Month: May 2013

People with Type 2 diabetes who have obstructive sleep apnoea[1] (OSA) are more at risk of losing their sight due to severe retinopathy[2], as well as foot problems and possible amputation because of neuropathy[3], according to new research.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham[4][5] looked at 231 people with Type 2 diabetes of whom 149 had OSA, a sleep disorder caused by disturbed breathing. They found there were twice as many people with severe retinopathy (48 per cent) in the group with OSA compared to the group without OSA (20 per cent). Retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the UK’s working-age population.

In a separate study, the researchers found that OSA was also linked to neuropathy. They looked at 230 people with Type 2 diabetes of whom 148 had OSA. They found that 60 per cent of the group with OSA had neuropathy compared to 22 per cent in the group without OSA.

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said: “We already know that there is a high prevalence of OSA in people with Type 2 diabetes. However, this is the first time that the link between OSA and retinopathy and neuropathy in people with Type 2 diabetes has been examined. This research suggests that if someone with Type 2 diabetes also has this sleeping disorder they are more at risk of developing these serious complications compared to someone with the condition who does not have OSA.

“As being overweight is a risk factor for both OSA and Type 2 diabetes, this is yet another reason to highlight the importance of good weight management through a healthy diet and regular physical activity. In people with Type 2 diabetes, the increasing severity of OSA is associated with poorer blood glucose control and the treatment of sleep disorders (in this case by losing weight) has the potential to improve diabetes control and energy levels.”

In both studies, the association between OSA and the two diabetes complications in people with Type 2 diabetes was independent of age, gender, ethnicity, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, smoking and cholesterol.

Dr Abd Tahrani, who led the research, said: “Our work highlights several important issues. Our results emphasised what is already known – that OSA is very common in patients with Type 2 diabetes, much higher than OSA prevalence in the general population. Furthermore, our results suggest that OSA is not an innocent bystander in patients with Type 2 diabetes and might contribute to morbidities associated with this condition. Whether OSA treatment has any impact on these complications will need to be determined”

There are around 3.3 million people with Type 2 diabetes in the UK including an estimated 850,000 people who have the condition and are not aware of it. In the UK, it is estimated that around four in 100 middle-aged men and two in 100 middle-aged women have OSA.

Notes

1. Obstructive sleep apnoea(OSA) is a condition that causes interrupted breathing during sleep. The onset of OSA is most common in people aged 35 to 54 years old, although it can affect people of all ages, including children. The condition often goes undiagnosed. Only one in four people with obstructive sleep apnoea are diagnosed with the condition.

2. Neuropathy is nerve damage and a long term complication of diabetes.Neuropathy can lead to foot ulcers and slow-healing wounds which, if they become infected, can result in amputation.

3. Obstructive sleep apnoea and sight threatening retinopathy: A novel association in patients with Type 2 diabetes A A Tahrani1,2, A Ali3, S Begum3, P Galsworthy2,4, H Wharton2,4, D Banerjee3, S Taheri1,2, A H Barnett1,2, M J Stevens1,2, P M Dodson2,4 1Centre of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 2Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK 3The Biomedical Unit, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK 4Heart of England Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Centre of Excellence, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK. P158, Diabetic Medicine: Abstracts of the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference (30 March to 1 April 2011), Volume 28, supplement 1. Published by Wiley-Blackwell. Both studies were presented at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference 2011.

4. Obstructive sleep apnoea is independently associated with peripheral neuropathy in patients with Type 2 diabetes A Tahrani1,2, A Ali3, S Begum3, K Dubb1, S Mughal3, M Piya1,2, B Jose3, D Banerjee3, S Taheri1,2, AH Barnett1,2, MJ Stevens1,2. P114, Diabetic Medicine: Abstracts of the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference (30 March to 1 April 2011), Volume 28, supplement 1. Published by Wiley-Blackwell.

5. Diabetes UK is the leading charity for over 3.5 million people in the UK with diabetes In 2011, Diabetes UK aims to spend over ??6 million on diabetes research to investigate the causes and prevention of diabetes, to improve care and treatment of diabetes and ultimately to work towards a cure. For more information visit www.diabetes. In the UK, there are currently 2.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes and it is estimated that 850,000 people have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it.

