Sarcoidosis: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
In Fight Against Brain Pathogens, The Eyes Have It
The eyes have been called the window to the brain. It turns out they also serve as an immunological barrier that protects the organ from pathogens and even tumors, Yale researchers have found.
In a new study, researchers showed that vaccines injected into the eyes of mice can help disable the herpes virus, a major cause of brain encephalitis. To their surprise, the vaccine activates an immune response through lymphatic vessels along the optic nerve.
The results were published Feb. 28 in the journal Nature.
"There is a shared immune response between the brain and the eye," said Eric Song, an associate research scientist and resident physician in Yale School of Medicine's Department of Immunobiology and corresponding author of the paper. "And the eyes provide easier access for drug therapies than the brain does."
Wanting to explore immunological interactions between brain and eyes, the research team, which was led by Song, found that the eyes have two distinct lymphatic systems regulating immune responses in the front and rear of the eye. After they vaccinated mice with inactivated herpes virus, the researchers found that lymphatic vessels in the optic nerve sheath at the rear of the eye protected mice not only from active herpes infections, but from bacteria and even brain tumors.
Harnessing this new biology, Song's team is currently testing newly created drugs from his lab delivered through eye injections that may help combat macular edema, or leaky blood vessels of the retina common in people with diabetes, and glaucoma.
"These results reveal a shared lymphatic circuit able to mount a unified immune response between posterior eye and the brain, highlighting an understudied immunological feature of the eyes and opening up the potential for new therapeutic strategies in ocular and central nervous system diseases," the authors wrote.
Xiangyun Yin, an associate researcher in Yale's Department of Immunobiology; Sophia Zhang, an undergraduate student at Yale College; and Ju Hyun Lee, a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, are co-lead authors of the study.
A Selfie Saved My Life: Woman's Photo Taken Near Times Square Leads To Brain TUMOR Diagnosis - After She Noticed Her Drooping Eye
A woman's selfie on vacation in New York City may have saved her life.
While browsing through her holiday photos, Megan Troutwine, now 33, noticed one of her eyes was drooping in a photo taken by a fountain not far from Times Square.
She became suddenly concerned that the physical change may be linked to her recent bout of cognitive problems and trouble exercising.
She raised her concern with her doctor and was referred to a visit to a neurologist for an MRI, which confirmed that something indeed was wrong - she had a large tumor in her brain.
While undergoing 30 rounds of radiation and two surgeries to remove the non-cancerous mass, doctors found another, more dangerous tumor called a glioma, which can be difficult to treat and can lead to brain damage.
In this selfie, Megan Troutwine's eye drooped slightly, something she thought was odd, though nothing to worry about. But 15 minutes after undergoing an MRI, the doctor confirmed she had a benign tumor pressing against her brain
Her treatment journey began in 2016 and, while she still goes to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for regular check-ups, she's healthy.
She also went from being a patient to an employee at Moffitt, comforting patients in the same position as she was.
On her trip to New York, Ms Troutwine did what any tourist would do – took selfies in front of famous landmarks like Times Square and the Freedom Tower. But she looked at one of the photos, puzzled.
She said: 'I'm like, "oh, that's weird. That picture looks weird." Little did I know.'
In 2016, doctors identified a meningioma in Ms Troutwine's brain just 15 minutes after she underwent an MRI. Doctors knew that it was benign though they considered it aggressive, meaning it may have been growing or invading nearby brain tissue.
Meningioma is one of the most common types of brain tumors, accounting for 30 percent of all of them. They originate in the meninges, the outer three layers of tissue that protect the brain under the skull.
Ms Troutwine has long been an avid runny, but her many rounds of radiation and necessary recovery forced her to slow down
Symptoms of meningioma creep in slowly and can include Changes in vision, such as seeing double or blurring, headaches that are worse in the morning, hearing loss or ringing in the ears, memory loss, loss of smell, seizures, weakness in the arms or legs, and trouble speaking.
The experience caused her to have cognitive issues, which she considered the most distressing. Also, a long-time runner, she has had to slow down her pace a bit.
Troutwine said: 'Dealing with the cognitive issues and dealing with the memory loss and stuff like that, that was probably the hardest, because I know that I'm smarter than that.
'I'm more capable than that. I can do more. But, it's learning how to give myself the grace in the midst, too.'
Throughout her treatment, her doctor, Moffitt Cancer Center Neuro-Oncologist Dr Sepideh Mokhtari found another primary brain tumor.
That time, it was a glioma, which has a survival rate of around seven years when diagnosed early in young people.
Dr. Mokhtari said: 'It was very tiny. And as we are following it over the years, we are seeing a little bit of increase in size over time.'
But Ms Troutwine considers herself lucky, knowing full well how dangerous gliomas can be and having lost friends to the brain condition.
She said: 'A low-grade glioma is like a blessed juxtaposition, I guess you could say, because it's like you're on a cliff, and you know what's going to happen.
'You know it will progress. You will have to do treatment for it. You know it may very well be what could jeopardize your mortality in the future. But, you know, at the same time, you're like waiting for it to do something.'
Mom Catches 2-Year-Old's Eye Cancer By Snapping Photo
In photos, there was a strange glow in Avery's eye.
ByABC News
May 11, 2015, 10:19 AM
— -- Julie Fitzgerald had been worried about strange spots on her 2-year-old's eye, but she initially brushed them off.
But then she saw viral story on Facebook about how a white glow that appeared someone's eye in photos could signal cancer. So she decided to snap a photo of Avery.
And there it was, the white glow.
"I just had this gut feeling in my stomach that something was wrong with his eye," Fitzgerald told ABC News.
'Vintage Grey' Cribs Recalled Over Lead Paint Ebola Virus Lingers in Patient's Eyeball Even After Recovery, Study Says Mother Diagnoses Daughter's Rare Eye Cancer With Facebook
Avery Fitzgerald, 2, of Rockford, Ill. Plays with his brother after his left eye was removed due to cancer.
Doctors diagnosed Avery with retinoblastoma and said cancerous tumors covered 75 percent of his eye, she said. They had to removed it entirely, but they said they caught the cancer just in time, Fitzgerald said.
"If we did not get this eye out, the cancer would spread to his blood and to his brain," Fitzgerald said. "Our lives went from normal to cancer to a cancer survivor in three weeks. It turned out to be our worst nightmare but it saved our son's life."
Last month, Joanna Murphy caught the rare cancer after noticing a white glow in her daughter's eye. And Tara Taylor's Facebook friend noticed a glow in her daughter's eye, prompting the diagnosis of another rare eye disease.
"It is a medical emergency," said Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News chief health and medical editor. "You need to see your doctor right away. It may be retinoblastoma. But if you miss that sign, it is usually fatal."
Avery Fitzgerald, 2, of Rockford, Ill. Is seen with his father after his left eye was removed due to cancer.
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