2 appear to have better visual outcomes than those whose vision problems are detected during screenings between ages 2 and 4, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness—age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy—can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study.

Scientists have developed a potentially powerful new tool in the fight against deficiencies in dietary vitamin A, which cause eye diseases, including blindness, in 40 million children annually, and increased health risks for about 250 million people, mostly in developing countries.

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have discovered a simple and inexpensive way for patients with retinal and other eye disease to keep track of changes in their vision loss.

Researchers found that certain mutations enable specific cells in the retina to multiply and cause eye cancer, a finding that suggests deliberate genetic manipulations might coax an injured brain to repair itself

High blood levels of C-reactive protein, a substance linked to inflammation, appear to be associated with an increased risk for age-related macular degeneration, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Consuming higher levels of the yellow plant pigments lutein and zeaxanthin may be associated with a lower risk for age-related macular degeneration, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Gamma globulin, a type of antibody isolated from blood samples that used to be routinely given to health care workers and international travelers to protect them from infectious diseases, is a highly effective treatment for pinkeye with little apparent toxicity, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

An organisation representing people with eye diseases is warning that more than 100,000 people could be driving with partial blindness and not know it.