6. Type 2 diabetes develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). Insulin acts as a key unlocking the cells, so if there is not enough insulin, or it is not working properly, the cells are only partially unlocked (or not at all) and glucose builds up in the blood. Type 2 diabetes accounts for between 85 and 95 per cent of all people with diabetes, usually affects people over 40 (over 25 in people from South Asian and Black backgrounds) and is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required. In most cases the condition is linked with being overweight and can go undetected for up to ten years meaning around 50 per cent of people show signs of complications by the time they are diagnosed.

7. Type 1 diabetes develops when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40 and is the least common of the two main types and accounts for around 10 per cent of all people with diabetes. Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, it is not known why it develops and it is not connected with being overweight. People with Type 1 diabetes have to take insulin either via a pump or by injections several times a day to stay alive.

Source:
Diabetes UK

Federal regulatory agencies have accepted recommendations of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) for two methods that can reduce live animal use for ocular safety testing, the committee announced. ICCVAM is a permanent interagency committee composed of representatives from 15 federal regulatory and research agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that use, generate or disseminate toxicology testing information.

The two alternative test methods, the bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) assay and the isolated chicken eye (ICE) assay, do not involve the use of live animals. These are the first scientifically valid alternative methods to gain regulatory acceptance for ocular safety testing.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concurred with the ICCVAM recommendations for the BCOP and ICE tests. CPSC will now accept these tests instead of the conventional ocular toxicity test for the purpose of classification for labeling under the Federal Hazardous Substance Act (15 U.S.C. 1261-1278).

“Based on an extensive database of product test results, the use of these two alternative test methods will likely reduce the use of live animals for eye safety testing by 10 percent or more,” stated William Stokes, D.V.M., the executive director of ICCVAM and director of the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods NICEATM). “More importantly, the use of these tests will eliminate the testing in animals of most substances likely to cause the most severe pain and discomfort.”

If a positive response is obtained using either of the two new approved alternative methods, the product can be labeled as causing irreversible or severe eye damage and no live animal testing will be required. If the response is negative, the product is then tested in an animal to confirm that it does not cause severe or irreversible damage.

The NIH and other federal agencies are committed to the welfare of animals used in research. All animals used in federally funded research are protected by laws, regulations and policies to ensure they are used in the smallest number possible and with the greatest commitment to their comfort. ICCVAM is working to promote the development and validation of alternative test methods. Alternative test methods are those that accomplish one or more of the 3Rs of reducing the number of animals used in testing, or refining procedures so animals experience less pain and distress, or replacing animals with non-animal systems.

Marilyn Wind, Ph.D., chair of ICCVAM and principal ICCVAM representative for the CPSC said, “The use of these alternative methods will help reduce animal use while ensuring the proper identification and hazard labeling for substances that may cause severe or permanent eye damage.”

Before certain new products such as drugs and pesticides can be marketed in the United States, they must be tested for their potential to adversely affect the health of consumers. Currently, the FDA, the CPSC and the EPA require that these and other products such as cosmetics, shampoos, detergents and household chemical products be labeled with information on hazards for human health. Tests that use animals are among the tests used by these federal agencies to evaluate potential damage to the eye that may result from exposure to these products. ICCVAM conducted a comprehensive scientific review of four alternative test methods and concluded that the BCOP and ICE methods can be useful for identifying products that may cause permanent or severe damage to an exposed eye. ICCVAM’s evaluation report and recommendations were forwarded to federal agencies for their consideration in October 2007.

The ICCVAM Test Method Evaluation Report: In Vitro Ocular Toxicity Test Methods for Identifying Severe Irritants and Corrosives (NIH Publication 06-4511) contains the ICCVAM recommendations for these two alternative eye test methods and how results can be used to determine appropriate warning labels and special packaging requirements. The report also includes proposals for new studies that might further increase the usefulness of alternative test methods for detecting products that cause severe eye damage.

