Disease

The overall incidence of meningococcal disease is low among college students in the United States, but they were over three times more likely to develop meningococcal B disease, or MenB, compared with those who did not attend college, according to research published in Pediatrics. The increased risk for disease among this population highlights the importance of vaccination, researchers said.

An estimated 1% of the global population has celiac disease, but up to six out of seven patients with the condition are undiagnosed, according to a study published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Cystic fibrosis, or CF, is a life-threatening disease that affects the secretory glands. These glands produce mucus, sweat and digestive juices. The fluids secreted from these glands are normally watery and slippery, but with CF they become thick and sticky. This causes a buildup and blockage of the airways and pancreas ducts, resulting in severe damage to the lungs and digestive tract.

The etiology of Behçet’s disease remains largely misunderstood, despite the fact that it is a leading cause of blindness in some areas of the world.

Recent years have seen continuing growth in the quantity of genetic research and knowledge, and ocular genetics has been a large part of that research. It is now common for ophthalmic journals to contain articles discussing a newly discovered mutation or a study linking a gene to an ocular disease.

STANFORD, U.S.A. – Attempting aggressive maximum IOP lowering to treat glaucoma has become a recent trend. However, according to Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Stanford University Medical Center, many patients with mild optic nerve damage or ocular hypertension without field loss do not need to achieve IOPs below 12 mm Hg or even in the low teens.