Five Senses News

Eat Fish to Prevent Macular Degeneration

Two new studies give one more reason to eat a diet rich in fish: prevention of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in old age. (MSNBC)

Which Color Lense is Best For Your Sunglasses?

When picking out a pair of sunglasses this summer, it’s best to avoid blue-tinted lenses and instead to choose yellow- or amber-tinted lenses, advises an eye researcher in New York. (MSNBC)

Sunglasses a Necessity for Everyone

Prolonged exposure to UV rays can burn the surface of eyes. The cumulative effect of UV damage has been linked to vision-robbing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration later in life. (Excite)

Cancer Drug for Macular Degeneration

Wet age-related macular degeneration. It's a condition that blinds more than 1 million people in the United States. That number is expected to double by the year 2020 as baby boomers get older. But now a cancer drug is giving patients their vision back. (abclocal.go.com)

iPods and Hearing Loss

If recent reports are to be believed, those sleek iPod earbuds may carry risks beyond marking wearers as mugger-bait.

As if to rain on Apple's holiday parade -- the company reported sales of 14 million iPods in the last quarter of 2005, bringing total sales for the product to more than 42 million -- audiologists and other hearing experts have been issuing warnings in recent weeks that improper use of iPods and other personal stereo systems can dramatically heighten risk of hearing loss, particularly in young people. (Washington Post)

Age Barriers Soften for Cochlear Implants

At both ends of the age spectrum, the market for cochlear implantation is expanding.

For children, the Food and Drug Administration has lowered the age limit to one year -- it was two years in 1980 -- on the strength of studies showing early implantation aids in the development of oral communication. Richard Miyamoto, president-elect of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, has implanted kids as young as 6 months old in clinical studies. (Washington Post)

FDA Warns Against Miracle II Neutralizer Eyewash

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to use Tedco Inc.'s Miracle II Neutralizer products, saying the products have been contaminated by bacteria.

Using them could lead to infections, particularly in children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, the FDA said. (Washington Post)

I Don't Smell a Thing

There's a great first-person article in the Washington Post today written by a man who has very limited senses of smell and taste:

This is what we established on my first visit to the UConn clinic, where I spent two hours smelling bottles of diluted alcohol, trying to identify canned scents, and swishing dozens of liquids around in my mouth to rank them by their taste. The scents were a failure: Of all those placed before me, I could recognize only Vicks VapoRub. Now, that's depressing. Imagine if everything you smelled could only be categorized as either "Vicks" or "not Vicks."(Washington Post)

Smoking Linked to Late-Life Blindness

Need another reason to stop smoking? Cigarette smokers are far more likely than nonsmokers to go blind late in life, but few people are aware of the risk, new research suggests. (Fox News)

Pilots at Higher Risk for Cataracts

Researchers at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik studied 445 men aged 50 or older of whom 79 were pilots and 71 had cataracts, concluding the pilots had triple the risk of developing cataracts. (Reuters)

Deafness Gene Found

Scientists in Hong Kong and Britain have discovered a gene responsible for hearing, a breakthrough that could eventually lead to a cure for congenital deafness. (Reuters)

Lazy Eye Treatment in Older Kids

It's widely believed that children with a so-called lazy eye have to be treated quite early in life, before the brain's 'wiring' becomes fixed. However, many children who are 7 years of age or older appear to respond to treatment for amblyopia, as the condition is called, according to a new study. (Reuters)

Hearing Loss and Heart Disease

"There are a few people in the world who get heart disease after they begin to lose their hearing. Harvard Medical School researchers have found a gene responsible for this, and they're using that information to better understand heart problems faced by millions of people."

Trying to Grow Tomatoes with Better Flavor

"... Jay Scott of the University of Florida's tomato breeding program, has spent seven years studying how to improve flavor through taste tests and genetic analysis...It's not easy, he said, because so many factors influence taste, including the tomato's balance of sugar and acid. Plus, producers first want a tomato that resists diseases and ships easily."

Glaucoma - Surgery or Drops?

"In the United States, glaucoma treatment typically involves eye drops to lower the pressure inside the eye. Some British studies have shown that surgery performed in the early stages of glaucoma does a better job at bringing down the pressure."