ICCVAM’s recommendations were made after consideration of public comments and a report from an independent scientific peer review panel. The full report is available at the ICCVAM-NICEATM Web site (iccvam.niehs.nih).

To have the greatest impact on reducing animal use, ICCVAM will seek adoption of these test methods internationally by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development so they can also be used in the other 29 OECD member countries, which include Japan and most countries in the European Union. There is considerable interest in these methods in Europe due to the impending 2009 ban by the EU on the use of animals for testing cosmetic ingredients and the EU chemicals legislation, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances), which may require testing of thousands of existing chemicals.

ICCVAM is also evaluating several other non-animal methods that are expected to further reduce animal use for ocular testing including a proposed non-animal testing strategy for specific types of anti microbial products. The overall goal is an integrated testing strategy using several non-animal tests that can accurately predict whether chemicals or products have the potential to damage the eye.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is an interagency program established in 1978. The program was created as a cooperative effort to coordinate toxicology testing programs within the federal government, strengthen the science base in toxicology, develop and validate improved testing methods, and provide information about potentially toxic chemicals to health, regulatory, and research agencies, scientific and medical communities, and the public. The NTP is headquartered at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. For additional information, visit ntp.niehs.nih.

The NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) administers and provides scientific support for ICCVAM and is a part of the National Toxicology Program at NIEHS. Visit NICEATM at iccvam.niehs.nih/about/about_NICEATM.htm.

The primary mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health, is to reduce the burden of human illness and disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease. For additional information, visit the NIEHS Web site at niehs.nih.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) – The Nation’s Medical Research Agency – includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit nih.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
NH-10, NIEHS, 111 Alexander Dr.
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
United States
ehponline

With 8 million people at high risk for advanced age-related macular degeneration, researchers from Harvard and Japan discovered that the experimental drug, endostatin, may be the cure. A research report published in the December 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal, describes how giving endostatin to mice significantly reduced or eliminated abnormal blood vessel growth within the eye, which is ultimately why the disease causes blindness.

“Our study provides intriguing findings that may lead to a better treatment of age-related macular degeneration,” said Alexander Marneros, the first author of the report, “but clinical studies in patients with age-related macular degeneration are still necessary.”

In this study, researchers describe testing the effects of endostatin on mice lacking this naturally occurring substance. The mice without endostatin were about three times more likely to develop advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than normal mice. Then the researchers administered endostatin to both sets of mice. In the mice lacking endostatin, the number of abnormal blood vessels that cause AMD were reduced to normal levels. In control mice with normal levels of endostatin, the number of abnormal blood vessels were practically undetectable.

“With Baby Boomers reaching advanced ages, new treatments are desperately needed to keep age-related macular degeneration from becoming a national epidemic,” said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “This research provides hope for those at risk for blindness, and it gives everyone another glimpse of how investments in molecular biology will ultimately pay off in terms of new treatments and cures.”

AMD is a progressive disease that affects the part of the eye that allows people to see fine details. The disease gradually destroys sharp, central vision, and in advanced stages ultimately leads to total blindness. Abnormal blood vessel growth, also known as angiogenesis, is a hallmark of advanced AMD. These faulty blood vessels leak fluids and blood, causing catastrophic vision loss. As the name implies, risk for age-related macular degeneration increases with age, and 8 million people are considered to be at high risk for the disease. Of these individuals, approximately 1 to 1.3 million will develop advanced AMD within the next five years. Endostatin is an experimental drug, which is currently being tested to stop cancer in people by restricting the formation of abnormal blood vessels supply blood to tumors. Endostatin is a protein in collagen, and while collagen is used in a range of products for skin care to gelatin desserts, consumption or use of these products does not have any effect on tumors or AMD.

Weissmann added, “This research proves once and for all that endostatin functions as the body’s own natural inhibitor of new blood vessel growth as Judah Folkman of Harvard predicted.”

The FASEB Journal (fasebj/) is published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is consistently ranked among the top three biology journals worldwide by the Institute for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 21 nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB advances biological science through collaborative advocacy for research policies that promote scientific progress and education and lead to improvements in human health.

