India moves closer to rolling out 'drugs for all' plan

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Research Gets Closer to Genetic Roots of Glaucoma

HealthDay – 16 hrs ago FRIDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) -- Two genetic variations are linked to a common form of glaucoma, known as primary open-angle glaucoma, according to new research.

Glaucoma affects about 2.2 million people in the United States, the U.S. National Eye Institute said in a news release.

"Loss of vision from glaucoma, a common cause of blindness worldwide, is due to irreversible damage to the optic nerve," noted one expert, Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Glaucoma is usually associated with high eye pressure leading to optic nerve damage. There is also a form of glaucoma with normal pressure."

In the new study, Janey Wiggs, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, and colleagues analyzed the DNA sequences of more than 6,000 people. Half of them had primary open-angle glaucoma. This form of the disease is typically associated with increased eye pressure, but one-third of these patients had normal-pressure glaucoma.

The study, published online April 26 in PLoS Genetics, found that two genetic variations were linked with primary open-angle glaucoma, including those who have normal-pressure glaucoma.

One variant is in a gene located on chromosome 9. The second variant is in a region of chromosome 8, where it may affect the expression of one or two other genes. These genes may interact with a molecule that regulates cell growth and survival throughout the body, the researchers explained in the news release.

The investigators believe future studies could focus on this molecule as a treatment for various forms of glaucoma.

Fromer concurred. "These results reveal new insights into the genetic pathways of optic nerve disease in glaucoma for the first time and are an important step toward the development of preventative and protective therapies," he said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about glaucoma.

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Oklahoma Personhood Bill One Step Closer to Becoming Law

Yahoo! Contributor Network – 53 mins ago The Oklahoma Legislature is one vote from doing what voters in Mississippi and Colorado were unable to do: Making the concept of personhood law in the state. As KJRH.com reported, Senate Bill 1433 passed through the state House of Representatives' Public Health Committee.

The bill, having successfully passed the Senate, will be voted on by the full House, the final step in the legislative process. If it passes the full House, as expected, according to the Associated Press, the bill would then be forwarded to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin.

Personhood Bill in Summary

Senate Bill 1433 says Oklahoma recognizes that life begins at conception. As such, that life has the right to protection in well-being, life and health , and the natural parents have a protected interest in same. The unborn child will be recognized as being a person from the time of conception through birth.

If signed into law, it would become effective Nov. 1.

Reaction to the bill

Martha Skeeter, president of the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, is urging coalition members to come to the Capitol on Thursday at 9 a.m. to take a stand against Senate Bill 1433.

The Tulsa World reports Rep. Lisa Billy, R-District 42, sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives, stated the bill is a "statement of purpose" that endorses "the irrefutable scientific fact that life begins at conception."

Billy assured fellow House Public Health Committee members that the bill does not interfere with any previous laws dealing with abortion, in vitro fertilization or other medical/scientific procedures that are now legal. An amendment to the bill to include Billy's assertions, suggested by Rep. Doug Cox, R-District 5, was voted down by committee members.

Another suggested amendment introduced by Jeannie McDaniel, D-District 78, was the statement that nothing in the bill would prohibit a physician from terminating a pregnancy to save the life of the mother. This amendment was also denied.

Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation, L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.

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