Source: Cody Mooneyhan

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Biologists at New York University and the University of W??rzburg have identified, in greater detail, how the retina’s cellular hardware is used in color preference. The findings, published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), enhance our understanding of how eyes and the brain process color.

Light can serve as an attractive or repulsive landmark for orientation – we identify an object or a light source at a certain location in visual space, then approach it or retreat from it. This process, called phototaxis, was the focus of the PNAS study.

Conducted by biologists at New York University’s Center for Developmental Genetics and the Department of Genetics and Neurobiology at the University of W??rzburg in Germany, the research specifically examined the photoreceptor cells in the retinas of the fruit fly Drosophila. Drosophila is a powerful model for studying the color vision process as it is amenable to very specific genetic manipulations, allowing researchers to analyze how its visual system functions when different elements of its retina are affected.

The visual systems of most species contain photoreceptors with distinct spectral sensitivities that allow animals to distinguish lights by their spectral composition (i.e., color). In Drosophila, six of these (R1-R6) are responsible for motion detection and are sensitive to the brightness or dimness of a broad spectrum of light. Two others (R7 and R8) are used for color vision by comparing ultraviolet light (UV), detected by R7, with green or blue light detected by two types of R8. The NYU and University of W??rzburg biologists investigated how photoreceptor types contribute to phototaxis by blocking the function of either R7 or R8, or a combination of a range of photoreceptors (R1-R6, R7 and/or R8).

In the study, they constructed two sets of “Y-shaped mazes” with two different types of light at the ends of each: UV and blue in one and blue and green in the other. Under this arrangement, the fly would show a preference for certain type of light (UV vs. blue in one maze; blue vs. green in the other) by moving toward it. The researchers could then link specific preferences to the make-up of each fly’s visual system.

In a “UV vs. blue” choice, flies with only R1-R6 and flies with only R7/R8 photoreceptors preferred the blue to the UV light. This finding suggested that these two sets of photoreceptors (R1-R6 and R7/R8) function separately in phototaxis as flies with only one of these sets showed similar preferences. In addition, flies without a functioning R7 photoreceptor preferred the blue to the UV light, whereas flies without R8 preferred UV. In the “blue vs. green” maze, flies without a functioning blue R8 photoreceptor preferred green, whereas those with a defective for green R8 photoreceptor preferred blue. This shows that each subclass of photoreceptors [R1-R6, R7, R8 (blue), R8 (green)] is used by the fly to distinguish colors and setup its innate color preference. In a previous work, the same authors had shown that motion detection only involves R1-R6 and not R7 and R8, suggesting that there are two independent channels in the fly visual system – one for motion and one for color.

“This simple insect can achieve sophisticated color discrimination and detect a broader spectrum of colors than we can, especially in the UV,” said NYU biologist Claude Desplan, one of the study’s authors. “It is a great model system to understand how the retina and the brain process visual information.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Source:
James Devitt
New York University

Predicting the risk of cardio-vascular disease has won Professor Tien Wong of the Centre for Eye Research Australia the Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research for 2006 presented at the Australian Society for Medical Research annual dinner last night.

Professor Wong’s research works towards developing special retinal software that can analyse images of the eye and show predictors of cardiovascular disease including stroke, hypertension and heart failure.

“It is an ambitious goal but our ultimate aim is to develop a web-based imaging system from which optometrists and ophthalmologists can upload images which will then be assessed for retinal markers of future cardiovascular disease,” he says.

Development of this retinal imaging system follows on from Associate Professor Wong’s research which is the first in the world to categorically demonstrate that subtle damage to blood vessels in the retina can predict cardiovascular disease.

“The idea that the eye is a window to the human body and can predict other areas of human health has been around for more than a century,” he says.

Associate Professor Wong has authored more than 80 articles on this subject in the past three years, published in prestigious journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the British Medical Journal.

The Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre (RetVIC) is a collaboration between: The University of Melbourne, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Baker Medical Research Institute, Diabetes Australia, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Centre for Vision Research at the University of Sydney, International Diabetes Institute, Pfizer Australia, National Stroke Research Institute and Monash University. Additional support is provided by: National Heart Foundation of Australia, National Stroke Foundation, Save Sight Institute at the University of Sydney and BSC Electronics.

The Retinal Imaging Centre is one of five units within the Centre for Eye Research Australia which the pre-eminent centre for eye research in Australia focusing on the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of eye disease, vision loss and blindness.

For further information please contact:
Ms Romy Johnston
Centre for Eye Research Australia

Research Australia

A simple eye test monitoring the death of cells on the retina could move scientists closer to being able to monitor the progress of Alzheimer’s disease in humans according to research published yesterday.

The study, which appears in Cell Death & Disease, used specific dyes that bind to cells on the retinas of animals that had been modified to develop some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. They then observed these cells and monitored the stage and type of cell death. It is believed this is the first time cell death has been monitored in retinas in live animals.

‘We know as Alzheimer’s disease develops, cells in the brain die and the brain shrinks. The study of this disease has been hampered by the difficulty of following the progress directly in the human brain. This research is very exciting as it opens up the possibility of observing individual cells on the human retina using a relatively non-invasive procedure. In the longer term this technique could be used for diagnostic purposes or to help researchers monitor the effects of drugs under development. However, much more research needs to be done before we know if we can get to this stage.

‘A million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years yet research remains drastically underfunded. If we can delay the onset of dementia by five years we can halve the number of people who will die with the disease.’

Dr Susanne Sorensen
Head of Research
Alzheimer’s Society

Study reference: ‘Imaging multiple phases of neurodegeneration: a novel approach to assessing cell death in vivo’ by Prof Fracesca Cordeiro and Prof Stephen Moss et al.
Cell Death and Disease journal.

Source
Alzheimer’s Society

If your blood levels of C-reactive protein are high your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are higher, says a report in Archives of Ophthalmology (JAMA/Archives), October issue.

AMD happens when the macula deteriorates over time. The macula is the area at the back of the retina and is involved in sharp vision. C-reactive protein is linked to inflammation. Inflammation seems to play a role in the development of AMD, explain the writers. Fibrinogen and C-reactive protein, proteins linked with inflammation, have been located in drusen – the white deposits below the retina that are the hallmark of AMD.

Sharmila S. Boekhoorn, M.D., Ph.D., Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and team studied C-reactive protein levels of 4,914 people who were all at risk for AMD. During their first examination, which was carried out during the period 1990-1993, blood samples were collected and photographs were taken of the retina. For an average period of 7.7 years each patient had three additional examinations.

During this period, 658 patients were diagnosed with AMD, of which 561 had early AMD and 97 had late AMD. The researchers found that if a person’s level of C-reactive protein rose above the midpoint (median) of the study population, he/she became more susceptible to developing AMD.

“Evidence is accumulating that inflammatory and immune-associated pathways have a role in other degenerative diseases associated with advancing age, such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Drusen components have been found in atherosclerotic plaques and deposits in Alzheimer’s disease, and AMD, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease may partly share a similar inflammatory pathogenesis,” the authors wrote.

The authors suggest that reducing levels of C-reactive protein could potentially reduce the risk for AMD. “A substance that can selectively inhibit C-reactive protein synthesis has not yet been developed, to our knowledge. Smoking and high body mass index increase C-reactive protein levels. Moderate alcohol intake, diets with a low glycemic index and statin and multivitamin use reduce C-reactive protein levels.”

It is already known that if you are obese and/or a smoker your risk of developing AMD is higher.

“C-reactive Protein Level and Risk of Aging Macula Disorder – The Rotterdam Study”
Sharmila S. Boekhoorn, MD, PhD; Johannes R. Vingerling, MD, PhD; Jacqueline C. M. Witteman, PhD; Albert Hofman, MD, PhD; Paulus T. V. M. de Jong, MD, PhD
Arch Ophthalmol. 2007;125:1396-1401.
— Click here to view abstract online

The detrimental effects of monocular deprivation during early life are among the most studied phenomenon in neuroscience. The resulting reorganization of the visual cortex leaves the deprived eye compromised once it is uncovered. However, this week Iny et al., using rats, show a bidirectional and reversible enhancement of vision in the open (nondeprived) eye. The authors measured visual acuity by training rats to use computer-generated visual cues to escape a swim box. Control rats performed at criterion (?Y? 75% of trials correct) in response to a grating spatial frequency of 0.89 cycles per degree. After 5 months of monocular deprivation, rats suffered severe loss of acuity in the deprived eye. The threshold, measurable 3?C4 weeks after uncovering, was 0.20 cycles per degree and then improved further. However, acuity in the nondeprived eye acuity was enhanced to 1.20 cycles per degree before declining gradually to normal. Opening the deprived eye led to partial reversal, indicating that this plasticity persists into adulthood.

Karen Iny, Arnold J. Heynen, Erik Sklar, and Mark F. Bear

News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience

Contact: Sara Harris

Society for Neuroscience

It is well known that the lack of physical activity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but what part does it play in retinal vascular caliber? A team of researchers examined the association of physical activity and television viewing time with retinal vascular caliber and explored the differences in white, black, Hispanic and Chinese racial/ethnic groups.

Adults aged 45 to 84 were evaluated in the population-based, cross-sectional Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis where retinal vascular calibers were measured. Wider retinal vascular caliber is associated with higher blood pressure, impaired fasting glucose, diabetes, risk of coronary heart disease and other conditions.

Those in the lowest two quartiles of intentional physical activity had a wider retinal venular caliber compared to those in the highest quartile of intentional physical activity except blacks. Similarly, those in the highest quartile of television viewing time had a wider venular caliber compared to those in the lowest quartile. This difference remained significant in whites only.

The results of this study are being presented this week at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

As reported in the abstract, “Results show an association of lack of physical activity and greater TV viewing time with wider retinal venules independent of other cardiovascular risk factors.” The research team also suggested that longitudinal studies be conducted to confirm these associations and further explore ethnic differences.

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include more than 12,500 eye and vision researchers from over 80 countries. ARVO encourages and assists research, training, publication and knowledge-sharing in vision and ophthalmology.

Source: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)

The largest international online community for ophthalmologists is now available for members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology at aao/community. This new online community gives ophthalmologists the ability to interact directly with their colleagues to share insights, perspectives and information via features such as groups, blogs, forums and sharing of photos and videos.

“Without a doubt, there is no other ophthalmic professional networking platform comparable to the Academy’s online community in scope and size,” said David W. Parke II, MD, executive vice president and CEO of the Academy. “It will be an essential resource for ophthalmologists around the world to collaborate and share information.”

Nearly 50 percent of Academy members recently surveyed said that they are involved with social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Sermo. More than 75 percent of those respondents chose “connecting with friends” as the primary purpose for their use of social networking sites, and more than 70 percent said they wanted a secure environment available only to ophthalmologists. The Academy responded by developing a dynamic, comprehensive community that gives ophthalmologists a secure place to share information among their peers, free from the presence of pharmaceutical companies, patients and the public. The online community is available for Academy members only and all contributions are secure. Members can access it by visiting aao and clicking on the Community tab.

Ophthalmic subspecialty and special interest groups such as the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus are already part of the online community; members can also create new groups on nearly any topic, making the community diverse and member-driven. They can share photos and videos, write blogs, add friends to their personal network and update their community profile known as a “persona”. Commenting and recommending features allow members to provide instant feedback on content throughout the Academy’s Web site. Members earn points and awards for participating in community activities, and the point rankings are shown on the community’s leaderboard. Forums and product reviews will be available later this year. These integrated social media services are provided by Pluck, the same company that provides digital platform solutions for the AARP, AMA, NFL and major news outlets.

By combining the Academy’s unmatched clinical resources with an integrated community full of collaborative opportunities, AAO will be the online destination where all of ophthalmology goes to connect.

Source
American Academy of Ophthalmology